[mvaughn]

You guys impress me so much with your abilities and generousity.

Have you guys ever put together any schematics for a joystick control that goes inline between the computer and stepper driver?

[abasir]

No, I haven't done it but have thought of it.
Two ways to do it:
1) Just plug the joystick and the software will use it (like Mach2?)
2) Joystick operate independent of the software (in which case positions information in software is incorrect once you use the joystick)
Which one are you referring to?

[mvaughn]

I was referring to option 2.


I have seen some schematics for sale at buildyouridea.com however I was wondering if there were any free plans in existence.

I wasn't aware that Mach2 was able to do option 1. Can TurboCNC do that as well?

[abasir]

Not on version 3.
I haven't tried version 4 yet. May be if you post in TurboCNC section, someone else can advise

[mvaughn]

I was hoping to attract the attention of Phil, to see if he had done anything like this.

[ESjaavik]

It's on my project list. Quite simple, so it may even be realized in the not to far future. Depending on how how great my desire for running manually turns out to be.

Then as Abasir write: the program will not know. In my case it's for manually running the mill without even turning on the PC. For going through the PC and control program, look for the thread on pendant that is active now.

[pminmo]

mvaughn,
How do you envision this to work? A 2 axis joystick that controls two axis? Proportional, i.e. full movement of the joystick to the right, moves the coresponding axis to full right? Not thought much about it, but a wheel for each axis might make sense? Or one wheel and a push button you hold for the axis you want to move while the wheel controls the movement. Actually incorporating the capabilities that a duaghter board could plug into the interface board, might not be a half bad idea.

Phil

[mvaughn]

Thanks for the interest Phil

Here is the link that I had originally seen the joystick

http://buildyouridea.com/hardware/jo.../joystick.html

I'm sure there are a ton of nifty little functions that this could provide. I was just interested in a way of manually jogging the machine into position.

I was going to attempt building this joystick at the link above, but I found it to be more than I could wrap my brain around. :drowning:

[High Seas]

Are the trim buttons (chinese hat) on top of a joystick grip proportional? The real ones are - if so then I'll have what I'm looking for when I complete this:


The round button (dingus" is also called a chinese hat - as the shape is similar to the hats coolies wore) The round button is the same as that you'll find on the top of a stickgrip - in a aircraft - or on a joystick. It acts as a mini joystick in that it moves the same way. Any help in my previous cryptic post?

[High Seas]

continuing....
The center round "dingus" is from a joystick and when using the "KeyWiz/IPAC", it'll be inline via the PS2 plug and switched at the board interface. Seemed like the easiest approach for me -- some of the other eletctonic solutions were a bit too much for me (yet). Cheers - Jim

see above post for the hat and trim.
Dingus noun A word frequently used to describe an object when the appropriate technical term is not readily known. syn; thingamabob, doohickey, thingie.

[mvaughn]

I don't know what these terms are referring to in this situation. Can you clarify?

1. trim buttons (chinese hat)
2. dingus

[pminmo]

I guess my thoughts right now would be to build a daughter board to plug into the existing 4 axis open source board, then a small cable comming from that to a pendent. The board would plug into the 4 IDC axis connectors and would have 4 IDC connectors that would then cable to the motor driver boards. A switch to select computer cnc control or pendent. Question would be the actual controls. Probably the easiest to implement is 4 push buttons which would select axis, and a rotary control that you would "scroll" to move the selected axis in the direction of the scroll, and maybe a 5th switch for a fine/coarse adjust. (i.e. in corse it might move an .5 inch per scroll revolution, in fine 16 or so steps per revolution. You could put a board/box inline with the DB25 connector, my concern there would be someone trying to use it with an interface that has the DIR and Step lines/axis no compatable.

Thoughts?

Phil

[HuFlungDung]

I'm not sure if you guys are talking about machining or simply moving the axis, without the PC running, with a joystick.

Why bother? Is not jog mode within the cnc interface adequate for "manual machining"?

It usually pays to plan your moves (i., write a program first) rather than making it up as you go (teach mode).

[ESjaavik]

I primarily want the first, so I can do simple operations without the PC. The keyboard does not survive long in this environment, and I don't like those completely flat, membrane-button industrial keyboards at all.

Or maybe it's just because I miss the handwheels, or that I think it would look cool with more buttons and a joystick. Maybe I should look for a good shrink?

You're probably right Hu. And it is a good way to practice coding. Then if I get good and fast, I might control my model airplane using G-code too!

[mvaughn]

My original thinking was to use a joystick to get the cutting tool into position. The keyboard is a little awkward and cumbersome.

I have no interest in doing any manual machining with a joystick.

[pminmo]

mvaughn,
What kind of control electronics are you using?

Phil

[HuFlungDung]

Mvaughn,

If you want to use the joystick to position the cutting tool, or to do tool length offsets and work offsets (eventually), then you'll need to have the cnc controller running while you do this. I was confused because your earlier choice of "option 2" indicated otherwise.

There are gcodes available to get your machine from the home position into the workpiece's coordinate system, without turning off the cnc

I like the idea of a joystick for jogging, but I'm not sure how precise you could be with it. When you're setting up a tool length offset for a $250 thread mill, the last thing you want is "rough jogging" with a joystick You would need a way to change the resolution of the joystick "on the fly" so you could get down to very low jogging speeds, then switch back to very high jogging speeds. I think that the pulse generator concept is ideal for this type of precision jogging.

A joystick would be ideal for moving a robot arm, a motion that is less cut and dried. But on a regular cnc, jog buttons are practically as handy for rough jogging. Just IMO.

[ynneb]

My original thinking was to use a joystick to get the cutting tool into position. The keyboard is a little awkward and cumbersome.

I have no interest in doing any manual machining with a joystick.

I also delayed in posting an answer because I thought you wanted to do work independant of a computer.
You can buy a PC game pad, similar to what you might get with a playstation.
If using a program like Mach2 you can use the keygrabber to asign functions to all the buttons on the gamepad.

So for instance you wanted to jog the machine to a corner of your work-piece
and then set it to zero, you could have a button asigned to set all axis to zero. Is this what you were hoping to do?

The game pads are very cheap. About 15 bucks. They plug in using the usb port.

You may have noticed the current thread about making a pendant. In reality it will be a gamepad, but set out more to suit a cnc machine, and have more buttons for more features.

Have I understood your question?

This one below is a cordless version that I have thought to use. In actual fact I have emailed the company to see if they would sell just the componentry so that I could remount it into a custom designed pendant control. This way it would be easy to build and alow easier identification of all the buttons.

[pminmo]

The only thing I see wrong with the gamepad approach, is the computer has to be on. What if you just want to jog the machine without the computer. (why I don't know)

Phil

[ynneb]

The only thing I see wrong with the gamepad approach, is the computer has to be on. What if you just want to jog the machine without the computer. (why I don't know)

Phil

He he, I dont know why either, but I have a manual jogger for when my machine is swithed off. I call it an arm.

EDIT:
I guess my only concern with the cordless gamepad is the rare possibility of a stray signal actuating the machine independantly. I dont know if the signal is so encrypted that the chances of that are neglegable or not ? Or if it is infrared, line of sight control.