Modifiying a Controller

I recently got an electric wheelchair and after a little work got it rolling around perfectly. i started modifying it to control from an RC remote and/or computer, I wanted to modify the joystick to control any way i choose, and hit a wall when i pulled it apart, i came a crossed a piece that i don't know, it seems like a hall effect sensor but i don't know and was hoping someone here could help point me in the right direction.
The part controls for the F/R L/R motion of the chair with with a piece of bowl shaped copper, the activates a motor when it comes near one of the bumps, it will do this with a screw drivers as well.
i was wondering if there is a simple way to replace this with just 2 pots, so that i can later replace them once i decide which way i want to control it.
any help will be greatly appreciated, or any suggestions of a simpler way to modify the control as well.
thanks

i attached a few high res pictures of the part

Is the joystick variable speed? Like you can go forward at full speed any anything all the way down to zero speed. Or is it all or nothing? If it's variable, I've never seen anything like that before that uses the distance between hall sensors or magnetic sensors like that before. If anything I would guess it's capacitive, but I've never seen anything like that before either.

You could just remove everything between the mechanical joystick up to right before the motor drivers and stick your own circuitry in. Or wouldn't it be easier to measure how the outputs of the joystick respond to the positions so you could resuse the unknown joy stick assembly? Because whatever it does, it seems a far more durable and wear resistant than any pots.

this is the joystick, i took it apart to figure out how to duplicate the signals from it, and got stumped,
i would like to replace just this part with a set of IC's that i have that are pots that can be adjusted by micro controller signal.
I know it does nothing when i bring my finger close to it but it does react when the original copper plate or any type of metal is close enough.

I really only want to replace this part, just duplicating the signal its producing and leaving everything else stock.

What type of signals is it producing? Linear analog voltage? PWM? Non-linear analog voltage?

i got everything hooked back up so i could look at the signal this thing is producing, it seems to be a 12 volt signal on the red and black wire, green is no purpose from what i could see. the blue and yellow wire have a standing voltage of 6 volts, and moving the joy stick around causes voltage variations of 2 volts, 4 to 6 and 6 to 8, depending on the direction selected.

A low resolution ADC can reproduce that output. So could a digital potetiometer.

Same Problem

joshua17ss2

Is that a VSI controller? From a Merits Powerchair? If so I have attached the schematic. I am about to start working on the same idea, just wondering how thing are going? I would love to hear about your progress/pitfalls. Thanks.

I has a different controller i think, i ran in alot of issues, mainly the remote for the controller Fried, so i have to go directly to controlling the pwm on the h bridge, im waiting for a new hex inverter and ill be moving forward with that. if that dosent work im just going to find some RC ESC's the can support the motors and make it a remote control toy.

So i havent made to much progress with this just yet, hopefull soon.