TIG Wireless Foot Pedal.

I'm exploring the idea of making a cordless foot pedal for my TIG to allow it to be used more conveniently and usefully removing a trip hazard at the same time.

The only real stumbling block that I can see so far, is finding an available transmitter/receiver arrangement that basically mimics a potentiometer and can be cannibalised for my purpose. Everything I have seen to date seems to use up & down buttons to vary resistance in increments, rather than by what I need, which is the current position of a rotary control. In essence, I think I need a wireless potentiometer.

Can anyone point me in the right direction please?

Martin.

High frequency start can interfere with radio!! not sure if it will effect your setup though.

I fitted a small pot to my tig torch, I roll this with my thumb, I did this due to a foot injury.......

have a chat with your local music shop ,most of the various affects pedals that guitarists use are now radio type ,so i am sure they could be modified, for your purpose, will.

I wouldn't bank on any radio link working within range of a wide-band spark-gap transmitter = welder.

Neil

Stick with the cable solution, unless you happen to be an expert on sorting out EMC and RFI issues.

Andrew

Thanks for the replies everyone.

These things are commercially available from Miller Welders and one or two others, but at great cost for a mere hobbyist. Their offerings work in the 2.4 (or 2.5) ghz frequency range and maybe this helps with regard to suppressing interference from the machine and its arc?

Whilst I'm no electronics engineer - or even electrician come to that, I don't mind 'wasting' some time on this in an effort to see what can be done, so if someone could point me towards a wireless potentiometer type device, then I'm willing to give it a go.

Cheers.

Martin.

Perhaps something from radio control hobby stuff? Modern transmitters are sending digits which should give better security against interference and a receiver with servo is efefctively a potentiometer? Perhaps even at the really cheap end of short range infra red controllers?

One method that MAY work would be to do the following. In the pedal unit have a potentiometer feeding a voltage into the ADC input of a micro controller (Such as an ATtiny2313.) Then output this via the serial port as an 8 bit value to a Bluetooth module which has been paired with another blue tooth module. The second Blutooth module would be connected to a second micro controller at the welder end. (Again via the serial port.) The second micro controller would need to have a built in DAC converter to convert the 8 bit value back to a voltage. (Or you could build an external DAC.) You would then need to find out how to interface this voltage to the welder. (You would need the schematic of the welder.) As Andrew says close to an electric welder is a very harsh environment for radio communications so Bluetooth may not work. Before you start you cold see if a Bluetooth linked worked close to the welder with a laptop and a Bluetooth device. (Such as a Bluetooth keyboard.) Another possible approach would be to use a model radio control transmitter and receiver with with a servo driving a potentiometer. Using infra red communication between the pedal unit and the welder might also work if the receiver was well shielded from the light from the welder. For either of these methods you would need to learn electronics and possibly programming micro controllers. So unless you want a real challenge I agree with Andrew that you should stick to a wire link.

Les.

I've just taken a look at an R/C model aircraft 2.4 GHz receiver If I supply power to such a device and use a suitable transmitter to control it, does the receiver output a voltage from the chosen channel that is proportional to the joystick/rotary control position?

Thanks for the help.

Martin.

No, it outputs regular pulses with a pulse width proportional to the joystick position.

Infra-red might be a better idea - or maybe not...

neil