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Pendant for Black Box

Discussion in 'Controller Boards' started by John Fisk, Apr 30, 2019.

  1. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Has anyone found a pendant with will plug and play with a Black Box? I like working with a pendant.

    Tex
     
  2. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    You can use your phone, tablet, ipad etc to connect to it remotely via a web browser. Peter has just added more functionality to it.

    Also recently added were keyboard shortcuts so you can make/buy a pendant and control via a keyboard emulator. That's how I'm going to add buttons to it.
     
  3. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Shawn,

    I am more of a mechanical guy than an electronics one. Therefore, are you saying that I can plug a keyboard into the Black Box or to the laptop only?

    Does the Black Box have wifi?

    Tex
     
  4. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    Sorry. I'm talking about OpenBuilds Control. There's no pendant specifically for the BlackBox, but a lot of pendants interface with whatever software you are using anyways. If use OpenBuilds Control, see above. Most of the other grbl control software I've seen use a similar approach.

    So, lets start again. What software are you using to connect to the BlackBox?
     
    #4 sharmstr, Apr 30, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2019
  5. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Shawn,

    Thanks,

    I plan to use OpenBuilds Control. I would then just load this on my phone, tablet ....in my case I think I would load it on my tablet on top of Windows 10.

    I wonder if there is a smart pendant which would allow me to load OpenBuilds Control there, just dreaming?

    Tex
     
  6. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    OpenBuilds control runs on your desktop/laptop running windows, linux or mac. Its a webapp that loads a webserver. If your phone or tablet is on the same network, you can connect via web browser that will bring up a jog interface.

    [​IMG]

    You are dreaming ;)
     
  7. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Shawn,

    Are you aware of a pendant that will interface to OpenBuilds Control. I see a bunch of them for other control software.

    Tex
     
  8. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Can I load OBControl on my Windows 10 Tablet?

    Tex
     
  9. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    There is no official pendant. But you can use your phone as a pendant (refer to image above for what that looks like) or another device that allows you to map keystrokes to buttons (think gamepads with key mappers). You can even use your a wireless keyboard as a pendant. It runs on Windows 10 as long as its x86 based and not ARM based. (@Peter Van Der Walt is this an acceptable answer?)
     
  10. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Shawn,

    My current cam software in Vectric which will use a bunch of different post processors to export G-Code. When I want to do some heavy duty design work I use Blender.

    What is my best software approach to work with Black Box:

    1. Use OpenBuillds Cam for all my design work, then into Control?
    2. Use Vectric to generate G-Code with your recommended post processor and open/import it to OpenBuilds Cam
    3. Use Vectric to generate G-Code with your recommended post processor and open/import it to OpenBuilds Control

    Are you aware of anyone who has used an All-in-one touch screen computer with Windows for the OpenBuilds software? I am worried about dust and my laptop.

    In reviewing OpenBuilds CAM, I see it deals with a lot of 2D or bitmap file formats. What 3D files will it import, stl, obj, dae...?

    Tex
     
  11. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    I dont use Vectric or Blender so I'm not the best to ask. I know a lot of people here use Vectric so I'm sure they have an appropriate grbl post processor. Your workflow would be Vectric to gcode to Control. Others should chime in here.

    Peter, they guy who wrote OB Control recommends a Pipo X10: CONTROL v1.0.156 Issue I've been thinking about picking one up as well.

    I dont use OB CAM but it doesnt look like you can import any of those. And based on what you've said, not sure why you'd want to go the OB CAM route either.

    For what its worth, I only use Fusion 360 for both CAD and CAM. Just so you know who you're speaking with :)
     
  12. NthAxisWorkshop

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    Hi y'all. The cellphone pendant thingy is pretty cool. You could also try a usb gamepad to your pc and a keymapper like Antimicro or JoytoKey. More tactile this way without the Android touchiness. Works pretty good for the most part. Here's some more info...
    gnea/grbl
     
  13. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    NthAxisWorkshop is correct, as we allow Keybindings, ANYTHING that generates "keyboard" keystrokes will work.

    We don't intend adding specifics like hardware pendants, or special keyboards/gamepads/other HID devices at this time, as most can be made to work like a keyboard.

    OpenBuilds CAM is meant as "beginner" 2.5D CAM - to get your feet wet. If you already have Vectric, you'd have no interest in it (;

    OpenBuilds CONTROL is just a GCODE sender, you are not locked into using it either - its also meant to be beginner friendly, but if you are a pro, and looking for more features, feel free to google "Grbl host software" = there are hundreds, personally i'd say checkout bCNC, CNCjs, Universal Gcode Sender 2/Platform as alternatives
     
  14. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    If tablet is x86 based YES , Windows on ARM needs a recompile on the device

     
  15. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    We should also mention that your tablet would need a usb port to connect to the blackbox.
     
  16. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Shawn and Peter and All,

    Thanks for the quick and quality responses.

    My goal in this pendant discussion is to keep dust out of a PC. I see 2 ways to do this:

    1. Reduce dust to zero, virtually impossible at a reasonable price.
    2. Get rid of the PC. My current cnc is a Shark 2.5 HD which has a pendant attached to a closed electrical box. The pendent has a usb to load g-code and the electrical box has all the control hardware and firmware. I develop projects between Vectric and Blender. I have even thought about buying a second Shark pendant and controller to run my new cnc, though this is pricey.

    Any other thoughts on achieving this goal.
     
  17. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Does anyone have Raspberry Pi running on Black Box. It seems doable with Universal G-code Sender on the Pi?

    Tex
     
  18. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    I think what you mean to say is use a raspberry pi to connect to the blackbox. Yes that is possible. I've used it with UGS.
     
  19. NthAxisWorkshop

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    I use a small, dual core signage machine with Windows 7 Embedded Standard. Got it pretty cheap off of Newegg a while back. It's fanless, has wifi, usb and rs232 ports and runs my PlanetCNC software flawlessly. Also use a small intel based NUC and a couple raspberry pi for several 3d printers. Yeah, the dust. Gets in everything... the NUC, all the ports unless you stop 'em up. But that signage computer is sealed tighter than a drum. Good investment.
     
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  20. NthAxisWorkshop

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  21. David the swarfer

    David the swarfer OpenBuilds Team
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    How about attaching some furnace filter material to the PC so that the air getting sucked into the PC for cooling is dustless?
    IT does need to have a large area so that the air is not slowed down.
     
  22. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Thanks for the feedback.

    I have tried the furnace filter approach but a lot of dust still gets through.

    I was thinking about getting an all-in-one touch screen with windows as one approach. Good to know that a Pi can work as well. I can put a touch screen on the Pi too.

    Tex
     
  23. John Fisk

    John Fisk New
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    Will OpenBuilds software run on Windows CE?

    Tex
     
  24. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    I don't think so. NodeJS doesnt list CE as supported: nodejs/node

    You need at least
    - WebGL capable GPU
    - Pretty decent CPU (streaming gcode timeously without delays ensures smooth machine motion)
    - OS that supports Electron Electron | Build cross platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. and Node nodejs/node
    - x86 based CPU (we only provide precompiled installers for x86/64 based hardware, ARM or other platforms, you need to do all the compile work yourself.)
     

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