Accuracy of potentiometers

[Atomic_Sheep]

Hi guys, I was just wondering about the accuracy of potentiometers. What do you look for when looking for potentiometers? How accurate can you get without getting ridiculously expensive? I'm not talking about anything special in particular, I'm sort of thinking of potentiometers in the ballpark of those use in joysticks for example and hoping to get something a bit more accurate. Any ideas or comments?

 

[JimB]

First of all you need to define what you mean by "accuracy".

Accuracy is a much abused and mis-understood term.

In the context of the joystick, do you mean:

Backlash - the slop/free movement of the stick which is not refelected in a change in voltage/resistance in the electrical circuit

Linearity - the change in voltage/resistance is the same for each 5 or 10 degrees change in stick angle

Sensitivity/resolution - the minimum angular movement of the the stick which results in a change in voltage/resistance

or some other property of the joystick?

JimB

 

[Atomic_Sheep]

Ok sorry, I pretty much meant, linearity (probably the most important), resolution (second most important) and the backlash I would imagine is linked to resolution? All I'm doing is making an improved version of a joystick with better characteristics. My joystick which is a Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro is pretty good when it comes to the throttle lever but it could improve slightly in my mind. I think I'm looking for a bit more precision. But certainly, linearity is a very big issue here also - not totally important but for what I intend to do, it's definite bonus making the end result much simpler to implement.