Linux 5.14 To Add Driver For A $10 Open-Source Joystick For DIY Electronics Projects

Linux 5.14 is bringing a new input driver to support an open-source joystick that can be used for DIY electronics purposes and other use-cases. The schematics and firmware are open-source for building the joystick device yourself or can be purchased for about $10 USD.

This new driver on the way to mainline is the qwiic-joystick driver that has been queued in the input subsystem's "-next" branch ahead of the Linux 5.14 merge window. This driver is for the SparkFun Qwiic Joystick, which is an open-source mini analog joystick built around a microcontroller and two potentiometers connected with a gimbal mechanism. Input events are in turn polled over the I2C bus.

The SparkFun Qwiic Joystick is open-source with both the hardware design files being open-source as well as the firmware. The joystick is somewhat similar to the thumbstick found on the old Sony PlayStation 2 controllers. The hardware design files and firmware sources are available via this GitHub repository.

This new input joystick driver can be found with the input-next tree until the Linux 5.14 merge window gets underway in a week or two. This 150 lines of code driver has been tested with the Raspberry Pi 4 and other hardware.

More details on this budget, DIY-friendly joystick via SparkFun.com.