Interfacing an Arduino-based pendant

[sansbury]

I've been hacking away on an Arduino-based pendant which I am planning to document both as an open-source project and which I might offer PCBs for. This youtube video shows the current iteration of the prototype which includes all the typical pendant functions, plus some pretty cool stuff like an LCD with a 3D DRO display, all over a single USB cable.

YouTube - Arduino EMC Pendant II
Now, the catch with where I'm at right now is that it only works with EMC2. The reason for this is that the Arduino microprocessor communicates with the host PC using serial-over-USB, rather than native USB. There is a Python "driver" program which runs inside EMC that translates messages between EMC and the Arduino and vice-versa.

What I am curious about is how I might go about interfacing something like this with Mach. My understanding is that Mach does not natively support the serial port, but I am wondering if there is some kind of API I could use and write my own driver for. I am looking to keep this as simple as possible, largely to make it easier for end-users to hack their own hardware, and so I'd really like to keep the firmware the same regardless of the program the pendant is driving.

The simplest way I've thought to do this is to use hotkeys in Mach and then have the pendant trigger keypress actions on the host PC. I haven't tried this but know how to go about it. The only problem with this is that it only handles input from the pendant, and I'd really like to keep the output functions that work with EMC.

If anyone could point me towards some documentation or other materials on this I'd be very interested. I've gotten a lot of interest from the EMC folks on this project, and if I could make it work with Mach3 as well I think that'd be really cool. As it is, the prototype above is probably not more than $100 of hardware at retail prices, and I think a complete kit priced at $200 or less is very doable.

Also, I do know that the newest Arduino boards are capable of native USB, but this is new and it's not clear this would be easy for people to hack. I'm trying to preserve the simplicity of the architecture for end-users so that they can do their own mods without too much support or additional tools. The core Arduino toolset is really good for this.

[Lucariel]

I am enthusiastic about the work you performed for the realization of your jog ...

I would like to create a system similar to yours but unfortunately I could not find enough information on the Internet to achieve a functional result.

I wanted to ask you know I wanted to share with me your work.

I need some complete sample configuration to understand how to adjust everything to my needs.

If you can please you updated in the results I achieved as they'll bring `the project forward.

Thanks in advance

Luca

[radiantheat]

i have an arduino mega (1280 not the new one) interfaced to a mach3 screen set i wrote . I have set up a modbus program on the arduino and i have programmed it to emulate a pokeys 55 controller. Results are great. I posted a set of my programming on the mach3 forum / modbus. the software as posted is very early with many BIG bugs, but it works. I have a much more advanced version now, but unable to post at this time. (banned from forum due to me being a hothead). will post here after holidays. now working on a smoothstepper imitator addition, going well but max steps now only 10,000 per sec.

my email

vinny@radiantheat.com

[zafarsalam]

Modbus, Arduino, Mach3 and Brains..oh my at Buildlog.Net Blog

Interesting notes on Arduino and Mach3 hookup using Modbus.

[zafarsalam]

I've been successful in making Mach3 and Arduino Uno talk to each other. The key here is the modbus. Vinny's modification of the sketch for RTU modbus on Mach3 forum helped a lot. Thank you Vinny!

Analog input, analog output, LED's, buttons, DRO's are working perfectly. MPG is also working with a slight hitch. I'll get a 4x20 LCD module today and then try to hook it with the Arduino.

Zafar