Well, on the "Physical Feed Rate Override knob for PCNC 1100" thread Tim asked about the Jog controls, so here it is:
As I mentioned in the other thread, I made a long, very boring video (5 months ago) and never got around to finishing it off. I'll explain why:
This exercise started from another thread (which I can't find) where errors were reported which sounded to me like hal conflicts. Well having sorted that out I decided to buy a Vista P2-S just to see how far I could get. I reported some issues with the Vista software to Lee and he released a new version (V1.2). As you can see from the videos (and there are more) most of the functions are now working, but, and this a big BUT there are a number of reasons why I'm not perusing this project any further.
1) I admit the first point is very subjective - I don't actually like the Pendant! I fully understand that I'm in the minority here but I prefer the Tormach Shuttle. This will surprise a lot of you but I find the Vista Pendant to be just overloaded with functions which I don't need, and those I do need work better for me on the Shuttle and are easier to access and use. I also don't like the idea of the MPG either. Again, this all down to personal preference, but the motivation to continue working on the integration has run out and the P2-S has been back in it's box since recording the last part of the video.
2) The first technical problem was just a hal conflict and was easy to resolve. However, there appears to be a general misconception that anything that works on LinuxCNC should also work with PathPilot - well, PathPilot is LinuxCNC - isn't it? Clearly a Lamborghini Aventador isn't a 6.5 liter V12 - that's "just" the engine, in the same way that LinuxCNC is the engine for PathPilot. Integrating the pendant means dealing with LinuxCNC and also modifying the PathPilot code. The PathPilot code can be modified easily but Tormach haven't provided an interface to program against. Each signal needs to be handled individually programmed into the existing code.
This leads to several issues:
a) I'm not prepared to distribute any Tormach code - open source or not.
b) Some, but not all of you will be willing or able to modify your PathPilot installations.
c) I'm not able to offer any support, either for broken installations or for future PathPilot releases. Nor am I prepared to take any responsibility (remember the pendant has an E-Stop).
d) PathPilot updates will effectively remove the modifications (they'll still be there but not applied to the new version). The files modified to support the pendant will most likely also need to be updated for each new PathPilot release.
The only realistic solution would be for Tormach to support the Vista pendant themselves and distribute the necessary code with each new PP release. Whether or not Tormach are prepared to do this, or whether they have other interests is anyone's guess. I spent just a few evenings working on the code (the video took much longer) so if Tormach and Vista worked together the could get this done very quickly - it's not rocket science. I know Lee would like to support PP but unfortunately there are bigger issues than just getting it working.
I'm sorry if this isn't the result you've been hoping for, I did mention the "bad news".
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