Between $50-60
Between $60-70
Between $70-80
Up to $100
Up to $200
Any reasonable price so long as it was good.
AHHHH - at last, a use for those steppers out of disk drives? Small, cheap, and available!Originally Posted by Greg Fill
Jim
Experience is the BEST Teacher. Is that why it usually arrives in a shower of sparks, flash of light, loud bang, a cloud of smoke, AND -- a BILL to pay? You usually get it -- just after you need it.
IMHO, stay away from the RF2.4GHz wireless pendant at this stage for the following reasons:
a) RF2.4GHz is getting very crowded with cordless phones, cordless mouse, CCTV, etc. Interference issues will have to be addressed, in addition to the electrical noise generated by our stepper motors, servos, spindle motors, etc.
b) ID control will have to be incorporated to avoid signal collisions when multiple pendants are in used in the same shop.
c) Will add additional cost to the pendant.
Stupid questions make me smarter...
See how smart I've become at www.9w2bsr.com ;-P
That is a very good point indeed. So is the solution not to be cordless, and to have a seperate cable that splices off the control cable to then be able to be fitted to the Estop of the controller. (not via the computer )NB: It will not fill the requirements for Estop even if using this strategy, so you cannot put a button on the remote and call it Estop.
Now you have scared me a bit. I didnt consider this at all. I wonder what the legal consequences would be by supplying such a pendant. I wonder if we could get around this by issueing a warning that this pendant is not to be used to operate a machine and the user must use it at their own risk. ( I hate buracracy that limits just been able to do something ) This is another reason why it may be a good idea to supply it as an easy to assemble kit. This will put the responsibility onto the user who assembled the pendant. I guess by making it a kit it would limit the potential buyers too. But I would imagine the assembly to be just a matter of plugging in the components and not having to do any soldering.
Hmm........lots to think about.
Being outside the square !!!
Benny I have a friend who used to be in the firearms manufacturing business and got a special order that he was a little concerned with. He contacts his attorney and asks him to draw up a disclaimer agreement that both parties could sign. His attorney's response....Why? That is a pre-admission of guilt!
This sue happy world we live in, especially here in the US, is killing the entrepe...entrap...inventors in all of us. Spelling died a long time ago!
Mike
No greater love can a man have than this, that he give his life for a friend.
I would definitly avoid wireless. Even the biggest most expensive commercial CNC's that could use this option avoid it for a reason.
Darek
Agreed, I would not like wireless. I have a static phase converter and a frequency inverter, and they both put out a lot of noise.
(Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)
No no this is not a forgotten project, I am still trying to work out the best method of producing the interface board.
Being outside the square !!!
I possibly would be interested in purchasing one of these pendant kits when you guys finalize a design. It would be really handy to have something like this.
How would it connect to the PC? Serial port or USB?
I should mention that I would like it to be capable to run a 4 axises. The 4th being a rotary axis.
Wouldn't one of those programmable USB keypads that you can buy be
a good choice for a pendant? They are already built and test plus they usually come with the software needed to run them.
Here is a link to one that I was looking at:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...2660&CatId=536
I have seen a few fancier ones but just can't find the links to them at the moment.
Carl
Beezer, you just took all the fun out of this project...but thanks for the tip.
Here is a cheapee for less than $50 delivered. PS2 not USB but....
http://www.fentek-ind.com/keypad.htm#kp21ps
(Why reinvent the wheel when there are other things that need to be invented?)
Any reason to not use something like this?
Those are good links guys. Thanks for that.
No it doesnt take the fun out of the project at all, actually I am relieved.
I guess we can now close this project since there is already a few cheap alternatives out there.
Thanks again
Being outside the square !!!
Just my luck sol. I ordered one of those USB keypads, in the link I posted, today and now you post a cheaper one. HEHEHE. Wish I would have known about that one earlier. I just can't win. LOLOh well. I liked the idea of it being USB anyways.
Other than the E-Stop not being Real but a software version, aren't these keyboards a decent alternative?
(He asks before hitting the "Buy" Button)
Ynneb...
Can't close the project yet.. you can't get out of this so easily....
The point of this was to design a Pendant...
.. we still want a Pendant controller.....not a keypad...otherwise may as well use a game Joystick.
Those keypads are not the same even if you can program the keys.
The purpose of this was to develop a Pendant Contoller
Mondog has a point! What about using the hardware from the el-cheapo PS2 keypad, and re-designing the housing with a new membrane keypad? you must have been half way there already?
(Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)
Ynneb...
the I-Pac controllers were right for the job.. just needed to find a suitable case and switches....
Benny I too agree with Moondog. I spent almost 10 minutes today setting up one job because i don't have a pendent and my machine is so large. In addition to that my control pc is in a seperate room. Lots of walking back and forth.....don't you quit!
Mike
No greater love can a man have than this, that he give his life for a friend.
food for thought
Hey Benny,
What is it behind every diy project? Cheap, scarce, fun, practical? I pick knowledge. My boss asked me the other day: why didn't you just convert one of our mills, instead of building your own? My answer: what could I learn from that? I made my machine from scratch and I'd like to make any additional parts for it the same way. Well, mostly. But next time you're trying to figure out why the heck you're doing something, remember: its easy to go out and buy the thing, understanding it requires that we make it some times. The other side of the coin? Once, I lived miles from town (this was after I had a car, but thats another story). I had just got my first lathe. Knew I could make the screw I needed for the job at hand. Had to sit down and figure out which cost more: Making the screw or going to town to buy it. In that instance I found that going to town was cheaper. But, I still figured out how to turn threads (without benifit of cnc) at better than 400 rpm on my lathe... eventually. So, don't give up on a good start. Maybe it will eventually cost a little more. But what will you gain? In the future, you will not be easily turned away from new challenges, you won't quickly give into the idea that you can just go out and spend money and you just might learn something!
All the same, man, good luck and keep trying!
Doug
Yes I agree aslo. Don't stop working on the project. Even though I bought this programable keypad I still would like to have a proper looking and functioning pendant. I only bought the keypad to experiment with and to give me something to work with till the time a proper pendant is ready. I have been playing around with the keypad for a day or so and I'm finding it is no substitute for a proper pendant in the long run. So keep at it and keep us posted on your progress.
Carl
Although more money than the target goal, here is a pendant with joystick.
http://www.xkeys.com/xkeys/xkcontrol.php
Posting Permissions
Reply with Quote
