joystick_interfacing

Converts raw joystick input into Ackermann or ROSCCO drive commands with safety gating, arming control, and haptic feedback.

Overview

The joystick_node wraps joy_node (the generic ROS joystick driver) and adds vehicle-specific logic: a physical enable trigger for safety, mode toggling between Ackermann and ROSCCO control, and OSCC arm/disarm via joystick button. It feeds directly into ackermann_mux and oscc_mux.

Architecture

USB joystick
     │
[joy_node] → /joy
     │
[joystick_node] ──► /joystick/ackermann         → ackermann_mux (priority 100)
                ──► /joystick/roscco             → oscc_mux      (priority 100)
                ──► /joystick/ackermann_is_idle  → ackermann_mux masking
                ──► /joystick/roscco_is_idle     → oscc_mux masking
                ──► /joy/set_feedback            → haptic rumble
                ──► /oscc_interfacing/arm        (service call)

Modes

The node operates in one of two modes at a time, toggled via toggle_button:

• ACKERMANN — publishes to /joystick/ackermann with speed and steering angle limits
• ROSCCO — publishes to /joystick/roscco with separate torque and speed limits

The enable axis must be held (value ≤ −0.9) for commands to be non-zero. When released, the node publishes zero commands and sets both idle flags to true, allowing lower-priority inputs in the mux to take over.

Mode switching is blocked while the deadman is held — release the enable trigger before pressing toggle_button. This prevents accidental pipeline switches mid-drive.

Haptic Feedback Patterns