[Marankie]

Hello,

Is there a product I'm unaware of that simply records 1 dimensional coordinates using a usb pen? Kinda like a drawing tablet without the tablet.

Id like to transfer measurements from a cardboard/paper template to cad so I can cut the piece on my plasma table.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Greg

[keebler303]

I'd think a ruler would suffice.

I'm not aware of anything specifically for the task. The old ball mice used encoders which could be hacked calibrated to give you a distance. You could also setup something with an encoder like this: Model TR1 Tru-Trac

There are lots of options. I guess it depends on how accurate you need it, what lengths you are measuring, how you want the measurement to get to your computer, etc.

Matt

[easymike29]

A digitizier-tablet is what you are looking for. They're not cheap but you can occasionally find them for free.

digitizer tablet - Technical definition of digitizer tablet

Gene

Edit: Sorry, you already said you didn't want a tablet.

[easymike29]

I know you want to use a usb pen but have you considered using the mouse as a pointer and issue the Trace command?

Gene

[Marankie]

Hi Gene,

I'm not familiar with this procedure. Could you please elaborate?

Thank you.

Greg

[easymike29]

Hi Gene,

I'm not familiar with this procedure. Could you please elaborate?

Thank you.

Greg

You could rig up a pointer on your mouse and using the sketch or trace or ? command and click your way around your template creating a polyline on the screen. Then edit the polyline with the fit command to turn the little line segments into smooth curves.

Gene