FYI - A longer pedal travel is NOT easier to modulate. A perfect brake system with no travel is the easiest to modulate! The human body can regulate with force feedback much easier than displacement feedback.

Sit in a modern formula car or sports racer and check out the brake pedal. To an IT car it feels like you're stepping on a piece of solid frame!

BTW, some of the more modern industrial control systems us joysticks with built-in force transducers instead of lever operated potentiometers for their operator control. The stick doesn't move, but the signal changes based on how hard you push on the stick. It is amazing how much more control you have compared to traditional joysticks with displacement feedback.