Bought a USB joypad at a garage sale

Trackballs work very very well as a jog controller. Just a heads up....

Gunner

"A conservative who doesn't believe? in God simply doesn't pray; a godless liberal wants no one to pray. A conservative who doesn't like guns doesn't buy one; a liberal gun-hater wants to disarm us all. A gay conservative has sex his own way; a gay liberal requires us all to watch and accept his perversion and have it taught to children. A conservative who is offended by a radio show changes the station; an offended liberal wants it banned, prosecuted and persecuted." Bobby XD9

I am overjoyed to report, that this joypad is working really well, after some bumbling and stupid mistakes due to not following manuals.

This is much better than just a trackpad. I control X, Y and Z. I also have about 8 buttons that I can program to do whatever I want.

Right now I have two buttons for SPINDLE START and SPINDLE STOP working. In addition, I have a CYCLE PAUSE and CYCLE RESUME buttons already working.

This is really, really tremendous and amazing what I get for $2 on a nice Saturday of August. Just $2 and three hours of typing stuff and I have a nice milling control pad. These devices cost about $10 everywhere else, which is negligible for the value that they bring.

ALL HAIL EMC2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

i

By the way, I wanted to add CYCLE START, but I changed my mind.

I think that it is too dangerous due to joypad's nature.

i

========= You seem to be making good progress. Nice find on the trackball.

Some quick questions for both you and the group -- have you used the blackplot/simulator function in EMC2 yet? Will this run "stand alone, i.e. no machine/controller card/hardware attached? By any chance have you tried the

simulator? Any feeling how these compare? When I retired I lost my access to a cnc machine, but still get the urge to program from time to time, and simulators are the next best thing. I currently use cncsimulator and for a free program this works well.

-- Unka George (George McDuffee) .............................. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author. The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).

Yes, the price is not really a big deal here, what is so nice is the value that this joypad brings.

You mean, EMC's drawnig of the G-code toolpath? Yes, I use it all the time.

If you run ubuntu 10.04, then all you need to type to install this is

GET

| bash

It will install a simulation version of EMC2.

I have not tried it, I do not have a suitable Windows computer.

I do not know if it will work for me, as I know write big (for me) G-code subroutines and I am not sure if this simulator can handle that.

i

========== Thanks for the feedback. I just downloaded the EMC2/Ubuntu BDI install.

-- Unka George (George McDuffee) .............................. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author. The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).

You can set up regular Ubuntu 10.04 32 bit and install EMC2 on top of it

\i

Here are the instructions "for dummies" on how to install this joypad with EMC.

If I had this instruction when I started, it would take me much faster to set it up.

Hi: You may want to check out:

It's a nice optical encoder to USB device.

Also look at http:freshmeat.net/projects/evrouterfor Linux support.

I've been using one, for about 4 years, and no ploblems. The driver module is "powermate.ko"

Interesting. With X, Y and Z, spindle on and off, and feed hold/resume, this joypad pretty much does what I want. I am already happy. If I add a 4th axis, I will add functions to jog the rotary table too.

Here's another type of jogging pad that you might want to consider:

It's based on a standard game pad controller, but has been marked by Tormach for the axis and step functions. In Tormach's implementation for a Mach3 controller, clicking on one of the axis keys selects that axis. Rotating the outer ring moves the axis continuously in the + or - direction with the jog speed increasing the more the ring is rotated. The ring is spring loaded so it snaps back to position once relased. The inner disk with the finger depression moves the axis in increments of 0.0001" to 0.1". The Step keys toggles up and down the range of increments. It works pretty slick on my Tormach. You can probably find the generic OEM version cheaper, but I like having the functions labeled.

I like being able to move my mill around, using two mini joysticks that I can move with my thumbs. Left moves Z, right moves X and Y. It is like playing a computer game. Very easy and to the point. I can move in 3D without switching axes. Altogether, I think that it is more convenient than this Tormach joystick, though it is a nice one. Plus I have pause and resume buttons. Feel free to stop by and see how it works.

i i

Be careful with that spindle on button. Consider the situation where you are doing a tool change and the spindle starts due to the joy stick falling, something falling on the joystick, or hardware malfunction.

The machines I deal with are enclosed with a door interlock system, your machine is open.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Ignoramus7071 fired this volley in news:HfadncdoqNeWkvXRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Thanks, Ig. I'm following your every move. Good stuff.

LLoyd

All hail inexpensive PC based CNC control!!! :)

EMC2 and Mach3 are both derived from the original EMC and both have about the same capabilities, just running on different OSes. There are a few others out there, but they are fading away a bit due to EMC2 and Mach3.

doing a tool

machine is open.

Yes, the cat or the kid pressing the button which you're wrenching the QC lock wouldn't be good. I'd suggest that spindle start and stop should be done with "hard" buttons mounted to the panel under the monitor, and preferably the buttons with the raised collar around them so they are bump resistant.

Wes, I agree 100% and I will disable spindle on.

i

machine is open.

>>

Take a look at the X-Keys products, there are some nice programmable and importantly *labelable* keypads with job/shuttle wheels and joysticks available for reasonable prices. If it isn't obvious in the pictures, the clear keycaps pop off and you can print nice labels to place under them for a very custom appearance.

doing a tool

machine is open.

I'm following Iggys input with interest as I'm a bit behind him in refitting a smaller stepper driven mill with EMC2. I like the idea of the game controller and in the case of my mill it has a full rising front shroud with safety interlock which will be kept and that'll be linked in with the estop to prevent such issues with the motor or anything else being inadvertently started when the shroud is raised.