As novel three dimensional Hall sensors are being developed, it is important to be able to demonstrate their working principles and applications to other researchers and potential investors. One such application is seen in joysticks, which are more durable and reliable when they are made with Hall sensors compared to traditional potentiometer joysticks. In order to develop the joystick, readout mechanisms for multiple commercial Hall sensors are developed first. A joystick design configuration and permanent magnet are selected based on requirements and magnetic field simulations. The joystick is 3D printed and a demonstration screen showing the position of the stick and a moving ball is developed. The joystick has a delay of 9 ms, a maximum pitch of 61°, a resolution higher than 1° and an average error of 2.4° for the pitch and 1.59° for the rotation angle. However, this error may be due to the way the angle was physically measured, rather than errors in the measured magnetic field. Overall, the resulting joystick prototype functions more than sufficiently as a demonstrator.

Currently, the testing procedure for 3D Hall sensors at the MUSIC lab is time-consuming, labour intensive, and is susceptible to systematic errors. There is a need for an automated, accurate, and repeatable test setup for 3D magnetic sensor characterisation. That is why the objective of this thesis is to develop a control interface that allows users to define arbitrary magnetic field vectors and perform 3D magnetic field sweeps on a Hall sensor placed in a 3D Helmholtz coil. The development was performed in three stages: calibration of a 3D Helmholtz coil, development of a 3D magnetic field sweeping script, and validation of the system by benchmarking measurements from two commercially available 3D Hall sensors against known magnetic fields. The 3D Helmholtz coil was successfully calibrated, finding that the generated magnetic field strength of 2.87mT corresponds to the maximum relative uncertainty of 2%. A LabVIEW script was developed, enabling users to generate 3D static magnetic field vectors and 3D magnetic field sweeps with definable orientation, resolution and strength. Lastly, the system was validated using two commercial Hall sensors, confirming its stability and accuracy for testing other Hall sensors. This system can be used for repeatable magnetic sensor evaluation in research, with a versatility that can benefit various sensor configurations.