Wayne's Custom Pendant

[Rad Racer]

I have been working on a pentant design for a couple of weeks.....this layout seems to be usable, so I cut the front panel. Thought to use the control pendant for awhile and see how it feels and change it if necassary.

The box is really cool....I got it from EBAY for 6 bucks plus shipping.:D

[sailfl]

Wayne,

Very nice. What do you think you have spent on your new control box?

[domino11]

Wayne,
Looks good. Could we get a little more info for the technical guys?

[Rad Racer]

Nils - I do not have much invested, most the switches and knobs are from old equipment. The joystick is from one of my old radio control transmitters. The only money spent (besides the box) was the the electronic interface....it cost $79 + shipping.

Heath, I am using an interface device that emulates a keyboard. Windows(mach3) does not know the difference....it believes you are pressing key on the keyboard.

Here is some information about the U-Hid device.....I copied it from their website. www.u-hid.com

hope this helps
Wayne


What is a HID?

HID stands for Human Interface Device. This is a term used to describe certain types of PC peripheral, usually connected via USB.
Windows and Mac OS support a number of "native" HID devices using in-built drivers. The U-HID board appears as the following HID devices on the PC:

Keyboard
Gamepad (including analog and digital controls)
Mouse
LED outputs

The way in which the board emulates natively-supported devices means it requires no special drivers or host software, with the exception of LED output control.
The board has 50 connections which can be configured to any of these HID device types providing a truly universal interface. For example, you can connect pushbuttons to generate keyboard keystrokes, trackballs to act as a mouse, pedals to act as analog game controller joysticks, or hundreds of other device types. The PC will see all the devices as something it recognises, so all standard applications will work.
The menu headings on the left give more details of each type of device.

[washedashore]

This pendant is what I am looking for.
Any information to aid me in building one would be helpful. the mechanics I'm good with its the electronics that is my weak point.

Thanks in advance
Joe

[Rad Racer]

Joe,

The heart of this device is called a U-HID (universal human interface device). It is reasonably priced and easy to use. I recommend you download the device manual from the website mentioned above. Read it once or twice to better understand the features and I think you will find it is quite easy to implement.

The pendant shown above is really just a collection of switches connected to the U-HID device.....the joystick is the only analog device.

Although I don't have a schematic for this pendant, I could help you with a quick drawing, once you determine the functions you desire in yours.

Regards,
Wayne

[Rad Racer]

Latest version of Pendant

[lumberjack_jeff]

That is tres cool.

As if my list of things to do needed to be even longer. ;)

[mrghm]

very nice

[EricW]

I've spent way more time reading this forum than my wife would like and this pendant/rumblepad concept is burning a hole in my brain. I'm just not making the connection. Is it just a manual control? If so, why?

[domino11]

You use it for zeroing the axes, moving the gantry to a position to start your cut job, get it out of the way when loading sheets, fine tuning cut speeds, whatever you like, or need. :)

[sailfl]

Eric,

I use mine all the time. I have macros that I call by pushing one button. It is much easier that using the keyboard interface. I rarely touch the keyboard except to login to my computer or to enter a number into mach.

[EricW]

Good stuff!

[Rad Racer]

Here's a close up of my keypad. This is really the heart of the pendant....as it can do most, if not all, the functions required to start cutting a part.

I used the Pokey55 controller for this pendant, its a neat device that is supported by a mach3 plugin. The pendant uses combination of "Brains" programming and VB scripts to make it work. Both are very powerful once your figure out how to make them work:eek:

[Rad Racer]

These documents cover some of the brains and scripts used to drive my box. This should give you some idea of "brains" and scripts if you haven't played with this stuff before.

[AuS MaDDoG]

Very Professional looking unit, well done.

Cheers
Tony.

[chrisd7306]

With the keypad that you are using, are the button icons stuck onto the outside of the button or are they under a clear plastic cover?

The reason I ask is that I am looking for a 4x4 keypad that has the functionality of adding your own icons to each button. I have seen one in the last few months on Ebay but I cannot find again!!! All I can find are numbered buttons.

Can you remember which seller on Ebay did you got the yellow enclosure from, it looks great?

Thanks for any help.

Cheers
Chris

[Rad Racer]

Hi Chris,

The keyboard is made by GrayHill inc.....the cover is a clear overlay design specifically for the keyboard. Not sure these are still available, I purchased a few of these long ago.

These links may help

http://www.grayhill.com/keypads/default.aspx
http://parts.digikey.sg/1/1/77031-keypad-16-key-blank-w-o-legend-88bb2.html

Wayne