What can be more convenient and ergonomic than having all the functions you need at your fingertips? With the multifunctional palm grip joystick, the operator can sit comfortably in the operator’s seat, rest their hands on the arm supports, hold one joystick in each hand, and cut down trees or perform high precision lifts.
This little, multifunctional palm grip joystick holds impressive possibilities. You can add up to 12 buttons on the grip, each with its predefined function. Some customers add a different function in their system if the operator double-clicks the button; this means you could theoretically add up to 24 functions on one control.
The history of this button-armed joystick goes back to the early ’90s when Caldaro introduced the mini-joystick with five buttons to the forestry market. They offered excellent ergonomics, and the mini-joysticks were very well received by forestry machine operators, setting a new standard for operator controls in this application. The success endured for many years.
Meanwhile, Caldaro saw market demand for more functions in the grip as time went by, so they initiated an evolution. At the same time, they reexamined the ergonomics, resulting in a complete design update.
The mini-joystick has become standard in the Nordic countries, while the customers in, for example, the USA most often prefer large joysticks. Still, even there, the interest in small joysticks increases because they are, after all, more ergonomic.
”When the customer is ready to opt for a small, multifunctional joystick, we have the product,” says Patrik Widstrand, Sales Engineer at Caldaro, ”and we have refined it to superior standards over many years”.
Read the printed edition of the Gazette #61: