Next gen Xbox gamepad CNC pendant

Fast response time. Intended for actually cutting, threads, tapers, radii, rigid tapping. Graphical interface, teachable positions, proportional joystick, run your machine without mouse or keyboard.

When I need a machine it is often for a one off piece that I design partially by feel as I cut. For this, a manual machine is superior to a CNC machine with an awkward manual interface, but CNC machines are awesome when you need CNC. To this end I designed a manual interface to give a CNC machine the welcoming feel of a fully equipped manual machine, on steroids.

If you share my experience in this this respect maybe you will be interested in reading the attached user manual I wrote for the gamepad controller.

Best wishes
Patrik

Is there a sample config or some hal files that go with this? I can't seem to find anything that matches this setup.

Hi Tom
I appreciate your interest. There is a bunch of scripts with this, hal, comp and python. I have not made an effort to make it easily transferable to other machines.

I received this picture from the owner of the company that ordered the system. He was pleased to relax while the lathe was running the G71 code for a hefty propeller axle coupling. He told me:
"I used a program only for the center part and finished off the ends manually with the controller."

I am very pleased that the work payed off and he utilizes both CNC and manual cutting in actual production.

Nice. Interesting stuff and nice manual let's me know some of linuxcnc capabilities. Just trying to learn and maybe borrow stuff to try to make an automatic welding lathe. Figured the xbox controller would be nice for a teach pendant. I'm thinking that the proportional sticks and triggers are the way to go.

Out of interest, which G71?

My G71. Don't you remember me doing a remap a while back?

Well there are at least two others:
The built-in one from Ben Potter: github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/tree/BenPotter/G71
And then my own remap (looking at a pocketing algorithm)
github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/tree/andypugh/g71type2remap
The latter has docs,,
github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc/blob/andypu...ughing-cycle-turning

Nice docs.
I wanted to deliver a solution where the profile is compensated for the tool radius. I could not expect the customer do do the maths or offline work to compensate for the tool. The fillet radius feature is nice in that respect too.

Patrik T wrote: Nice docs.
I wanted to deliver a solution where the profile is compensated for the tool radius.

I think this is why it should be done in the main source code (as the Ben Potter version does).
It would be possible to do radius compensation in the remap Python, but then it is done in two different ways in two different places (and, possibly, it would get done twice).
My idea was to test out the algorithm for a TypeII G71 as a Python remap and then move the algorithm in to the C and then integrate the radius compensation.
But I never got round to it.

A reasonable approach. Could have saved me a tonne of work, had you got round to it. But then I would have been one experience poorer