Engineering Rigor & Testing Methodology
We believe in transparency. To bridge the trust gap in hardware diagnostics, we are open-sourcing our exact mathematical algorithms, API constraints, and hardware telemetry architecture.
1. Data Architecture: The Web Gamepad API
Our entire diagnostic suite operates on the W3C Gamepad API standard. This is a low-level browser interface that reads direct USB/Bluetooth HID reports without requiring driver installation.
The Polling Rate Limitation
Because we rely on the browser's requestAnimationFrame loop (tied to your monitor's refresh rate, typically 60Hz to 240Hz), we cannot natively measure 1000Hz polling rates with the standard Gamepad API alone. True 1000Hz+ measurement requires our experimental WebHID bridge, currently available only in the Polling Rate tool.
Connection Variance
Wired (USB) connections bypass the Bluetooth stack protocol overhead. A controller tested over Bluetooth may show artificially lower resolution or higher latency. Always test via USB-C when conducting RMA-level diagnostic evidence generation.
2. Stick Drift Calculation Math
Stick drift is calculated as the Euclidean distance of the joystick's resting point from the absolute origin (0, 0).
driftPercentage = (distance / 1.0) * 100
We sample the drift vector over a 5-second interval and apply a low-pass filter to reject single-frame jitter. If the resting drift exceeds 0.05 (5%), it crosses the threshold where in-game deadzones typically fail to mask the hardware degradation.
3. Circularity Error Algorithm
Circularity error measures the physical constraint boundaries of the joystick's gating ring. Perfect mathematical circularity has an error of 0%. Standard ALPS potentiometers (PS5/Xbox) typically yield 10-14% error.
We calculate this by recording the maximum radius achieved at every degree (0-359). We then compute the average radius, and the error is defined as the maximum deviation from a perfect unit circle:
4. Telemetry & Data Integrity
Our reliability baselines are a modeled reference, not a claimed dataset. Incoming community telemetry is strictly curated — we reject anomalies (e.g., drift > 80% which indicates a completely broken or uncalibrated axis, not standard wear) before they join the aggregate.
All data is hashed locally and stripped of any PII. The Controller Passport stores your specific device's UUID purely in your browser's localStorage; we cannot identify your individual hardware.