Remote display sources for DRO Chinese calipers

Jason,

Useul video but, I'm not sure if you realise this ...

Touch DRO is Yuriy's App, as discussed earlier on this thread.

[apologies if I am stating the obvious]

MichaelG.

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Edit: added link to Yuriy's page

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/12/2013 18:55:49

Update on my scale interface to use with Yuriy's Android DRO.
I now have it working with BIN 6 protocol scales as well as 2 * 24 bit and 7 BCD

Note this picture was taken last week before I added the code to support BIN 6 protocol

Les.

Edited By Les Jones 1 on 16/12/2013 10:39:18

I've just bought a Hudl [£60 on Tesco's "Voucher Exchange" scheme]; but others might be interested to see this from UbiSlate. ... It appears not to have inbuilt BlueTooth, but does have USB connectivity; at £30 this has to be a bargain display for use with Yuriy's App.

MichaelG.

Hi Michael,
I noticed that device to other day. One of the few times an advert on a web page caught my attention. I was going to mention it here but like you I noticed id did not have bluetooth. I have a feeling that I may have seen that Yuriy's Android DRO also supports a usb connection. I have been too engrossed in writing the software for the scale interface that I did not go to Yuriy's website to confirm this. (I was going to say "the interface that I am building" but I am using my old YADRO int4 interface as the hardware together with a bluetooth module in a box with an RS232 converter chip.) All I had to do was connect the two together. I am at the stage of writing the code to select which type of scale is connected to which port and weather fast mode is to be selected for 2 x 24 bit scales. This is done using a terminal emulator running on the android tablet. The program (Sorry "App" in Android world.) I am using is "blue term" which is a free download from Google Play. It has been very useful for looking at the data my interface is sending to the tablet while writing the code.

Les.

Les,

Thanks for the reference to "Blue Term" ... I will investigate.

This is my first foray into the Android world: I bought the Hudl specifically to use it as a display.

Regarding the UbiSlate: I presume it would work with a mini-USB to USB adapter, and a BlueTooth Dongle.

MichaelG.

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Edit: I've just checked Yuriy's page, and he says the current version supports USB  [which I take to mean wired connection works, without the need for any BlueTooth]

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/12/2013 15:19:21

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 20/12/2013 15:21:42

Michael,

That's correct. The app can interface directly with Arduino (and other board via an FTDI breakout board).

Regards

Yuriy

I fitted a pair of DRO's to my WM 16 beginning this year, IIRC Dias fitted the same but may have changed ?

Bought from ArcEuro in Jan 2013 @ £67.50 Inc. p&p,... usual disclaimer, quite easy to fix on to mill & readouts are quite clear enough for me. Whilst I admire & applaud all you guys with electronic expertise (my background being Mechanical & have always left the electrikery side to 'Sparkies' & 'Tiffies)' to make up your own, my ethos is KISS.. Keep It Simple Stupid.

For ref.. **LINK**

See my album 'DRO' for pics of fixing.

George

Hello George, good afternoon.

G: I fitted a pair of DRO's to my WM 16 beginning this year, IIRC Dias fitted the same but may have changed ?

DC: No I didn't change my DRO in my BF20 Vario and thankfully they resisted the effects of the fire in the workshop. After a cleaning of the sliding surfaces with steel wool they work well as usual.

I installed the scales so that the cable exits the read head underneath preventing oil from getting way into the electronics. In your case, as you have good coverage with the U-shaped profile, should have no problems.

Hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Dias Costa

If anyone is interested in Yuriy's Android DRO then I have put details of my interface in my website.
It supports 2 * 24 bit, 7 BCD and BIN6 (HF) type scales directly. It also supports iGaging scales and quadrature scales (Glass scales etc) by using external protocol converters or internal converters built on 8 pin headers which plug in in place of the LM393 comparators.

Les.

Nice work, Les ... Thanks for sharing.

MichaelG. [still trying to catch up]

There is a new Yahoo group dealing with digital readouts in general. It is actually a group that was dormant which has been brought back to life by Tim at "Little Machine Shop" in the US. It could turn out to be a useful source of information on the subject. This is the URL

Les.

Thanks for the link, Les

MichaelG.

I have now put a modified version on my ATtiny4313 based interface for "Yuriy's Android tablet DRO" on my new website. This allows tachometer information to also be displayed with the aid of a tachometer input module.Details of this module are also on this site. Note only the beta version of Yuriy's shoftware supports the tachometer display. I have had to use the new website provider as I have run out of space on my Tiscali website. (You only get 5Mb of space there.)

Les.

Bookmarks duly updated.

Thanks, Les

MichaelG.

Hi All,

I've come across Yuriy's excellent Android DRO and have the components for the basic MSP430 version winging their way to me.

I am however, having trouble finding suitable scales in the UK. IGaging do not appear to have any UK dealers - there are odds & sods on amazon / ebay, but not in the lengths I'm after. I can't justify glass scales I only have a Dore-Westbury Mk1 mill, so 3 glass scales would probably cost as much as what the whole mill is worth!!

The digital scales that Arc Euro Trade sell look very similar to to AccuRemote scales, has anyone had any success with these scales & Yuriy's MSP430 interface? I have been touch with Arc Euro Trade, but they were unable to give me any useful information, at all.

Cheers in advance for any input (and many thanks to Yuriy for his hard work! - BTW: Have you thought of extending TouchDRO to display fractional inches...1/4, 1/2, 3/4, n/8, n/16, n/32...etc...?)

cheers

Paul

Have you looked at the digital scales on warco's site?

Clive

Paul,

They are the same thing (these ones are: http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Measurement/Digital-Readouts-with-Dedicated-Remote-Display). iGaging is a US distributor for various things and their "DigiMag" scales are made by Shahe, as are the AccuRemote scales.

I haven't given much though to displaying fractional sizes but you can convert from fractional sizes to decimals in the app by typing a fraction into the "preset dimension" box or any other input box. If you need to move the spindle/carriage by 1 5/6 of an inch you can type 1+1/6 into the preset box and then move the axis until it reads 0.000 and you're there.

Hope this helps

Yuriy

Apparently I'm not that good at math to move by 1 5/6 you'd type 1+5/6

Hi Clive,

Thanks for the heads up - yes, I have - there was a mention of them earlier back in this thread.

They seem to do 3 types

• cheapest are what appear to be glorified digital callipers - no remote display - coin battery powered and no USB socket.
• next up are what appear to be basically the same scales that ArcEuroTrade sell, but explicitly branded Warco - and only available 2 in sizes (that are far longer than I'd need!)
• Finally the glass scales - about 30% more expensive than the same product in various other places.

In all cases, there is no indication of the original make and/or the data encoding they employ, which is rather important if I'm to try to link them to Yuriy's piece of kit (I don't mind building Yuriy's mixed scale adapter board, if necessary)

Has anyone had any direct experience of using these or any other of the scales (from the cheaper end of the market!) bought from UK sellers with TouchDRO?

cheers

Paul

Paul,

There's also magnetic scales with a price less than glass scales.

Machine DRO sell a new PC interface that works with them:

www.machine-dro.co.uk/m-dro-pc-digital-readout-4-axis-interface.html

Fractional readour is most useful with calipers - say when you are sorting out material from a mixed batch of imperial and metric stock - then for a DRO.

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 26/02/2015 20:39:10