People with Disabilities

[Fatoa]

Hello,
I am reaching of to the Flite Test community for assistance. I am not technical in nature and dont claim to understand how controller work but i have a unique situation where i am retired military and work with some individual that can no longer enjoy the hobby due to combat related injuries and also my son is disabled with on the use of his left arm and not his right arm. I have looked all over the internet for controller that only require one hand and found several posting on youtube of people how have done some extreme modification to controller to make it usable of them during the time of a limited injury. What i have noticed on all these post is the controller are not truly one handed controller. I am looking of something where all you need to have is one good hand. If any one can help please let me know.

 

[jaskoller]

I"m sorry, I haven't seen a one handed controller yet. But yes, people are doing a "joystick" mod to make it one handed. There are a few different write ups i have seen on this. I'll try to find one and post it. I do think you will have to do some mods to get this done though.

 

[jaskoller]

Here are a couple links to check out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp3um4zpdOc

http://www.radiosouthrc.com/custom_work.htm

 

[FeWolf]

The are ones made from joystick, I am also a disable Veteran, my right arm was shot and I had 2nd and 3rd degree burns to my right hand and fingers. I have went to other forums and checked out pregress in this field, the price is really high but they do have kits.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1101787&page=3

 

[rockyboy]

As a cheap way to get started/back into RC there is a Futuba Skysport 2/3 channel designed with a single stick available for about $30 new.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Futaba-Skysport-SS2-SS3-Single-Stick-Digital-Proportional-Radio-Control-System-/172003679809?hash=item280c37de41:g:aH4AAOSweuxWTX4J

I'm not sure what they mean by 2/3 channel though - can't see the youtube video on my current connection.

I also found this really interesting site about Single Stick radio design and history that's really got me thinking about the benefits of this type of controller.

http://www.singlestickstuff.com/the-history-of-the-single-stick/

For someone crafty and interested in homebrewing one, I found some 3 and 4 axis gimbals too.

http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=1263

I think I might take a cheap-o Spektrum 4 channel park flyer radio and see if I can mod it to work with one of these gimbals to experiment with doing something much more affordable than the top of the line $600ish approach.

 

[RAM]

I've been thinking of a solution for myself that might work for you.

If you consider how a cessna is flown, you will realize that the throttle is pulled out or pushed in to adjust the prop speed.

If you can get a radio with knobs on it, you might be able to use a knob instead of the joystick for throttle control. Similar to a cessna's pull out throttle, set it and forget it.

Now, your one good hand only has to deal with a single joystick in order to fly. Turn the knob to get it rolling down the runway. Stay away from planes that have ailerons. Use your good hand on one joystick with elevator and rudder control.

If you don't have a knob you can reprogram, maybe you can modify the throttle joystick to stiffen it up and achieve a similar result.

If you have a helper, you could just go slope soaring. No throttle involved but someone has to throw the plane for you.

Best of luck

 

[mikeporterinmd]

I wonder if, on a programmable radio like a Taranis X9D, you could move the throttle to the side control and thumb the stick for role and pitch. You could also move the rudder to the rotating knob for control during taxi and takeoff. Use a waist strap to the extra bar to keep the radio from moving about and of course a neck strap.

Note: a Taranis can be configured for either mode one or mode two just by opening it up and changing a few items. So, whichever hand is available could be used. You don't have to find a mode one Taranis to give it a shot. Just one that you can adjust.

Mike

 

[rockyboy]

Thinking about other ways to do full control with one hand on an affordable budget, this 4 axis joystick caught my eye. http://www.superdroidrobots.com/shop/item.aspx/analog-4-axis-joystick/1264/

Using the electronics from a Taranis, the controls could be elevator / airelon in the x and y, spin rotation for the rudder, and the momentary button on top to change throttle value. My thought is that a push and hold of the button would increase the throttle steadily, and letting go of the button would hold the value. A double press with a hold on the second press would steadily decrease the throttle. For safety, a push/pull button next to the gimbal could be a full throttle cut.

I'm sure the Taranis can be programmed to operate this way, and very confident the hardware will work as well. Not sure if that style throttle control would work for aerobatic flying, but it should do quite nicely for general flying. Some of the gaming joysticks with a high-hat or slider on the top could also be setup similarly I think, but I haven't tore open one of those to see what's inside since the 1980's. Course I don't have a spare Taranis around to experiment on

I also found some info that Aloft hobbies and FrSky were working on a single stick Taranis model with a foot throttle, but that seems to have gone all quiet about a year ago. However, contacting Aloft hobbies and asking if they are still working on it or have one of their prototypes available might yield good results - they seem to be real good people at that company.

 

[rockyboy]

I wonder if, on a programmable radio like a Taranis X9D, you could move the throttle to the side control and thumb the stick for role and pitch. You could also move the rudder to the rotating knob for control during taxi and takeoff. Use a waist strap to the extra bar to keep the radio from moving about and of course a neck strap.

Note: a Taranis can be configured for either mode one or mode two just by opening it up and changing a few items. So, whichever hand is available could be used. You don't have to find a mode one Taranis to give it a shot. Just one that you can adjust.

Mike

I think this is a GREAT idea! No hardware changes needed!

Yes, a Taranis can absolutely be programmed this way, and it will probably work great for any 3 channel flying (rudder/elevator or bank/yank)! I don't know how useful the rudder would be on the rotating knob - I've found those to be a little awkward to change in flight and usually use mine for radio volume and frequency of audio updates. I think I'll experiment with setting up a model this way though and upload the epee programming file in case someone else wants to try it too!

 

[CrashRecovery]

I've wanted to try this for a while as my father has Parkinsons and has limited use of his right hand and arm. The only thing stopping me is his response time. There is a delay when he want to do things so watching him fly a umx radian was painful. He also confuses the up/down thing a lot. Even with simulator time he still does it. Flies fine on the simulator but crashes every time in real life.

 

[PsyBorg]

I've wanted to try this for a while as my father has Parkinsons and has limited use of his right hand and arm. The only thing stopping me is his response time. There is a delay when he want to do things so watching him fly a umx radian was painful. He also confuses the up/down thing a lot. Even with simulator time he still does it. Flies fine on the simulator but crashes every time in real life.

Sounds like he may have an issue with depth perception. The sim is up close and most "Zoom" in on the models. Inquire how his vision is between close things and far things. The reason I ask is I just got glasses myself and I could see things fine at most distances, but now that I have the glasses the world looks more 3d then it has in a long time. My little quad doesn't disappear as fast now when flying LOS too!

 

[CrashRecovery]

Nope its the response time. And the fact he confuses the up/down. He panics basically. Simulator crash equals nothing lost..... real world crash and your out a plane.

 

[rockyboy]

There might be some good plane options over at http://www.crashtesthobby.com/ that would help - their Albatross trainer is supposed to be both very easy to control / slow / stable, and extremely durable. I know their flying wings can take incredible punishment, and their trainer model is also a solid foam body that's supposed to just bounce harmlessly when used as a lawn dart.

Another good option could be the http://www.headsuphobby.com/MiniBipe-ARF-Kit-MBP103P.htm - this is a super light weight foam biplane that simply pops apart on heavy ground contact, and only take a moment to pop back together. Watching the videos of straight in full throttle dives into grass and having the plane tossed back in the air a few moments later is really impressive from a durability perspective. I think it's a lot more control responsive than the Albatross though, so that might not fix the response time needs.

 

[FeWolf]

how about the android and apple phone controller type rc planes and helicopters

 

[mikeporterinmd]

Nope its the response time. And the fact he confuses the up/down. He panics basically. Simulator crash equals nothing lost..... real world crash and your out a plane.

Could you fly with a buddy-box? What transmitter is he using? If compatible with a Taranis, we could meet and give it a shot.

Mike

 

[Fatoa]

Thank you for the link they have help with ideas

Thank you for the link they have help with ideas

 

[rockyboy]

how about the android and apple phone controller type rc planes and helicopters

I have received two of these phone controlled flyers from well meaning family members, and they have been absolutely horrible to fly. Very laggy/delayed controls and inexplicable control brown-outs. They sit on the shelf politely gathering dust.