joysticks
 

Does anyone think we'll see joysticks become an option on performance boats in the near future?

I understand Cobalt and some of the other sterndrive sportboat manufacturers are making them available on their twin engine models.

Just watched a video on Boattest.com about the Volvo setup and I think I looks sweet... I would think it would be prefect for a performance boat... They said the Volvo one can be fitted to any existing Volvo twin engine set up with just a few part swaps (not that any performance boats run Volvo). Not sure on the merc set up.

if your referring to the axius set up i would think it may not hold up to the rigors of offshore style hi perf running. especially with the lack of a tie bar. would be nice though

For a high performance boat, I'll keep my steering wheel. Not quite willing to give up that mechanical attachment to the steering.

Would it be speed sensitive?? when it gets rough a little bounce of the arm on the wheel isnt that big and and easily corrected, I would think a little bounce of the arm on a sensitve joystick could get rather interesting... imagine a good bounce that sent the joystick hard over and chopped the throttles on a stepped Vee.......

:op:I know the girls like having the joy sticks while on board. :lolhit:

They dont take the place of the wheel. You still drive with the wheel.They are for low speed maneuvering only. They are cool but dont look like they would be good for high hp go fast boats because you need the full swivel drives . Still not sure how those work. Look like they are mounted under the boat not on the transom. Need a better look.

There is a formula at the marina where we keep our cruisers. It has the Merc joystick package on it. Works incredible. It has regular Bravo 3's on the back, no tie bar. Somehow it is just majic.

what he said

I just dont get it. Regular Bravos?

This formula is a sport cruiser though. It bet it would get to 55 or 60 though.

Yes it still has a steering wheel, and regular shifters and throttles. Not really sure how it works, but he can sure dock that thing

the merc site has a video of it

Joystick controls were first introduced on pod-type drives, like Volvo Penta's IPS packages. From there, the technology has been transferred to stern drives, first with Mercury's Axius system, and now with Volvo Penta's sterndrive system. All are low-speed, idle-only systems intended for docking and other low-speed manuevering.
The critical part is that each drive must be free to move independently of the other(s). In order to crab a boat sideways or spin it in a circle, the drives have to point in different directions and/or be in different gears, i.e. one in forward and one in reverse. This pretty much eliminates the use of a physical tie bar in the system.
That being said, fly-by-wire technology is getting increasingly mainstream these days, and has been on the military's planes for decades. Given the development of high-accuracy and high-reliability position sensors and hydraulic actuators, there is no reason that driving a high-perfomance boat could not eventually be done with a joystick. The important thing would be to decrease the sensitivity of the stick as speed increases, as is done in aircraft. The driver would have to be well-supported (probably sit-down only) so that his arm did not get bounced around excessively.
One interesting aspect of a proper fly-by wire system is that you could have active toe-in/out control. Not only could the drives be adjusted for best top-end speed, you could also experiment with toe-in change in turns. In cars this is known as Ackerman, where the inside tire turns in more than the outside one. Given the wide turn radius of most boating maneuvers, this might not be a big gain.

Now thats a good answer.

I watched them demo the Axius down in Florida a few years ago. They were taking random people who had never used it. They had them put the nose of the boat about 1 foot from the wall, then walk the boat sideways for as far as they wanted. Amazing to watch, I wish I would have tryed it.

Another test was pulling up to a pole in the middle of the water. Again, less than a foot from the pole, they would walk that boat all the way around. Magic is right!

i did something like this. i went down to the miami show in 08 and took a ride in a 53 cruisers that had the merc system in it. i was just talking to the captain about how it worked before you went for our ride. on the way back into the marina he called me up to the helm and told me to give it a try. it was really wierd controling the boat with a joystick and was amazed that it didnt exaclty what you wanted the boat to do.

You would think he worked for Penske Racing or something....:grinser010:

:gfight: