A switch includes a base on which a bearing body having a bearing part at an upper end is provided in a protruding manner, an operating lever having an operating shaft with a lower end surface rotatably supported by the bearing part, and at least one operating leg extending from the operating shaft toward the base; and at least one contact mechanism having a fixed contact and a movable contact movable by the operating leg during rotation of the operating shaft, the contact mechanism being disposed on an upper surface of the base, with the movable contact opened and closed by the operating leg with respect to the fixed contact.

Various finger tip controlled manual interface devices that can be used as inputs to personal computers, electromechanical systems and video game consoles utilize concentrically arranged magnets. The polarities of the magnets are oriented to provide restoration forces on a one of the magnets to bias it toward a neutral position. A magnetic sensor including a plurality of sensing elements such as Hall effect devices generates output signals representative of direction and amount of movement of the magnet that is biased to the neutral position.

A sensor system may include an object, a magnet, and a magnetic sensor. The magnet may be connected to the object such that a center of the magnet is offset from an axis of the object. The magnetic sensor may include a first three-dimensional (3D) sensing pixel and a second 3D sensing pixel. The magnetic sensor may be arranged such that the first 3D sensing pixel and the second 3D sensing pixel are at different distances from a tilt point of the object. The magnetic sensor may be arranged such that the first 3D sensing pixel and the second 3D sensing pixel are at different distances from the center of the magnet.

The invention provides an input apparatus, a games controller for a games console and an analogue control stick. The analogue control stick comprises a shaft pivotally mounted for movement about at least two orthogonal axes and a target surface disposed at a proximal end of the shaft. The analogue control stick comprises at least one light source and a sensor, for capturing images of the target surface illuminated by the light source at a polling interval. A processing unit compares a current image of the target surface with the immediately preceding image of the target surface captured by the sensor to determine magnitude and direction of any incremental movement of the target surface relative to the sensor between capturing the compared images. The processing unit accumulates data, in a memory cache, indicative of the incremental movements to calculate an absolute position of the target surface relative to a predefined or origin position. The analogue control stick comprises an origin position detection system for determining return of the target surface to a predefined origin position. The processing unit is configured to clear the cache of accumulated incremental movement data upon detection of the target surface being disposed at the predefined origin position.

A sensor system may include an object, a magnet, and a magnetic sensor. The magnet may be connected to the object such that a center of the magnet is offset from an axis of the object. The magnetic sensor may include a first three-dimensional (3D) sensing pixel and a second 3D sensing pixel. The magnetic sensor may be arranged such that the first 3D sensing pixel and the second 3D sensing pixel are at different distances from a tilt point of the object. The magnetic sensor may be arranged such that the first 3D sensing pixel and the second 3D sensing pixel are at different distances from the center of the magnet.

An operation unit for a construction machine includes an operation part configured to be operated to input a direction for operating the construction machine. When a first direction is input through the operation part, the operation part is configured to present a second direction corresponding to the first direction to an operator operating the operation part.

A machine according to an aspect of this disclosure moves a lever movable in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. This machine includes a base member, a first actuator, a second actuator, a connector, a first frame, a second frame, and a third frame. The first actuator has a first output shaft that moves along the first direction. The second actuator has a second output shaft that moves along the second direction. The first frame has a first proximal end where a first joint is disposed and a first distal end where the second joint is disposed. The second frame has a second proximal end connected to the first distal end via the second joint, and a second distal end where a third joint is disposed. The third frame has a third proximal end and a third distal end, and the third distal end is connected to the second output shaft of the second actuator.

A machine according to an aspect of this disclosure moves a lever movable in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. This machine includes a base member, a first actuator, a second actuator, a connector, a first frame, a second frame, and a third frame. The first actuator has a first output shaft that moves along the first direction. The second actuator has a second output shaft that moves along the second direction. The first frame has a first proximal end where a first joint is disposed and a first distal end where the second joint is disposed. The second frame has a second proximal end connected to the first distal end via the second joint, and a second distal end where a third joint is disposed. The third frame has a third proximal end and a third distal end, and the third distal end is connected to the second output shaft of the second actuator.