Patent attributes
A magnetic thumbstick device including a manual actuator assembly, a restorative element, a base assembly, one or more magnets, and one or more magnetic sensors is disclosed. The magnetic sensor is positioned to measure magnetic fields generated by movement of the magnet, which may be disposed in the manual actuator assembly, and sensed by the magnetic sensor, which may be disposed in the base assembly. These magnetic field signals may then be provided to a processing element where they may be used to determine position and/or motion of the magnet in relation to the magnetic sensor. The processing element may further generate output signals or commands usable by an electronic computing system such as personal computer, cellular phone, video game console, or other device.
