Pendant alternative for LinuxCNC

Hello all,

Just thought I'd share this. Many of my CNC router based projects require a fair bit of manual set-up where I need to position the spindle relative to the work-piece with a certain degree of control/precision.

For a while I've simply hauled my standard keyboard over to the router bed and used the keyboard shortcuts - but the size of the keyboard makes this a rather unwieldy affair. Pendants have never really appealed to me and the keyboard shortcuts that LinuxCNC employs are already pretty comprehensive when it comes to moving the spindle (both continuously and incrementally) and touching off to the work-piece.

Anyway. I found a relatively cheap 24 key USB keyboard that's very easily programmable via a web browser and it now acts as a control console that I can keep on or near to my router-bed at all times. I'm getting a set of matte vinyl stickers printed up to stick onto the blank keys.

I'll post a jpeg that gives you an idea of how I've got mine set up. It's improved my work-flow no end!

Wal.

Edited By Wal Werbel on 07/09/2023 17:12:00

An old wifi tablet might be an option depending on the hardware

Hello Wal.

This small keypad to control LinuxCNC is a great idea. I have wanted to do this for years but never understood how to redefine the keypad keys.

Please can you briefly explain how to do it? quote "I found a relatively cheap 24 key USB keyboard that's very easily programmable via a web browser"

Thank you

Mike

Two alternatives. One is a games controller - I use a Microsoft one with Mach3 and have done for years, it's wireless and has joysticks. For GRBL there is Grbl Controller which is an Android app that links using Bluetooth. Neither speak Linux but both might be adapted?

Hi Mike,

It's an incredibly straightforward process.

1. Plug the keyboard in to the USB port at the computer.
2. Visit the sayodevice.com website where the software discovers the keyboard and updates the firmware.
3. You'll then get an image of the small keyboard layout where you literally click on the button that you want to assign a value to, which then brings up an image of a full size keyboard to choose the button you want to assign!
4. Repeat for the other keys and once happy click Save to Device and that's it.

You can also set the colours of the LEDs individually - I have mine set up so that the keyboard is backlit white when in basic mode, but lights up blue when the function key is pressed and the second layer is enabled. That's neither here nor there, but demonstrates the level of control.

I was going down the road of building my own arduino based mechanical keyboard (and had bought all the bits and pieces) - I'll probably still have a play with doing that, just as a learning exercise, but this 24 key off the shelf works so well I can't see how I could make an improvement!

Wal.

Thank you Wal.

So it's simply a question of buying the right keypad and visiting the 'sayodevice.com' website. Wow! think I know what I will be doing next week.

One more question. Do you replace the full size keyboard with the keypad or can you run both together?

Thanks again

Mike

Edited By mike T on 08/09/2023 09:47:57

Hi John,

Yep, I've seen this done and thought it looked fun. The wireless aspect is very appealing! I think you could perhaps add a small bluetooth transmitter to the keyboard and a receiver at the PC, but it's rare that I use the full bed of my machine, so I just keep it wired and sat on top.

How easy is it to switch between incremental and continuous jog? The nice thing about the keyboard is that 'i' and 'c' toggle between the two modes and subsequent presses of 'i' lower the increment (ie. 5mm / 1mm / 0.5mm / 0.1mm / 0.05mm etc) and FN 'i' acts as a SHIFT 'i' and raises the increment. I take it you can press one of the keys to get that functionality?

This small keyboard also allows for typing basic commands into the MDI (or selecting previous moves from the history), so adds a bit of extra versatility.

Wal.

Hi Mike,

I run both together - the full size one sits over with the PC and the small one sits on the router bed.

Yep - at that aliexpress link you'll find a number of different keyboards - the one I've described above is the 24 key version.

It really is that easy. I was thinking that it was going to be a flaky and unreliable process and was really chuffed when it worked! I wouldn't concern yourself with trying to get LEDs to flash etc. - that part seemed a little quirky - solid colours work just fine, though.

Feel free to drop us a line if you need a pointer.

Wal.

Hello Wal,

You have a PM waiting in your mail inbox.

Mike

Hello Wal

Where did you go to get the set of custom matte vinyl stickers printed, which stick onto the blank keys?

Mike

Edited By mike T on 08/09/2023 22:18:00