Alps Alpine's product lineup includes stick controllers that combine many years of expertise in the potentiometer field with original mechatronics technology. These constitute our ThumbPointer™ product line, so named because you can operate them in any direction using just a thumb to perform analog input. We introduce ThumbPointer™ here, including the new RKJX2 Series.

Types of ThumbPointer™

ThumbPointer™ is currently available in three varieties.

We introduce the types below.

RKJXV Series

These are our standard stick controllers, used in more than 80% of the world's stationary game consoles. The RKJXV Series, besides being compact and robust, has improved lever return precision, which is important for gaming.

RKJX2 Series

The RJKX2 Series is a compact version (with 53% the projected area) of the RKJXV Series introduced above. It works in the same way as the RKJXV series, but is smaller, achieved by moving the resistive elements from the sides to the FPC on the base and using a metal contact in place of a TACT Switch™ for the push switch.
The new series has smaller dimensions than the RKJXV Series, which is used widely in household game consoles, but retains characteristics required of gaming stick controllers, including specifications for lever stroke and return precision, operating life, and lever push strength. This allows the same operability as household game consoles to be achieved on mobile devices.

Performance Comparison: RKJXV and RKJX2

Type	Tilting stick controllers
Series	RKJXV		RKJX2
Dimensions (W×D×H)	W17.8×D21.3×H11.2mm (Height incl. lever: 18.95mm)		W13.7×D14.6×H7.8mm (Height incl. lever: 15.6mm)
Lever stroke	±23 degree
Operating torque	14±10mN・m		7+5/-3mN・m
Return precision	6.3% max
Operating life	2,000,000 cycles
Lever push strength	98N
Push switch	With	Without	With

In addition to the ThumbPointer™ for analog input, Alps Alpine supplies a variety of switch-type multi-control devices.