Accuremote or igaging

Hey Sixball, there's always help.
It boils down to what you need and/or want along with factors like budget.
First question would be what length of scales do you require for your machines ???
The longer the scale needed, the shorter the list of what's available.
Personally, I went the "Touch DRO" direction. It's been a struggle only in the fact that when I bought my scales, I didn't know they weren't supported by the Touch DRO APP. This will soon be corrected.
I won't go into it here, but if you'd like more details, shot me a PM and I'd be glad to give you my thoughts/help.

Oh, don't let something like the lack of a calculator affect your decision. There are plenty of dedicated machinist calculators available out there like this one: http://home.scarlet.be/mini-draaien-frezen/engels/program-01.html
 
Thanks for your fast reply. I have read about many of your adventures and it took me back a few years to when I bought a circuit board kit to run ignition and fuel injection for a truck project. (Megasquirt) I sat at a work bench for days soldering hundreds of tiny colorful pieces to the board. When done I down loaded software. Then I connected it to a dedicated laptop and the truck. In the next few days I attempted to set all the parameters of the system and ultimately s#!%canned the whole thing. I'm pretty much done with DIY electronic projects. I get lost in all the terminology. The tools alone are challenge enough for me.

My mill/drill is a Jet-16. Movements are X-16.5" Y-6.75" Z-5". I'd like a system that makes them work together and display on the same device. It is all hand feed. I want it to tell me where I am and where I headed. I need small scales that I can make fit if necessary. I've seen nothing that would work better for me than the Igaging set on eBay for about $130. I'm up for the Blu-DRO. As for a display I'm confused. I assume all programing is in the Blu DRO or Touch DRO. So a cheap tablet will be the display? Can that be mounted to the machine? Is there a calculator in the program?

When this is done I will put one on my lathe. I just want to be able to fix stuff without making long time consuming trips to shops where guys don't want to be bothered with my piddly projects. We make our own electricity here so everything runs on 120v. It doesn't all run at once. It is my job to make the water from the springs run into the tanks and out of the house, to keep the sunshine moving into the batteries, keep all the machinery & vehicles going and maintain 2 miles of dirt road. In my spare time I build a hot rod or two. It's out of need but it's all for fun. I could move to town if I wanted. Tom
 
I bought a set from Amazon, Amazon glass scales. Seller “ Selene Allure” custom cut, I paid an additional $20 for a 1 micron cross slide scale, which works out better for diameter readings. They cut the scales perfectly, sent the scales and head fedex, got it in about a week from Honk Kong, couldn’t be happier. I had a few questions about calibration (manual is horrible) and they made a couple of YouTube videos to show me the detail. I have an iGaging ((non stainless still available from micro-mark) that I put in my pm932 quill since the stock was a little hard to read, for $35, couldn’t go wrong seems accurate enough
 
I know what you mean. I have a Clausing 8520, although larger than your mill/drill, the axes travel is similar to yours. Glass scales can be a good option, even some of the Chinese models, but they tend to be physically larger and can result in loss of axis movement space. Another problem is unless you can find some at or close to the size(s) you need, you have to cut them which isn't an easy thing to do and if not done properly will result in turning your scale to scrap.
For budget, I get the impression you’re like me and not willing/able to drop $2,000+ on a DRO. There used to be more options out there, but the influx of cheap Chinese scales killed quite a few of them.
That brings me to iGaging scales and the Touch DRO App, a subject I’m somewhat familiar with. I don’t have the experience to do a valid comparison between the App and a dedicated DRO display. That said, Touch DRO has come a long way with available options and has a large community behind it making it better all the time. In fact, Yuriy is in the process of making a new version of the firmware as we speak adding new requested features: https://www.yuriystoys.com/

If you don’t want to make your own controller, by all means just buy a pre-built one. One word of caution though, the boards inside these controllers are NOT set up to be re-programmed. This would only become an issue if later on you needed or wanted to change scales, they might not work with the programming on the board you choose. However, if you build your own using either Arduino or MSP Launchpad platform, it’s just a matter of connecting the board back up to your computer to install the new program.
If you desire/need scales with a smaller footprint than iGaging scales, there are options like this from “The Little Machine Shop: https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=5497&category=-1536942993
Higher cost than iGaging, but smaller and can be used with Touch DRO with either a DIY controller or pre-built one.


As for your questions, Touch DRO is an App that can be installed on any Android device (I don’t believe Apple devices are supported) and communicate to the controller via Bluetooth so you can mount it to your machine or anywhere else you desire. The App also has the capability of being set-up and remembering preferences for up to 6 different controllers on different machines allowing for a single display device to be used or purchase multiple devices, one for each machine if you wish.
As to the calculator, I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking. Are you referring to the add/subtract/multiply/divide type calculator ??? Then no, it doesn’t. You’d have to expand on this question for me to try and give you a proper answer.
 
OK, I'll just buy a decent shop calculator. For me it would be good to ALWAYS know where it is, like bolted to the machine.:D

The major problem with the MegaSquirt was that it was a Windows only program. I've always had MACs. I had to buy and learn to use a stream of old laptops from eBay that could support the version of windows for the project (easy) and one that would also work with our Hughes.net satellite crap to download from the internet. (not so easy). For this new project I could get help from one of my sons.

I'll go back to Yuriy's link above and see what sense I can make of it. If I get the iGaging set I can make it work as is while I am learning. I can find a suitable tablet and download the Touch DRO app? I can look into shielded cables and see what I need to do to connect to all. Is there a physical device like the Blu DRO between the scales and the read out? Is the total purpose of the Touch DRO to display the three lines on one screen? Also can the scales be powered from the tablet. OK, if its Bluetooth there is no physical connection. See I already figured something out and the cables have to connect to something that is not the tablet. See how fast I learn? :cool:

Thanks to you both for your help. I really don't want to order anything from outside the Country. I really got burned on a wind turbine from Australia years ago and I prefer to deal with people that I can actually get my hands on. :mad: "Don't make me come down there!":D My son is setting up a shop and he has done some of this on his old machines. He's the one who prodded me.
 
Just make sure the tablet has an Android operating system.
Some of the things I really like about the Touch DRO App is that it's free, open source, and expandable. While I don't believe the type of calculator you want is part of the App currently, it could be added later if enough people are interested and someone is willing to create the code for it. I do know he recently added a "Gear Calculator" function for gear tooth cutting.
Go to his website and look around. There's a forum you can sign up for on there. Most of the recent stuff is on his Google+ forum, but with Google+ shutting down in a couple months, he's been busy backing up and moving everything over to the forum and what will be a new Facebook page. I'm not a Facebooker, but I am on his website forum.

I think you already figured it out, but the scales and/or Tach plug into the controller. The controller takes all the input from the scales & Tach (if installed) and sends it via Bluetooth to your tablet. There the App takes the data from the controller and puts it in a format like this:

287055

If you touch the 3 vertical dots up in the top right-hand corner, you can go into "Settings" where there is a lot you can change about the display, select 1 of 6 "Preference Banks" where you can set up your preferred default settings for 6 different machine or multiple set-ups for the same machine if you like.
While not completely functional without being connected to a controller, there are quite a few things you can look at, change around, play with just by installing the App on your device. You can even rename the Axes if you want.
 
I've been poking around on his site this evening. I think I'm getting it. Yes, much of what I was calling a calculator is actually part of the program.
I'm still confused because much there is from years ago and refers to different scales and new functions are unclear. I would assume that programed boards come with the newest version of the app. If I have this part right the Blu-DRO is plug and play but can not be updated. With the completed Touch-DRO The program is ready to go but I have to `provide an inclosure for it. Also I'd have to remove the mini USB end connectors and use screw connections to hook up to the scales to the board.
I'm now thinking iGaging easy view scales, Touch DRO, and an approbate tablet. Possibly shielded cables and I'd have to supply my now power source for both board and tablet. At this point does the board power the scales or are they still on batteries?
 
Blu-DRO is nothing more than someone who took Yuriy's pre-made boards and put them together inside a 3D printed enclosure basically making it a plug-n-play unit. The program on the boards hasn't really changed much except for a few code improvements or different models that were made for newer popular scales to allow them to work with Touch DRO.
You can see on his site that there is a different model controller to work with iGaging scales and another for use with quadrature style scales and yet another for mixed style scales.
You don't have to cut the USB connectors off. All you'd have to do is get 3 or 4 mini-B USB breakout boards like these from Sparkfun: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9966
Just have to solder 4 wires to the mini-B boards and put the other end of the wire into the screw connector on the board.

For all practical purposes, the controllers and the App are two separate entities. Any updates to the App usually don't require any update to the controller. The only exceptions would be for the addition of support for new hardware that would plug into the controller or if new, better code for the controller was written. Even then, it will still work, just not with the new code or hardware.

Once you decide on which scales you want to go with, myself and probably many other would be happy to help you with which DIY or pre-made controller board you need or any other help you may need. Yuriy is even a member of this forum. His ID here is "ycroosh" and he is willing to help others when he can. I know he's helped me out more than once.
 
So I would update the app on the tablet and the board stays the same? The Tablet will need an internet connection or maybe I could copy it onto a zip drive.

It looks like the breakout boards would make the inclosure bigger. It might be better to cut the connectors off if I can clearly see which wire is which. That is easy enough. Also looking at shielded cables if I have to mess with it anyway.

I'll get this all ordered next week. I'm sure there will be mounting questions. I'll keep looking here and other sites for more information on how to use it all. Next month I'll be ready to put one on the lathe. It is all clearer now thanks to you!
 
Touch DRO App doesn’t need an internet connection to run once it’s installed on your device, but it would require one to install any updates that were made to the firmware. This really isn’t an issue since pretty much every tablet and smartphone out there comes standard with both WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities.
If your home internet connection uses a wireless router, all you’d have to do is have your device set up to connect to it via WiFi whenever it was within range and the App would auto-update if required. If you don’t have a wireless router you can just plug it into your computer via USB cord for the same result.
Even without an internet connection in your home, it would be just a matter of taking your tablet to a place of business that has free, open WiFi such as McDonalds, Wal-mart, etc., and it would then auto update the App.
If you plan on going the Blu-DRO route then no, the encloser wouldn’t be large enough to add the USB breakout boards. It wouldn’t need them anyway as it comes with them already installed. However, I did read that they build these using the newer style micro-B connectors.

I’m not sure what type of USB connectors that iGaging uses on the cords for their scales anymore. They might be micro-B or they could still be using the mini-B type connectors. This still isn’t an issue since you can use an adapter such as this: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...208&sr=8-3&keywords=mini+b+to+micro+b+adapter

Just be sure the male and female ends of the adapter are correct. For example, the Blu-DRO has female micro-B connectors, so if your scales have mini-B cords you would need a male micro-B to female mini-B adapter. If the iGaging scales come without shielded cables and it becomes an issue that they would need replaced with shielded ones, they may be hard to find. The cords they used to come with were a male to male mini-B style cable. The only place I know of that carried this type of shielded cable was D-Cables: https://www.dcables.net/

If you’re planning on building a controller yourself, you can buy what is called a “Project Box” to mount the board and connectors in. Just be sure it’s a plastic project box not metal. Metal can cause issues with Bluetooth signal, acts like a Faraday cage. Another thing to consider if you’re planning on building your own, use a Proto-shield like this: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2077
These are just PCB boards with a lot more holes to solder things to and are designed and sized to just plug into boards like the Arduino Uno using header pins.

If you’re concerned about trying to put a controller together, by all means just order a pre-built Blu-DRO. While the code on the board can’t easily be changed, it’s highly doubtful you would ever need to. While the App itself gets frequent updates, this doesn’t affect the operation of the controller in the least bit. The controller is nothing more than a combiner/translator. It combines the output of the scale axes, Tach, probe, etc. and translates it into a binary language that the App can understand. Worst case going this route would be the need to order a few USB adapters in order to be able to plug your scales into it.
For me, I didn't have a choice. Blu-DRO wasn't even conceived of when I bought my iGaging scales. Even if it had been, I unknowingly bought a set of the original iGaging Absolute Origin scales that were completely incompatible with Touch DRO as it uses a 52 bit absolute position protocol. A friend of mine from work and I have spent the last 3+ years decoding the protocol these scales use and writing a sketch that will allow my scales to be used with Touch DRO.
 
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