Just curious if anyone is using the pendant feature of UGS?
Wireless control of jogging and such…
Just interested in trying it out.
Cheers!
Lumpy,
I don’t use the UGS pendant feature, but I use a wired X-Box controller (using an old PC that doesn’t have Bluetooth) with JoytoKey. In UGS you assign the keyboard shortcuts you want to use. Then in JoytoKey you assign joystick movements to send the keyboard shortcuts to UGS. I assigned movements that move in X, Y, and Z, change the step sizes, change the step rates, and return to home. Took some head scratching to figure it out. If you’re interested I’ll send you the files for the way I have it set up - should save you some steps.
Bill
3 Likes
Lumpy, here’s a little more detail.
I use a wired XBox controller. Amazon link - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBX1R55/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In UGS, go to TOOLS > OPTIONS > KEYMAP, and enter the shortcut data you want to use. I think it’s best to use odd combos of keys so you don’t accidentally type them while in UGS. The ones I use are
Use the Minus on the keyboard number pad for SUBTACT. The Shift+ entry on the Send line is a mistake from making the screen grab and I didn’t use it. You could use it for starting the cut, but I thought it was a bad idea to do that when not looking at the monitor.
Download and run JoyToKEY (freeware) and set up the keys and joysticks on the controller to match what you did in UGS. This is a little confusing, so you can duplicate what I did by first downloading the JoytoKey folder from my DropBox, https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6j6eqsnej436j1k/AABBCZw9Lp4hskrvlrMkwmVya?dl=0, and putting it in your C:\USERS(YOURNAME)\DOCUMENTS folder. When you run JoyToKey UGS will show up in your Profiles column. Click on it and minimize JTK.
When you’re all set run JoyToKey then run UGS and your controller will control all three axes, the step sizes, and the step rates. The big button in the center will be Return to Zero. The flat joystick right and down from the XY joystick controls the step size, and the big flat buttons on top control the rate. Make sure verify on the monitor what you think you did on the controller for safety sake. I’ve accidentally hit the INCREASE STEP SIZE button once more than I thought and it can be exciting.
Hope this is useful.
Bill
1 Like
Bill: Does this just plug into a USB port on your PC/laptop? I’ve been looking for something like this, but did not know what to look for. Tks for this.
Yep, just a USB plug. It’s a nice long cord so you can move around. There’s a bluetooth version if your PC has bluetooth. It’s a whole lot easier than dealing with a keyboard or mouse.
I’ve been using the pendant and it’s a handy feature. When you click the icon a qcode displays which you can scan to activate the pendant on your phone. I find it quite handy for setting up and controlling jobs away from the computer. Worth a try definitely.
2 Likes
Awesome info Everyone! Thanks for sharing!!!
Cool, didn’t know how that worked. Will definitely give it a whirl. Thanks.
1 Like
I just wanted to shout out a thank you to BillKorn. I found a logitech F310 game controller on sale locally and after a lot of telephone time with Logitech, I got it to work with their software. Actually, they never did figure it out. I spent more time that I would like to admit and finally got it to work.
If anyone here ends up with the same controller and logitech software, I can save you a lot of time setting it up.
It’s slick now that it works.
2 Likes
Thanks gwilki. I started trolling YouTube and the internet as soon as I ordered my LongMIll, so I stumbled on lots of interesting stuff, some of which I thought I needed to look into further. When I saw how useful a pendant could be I looked for the cheap way, using a game controller with freeware keymapping software.
I set up an X-Box controller and JoyToKey with the Arduino I flashed with GRBL so I could test it before the LongMill came. I’ve been using them with the real machine since I got it running and have been pleased with the results. I would suggest getting the bluetooth controller, but myPC is from the 20th century and doesn’t have bluetooth.
Anyway, glad I could help.
1 Like
Bill: Have you figured out a way to map the xyz probe function to a keyboard shortcut, then the game controller?
I guess I didn’t think of doing it because my PC and mouse are located immediately to the left of the front left corner of my table so I’m right there placing the probe block anyway, but it does sound like a useful addition. There are unused buttons on the Controller, but I don’t think there’s a keyboard shortcut for the probe actions, only the probe module. I’ll have to look when I get home.
Bill: I’m using you. 
I don’t think that there is any way to assign a keystroke to the “find edges” command in probe, either. Without that, I can’t assign a button on my controller. I was just hoping that you were smarter than me and found a way. In the list of keymaps, I can only see one to bring up the probe module.
I was wondering if there is some way to program a macro to do it. Then we can assign a key to the macro???
Well, I gave up on the F310, Bill. It was just too glitchy. However, I’ve had a wired keypad kicking around since a former life keying in many numbers on a laptop. I used the map feature in UGS to map its keys to the Mill’s functions and it is working very well.
Other’s here may find this useful, and an very inexpensive way to be able to be up close and personal to your job while controlling the Mill.
An extra keyboard work well. You can also get small wired/wireless keypads so you don’t have to move the full size one around. I’ve been pretty satisfied with the game controller.
Gwilki, did you use JoyToKey like Bill did? Same or similar configuration? Or did you just straight map it to UGS? I just ordered a keypad like yours. Also downloaded JoyToKey. Any help appreciated. Tired of using a USB wired mouse and trying to watch a 17" monitor 4’ away. Definitely think this will help a lot.
1 Like
There is no need to use joytokey, since I’m not using a joystick. I just used the key mapping feature in UGS. It worked first time out. I did labels in photoshop, printed them to sticky labels and stuck them on. You can’t map the esc, tab, calc, numlock and enter keys. I didn’t map any keys with numlock turned off, but that would give you the same number again. I figure that I’m OK with what I have. So far, so good. If I can be of any help, just let me know.
1 Like
Thanks gwilki. I will give it a shot and see what happens when it gets here. Do you still have a regular full sized keyboard hooked up? If so does that affect using the remote keypad? I guess seeing as how it’s wireless USB it will operate independantly. Did you have to remap the keys or use the UGS defaults? I found some labels on one of the forums while researching using the pendant feature. I’ll attach a jpg but it’s a pdf so I can send to anyone that wants it. This person used some now defunct program to map the keys so some of them can’t be used. Also the black squares are for helping to hide the original keys so they don’t bleed through. Just glue it behind the keypad overlays before cutting out.
H: I didn’t use the UGS defaults. If I recall, they use ctrl+ characters, which don’t really lend themselves to a keypad. I started a new profile, deleted all the defaults and created my own mappings.
I do have a keyboard hooked up. I use the computer for more than just running UGS. I have a wired mouse, too. With the keyboard, I just need to remember that, if UGS is running, the keypad numbers are no longer numbers, they are UGS controls. I’ve goofed a couple of times.
I saw that set of stickers on Instrutables, but decided on my own. He did his on paper and used glue. I did mine on waterproof labels that I got on amazon. Each label is a full sheet, size A4. I did them big enough that I didn’t need a backing to black out the key character. The label itself does that. There are lots of ways to skin this cat. Have fun.
1 Like