T-DRO won’t let tablet sleep.

[RaisedByWolves]

If there were nothing in the code keeping the tablet awake, it could go dark while you're in the middle of a cut and creeping up on a specific measurement. Worst case it could cause you to ruin a part, but it would at least be annoying. Certainly having it as an option would be ok, but by nature, there's going to be power available where it's being used, so I just keep the tablet plugged in my little stand on the mill table. Sometimes I unplug it if I want to move it, but it mostly stays powered all the time. Yes, this isn't necessarily great for the battery depending on the hardware.

Why would it do that while it is clearly in use?

I do t see this happening at all given it won’t shut down playing a game (as mentioned) or surfing the internet(also mentioned).

Almost all of the DRO,s I’ve used, and I’ve used a lot, have carried position when the head is powered down and the table is moved.

Unless this is not a feature here(I believe it is, but if not it should be) this should be a non issue.


As to leaving it plugged in all the time, that’s not workable in all situations. I use my tablet for several machines and cord issues arise on one machine.


I DO NOT want a dangling cord or any type of non secured cord anywhere near a lathe chuck.

This is why read head leads are screwed into the head unit.

 

[ycroosh]

Why would it do that while it is clearly in use?

I do t see this happening at all given it won’t shut down playing a game (as mentioned) or surfing the internet(also mentioned).

Almost all of the DRO,s I’ve used, and I’ve used a lot, have carried position when the head is powered down and the table is moved.

Unless this is not a feature here(I believe it is, but if not it should be) this should be a non issue.

Because form Android's perspective "in use" means that you are touching the screen. The OS doesn't care if the screen is changing or not.
With TouchDRO (if you're using it as intended), you should be hands-free most of the time. I.e. set up the workspace/layout, turn on auto sub-datum selection, and go.

To be clear, the flag to keep screen on works ONLY when TouchDRO is in the foreground. It is per app. You'll notice that some other apps do this too. Many higher-end tablets have a feature that uses the camera to recognize your face, and as long as the camera registers you staring at the screen, the tablet won't go to sleep.

As I mentioned, one could set screen timeout to something very long, but that means that you would know that this is a thing, and how to do it. Many don't, and screen turning off in the middle of an operation can be a major inconvenience. TouchDRO will preserve the position and any of it's state, but if the screen goes blank when I'm single-point tapping a 10 TPI thread into a blind hole, blank screen would at least mean a scraped part.

But going back to my earlier comment, when you are done, tap the power button. I don't leave my tablet running when not in use, and don't find a button click to be too burdensome.

Regarding carried position - how does that work with other DROs? With glass/magnetic scales, the scale would need to be powered up. I understand how one could save last known position, but unless a DRO has a backup power source, any movement will desynchronize the scales. I haven't seen this on any of the import DRO's I've touched. Do the "big guy" DRO's come with a built in battery?

Regards
Yuriy

 

[ycroosh]

I have developed the super human ability to randomly, but consistently, stick a semicolon at the end of the line of any language that doesn't want it, and leave one out on any that does. I hear this is not a unique power.

So this VERY off topic, but at work I get to use a mix of Scala, Python and Ruby. TouchDRO is written in Kotlin and the website is JavaScript + grunt/assemble. Scala and Kotlin are VERY similar (both JVM-based), so I mix them all the time (-> vs. => is the bane of my existence). Out "support tooling" is in Python and testing framework is in Ruby. I often get to use both in two side-by-side windows. This twists my brain into a pretzel 100% of the time

 

[ycroosh]

So if one were adventurous and wanted to change the code to let the tablet sleep, what line would be changed and to what.

I’ve dabbled in video game script in another life and would be game to try this and see if it works better for me. Or if it even works at all.

Worst that could happen is I need to un/re install?

It's the very last line in that screenshot. Removing it will disable the "keep awake" feature, or one could wrap in into an application setting.
The problem is that there 48.5K other lines of code that you would need, and I can't/won't share them.

Regards
Yuriy

 

[mchasal]

I DO NOT want a dangling cord or any type of non secured cord anywhere near a lathe chuck.

I think Yuri addressed the shutting down issues, so I won't repeat, but there's no reason the power cord would need to be dangling. Every DRO head I've seen (though I am admittedly a novice machinist) has power and signal cables going to it and you just secure the cables so they don't interfere with anything. No reason you couldn't do the same with the single cable the tablet needs. If you're moving the tablet between machines, just dedicate a cable and power supply to each machine and secure the cable in place. You'll need a couple inches free to plug into the tablet, but shouldn't be hard to keep that bit away from the spinny bits even if the tablet is unplugged.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Because form Android's perspective "in use" means that you are touching the screen. The OS doesn't care if the screen is changing or not.
With TouchDRO (if you're using it as intended), you should be hands-free most of the time. I.e. set up the workspace/layout, turn on auto sub-datum selection, and go.

To be clear, the flag to keep screen on works ONLY when TouchDRO is in the foreground. It is per app. You'll notice that some other apps do this too. Many higher-end tablets have a feature that uses the camera to recognize your face, and as long as the camera registers you staring at the screen, the tablet won't go to sleep.

As I mentioned, one could set screen timeout to something very long, but that means that you would know that this is a thing, and how to do it. Many don't, and screen turning off in the middle of an operation can be a major inconvenience. TouchDRO will preserve the position and any of it's state, but if the screen goes blank when I'm single-point tapping a 10 TPI thread into a blind hole, blank screen would at least mean a scraped part.

But going back to my earlier comment, when you are done, tap the power button. I don't leave my tablet running when not in use, and don't find a button click to be too burdensome.

Regarding carried position - how does that work with other DROs? With glass/magnetic scales, the scale would need to be powered up. I understand how one could save last known position, but unless a DRO has a backup power source, any movement will desynchronize the scales. I haven't seen this on any of the import DRO's I've touched. Do the "big guy" DRO's come with a built in battery?

Regards
Yuriy

I get turning it off, but I forget to do this at times and come back a day later to a dead tablet that then wants to be charged for a while before I’m able to use it.

This is admitted a user issue, but I’m trying to manage with my disability(forgetfulness) as best I can.


I would have to assume the big $$$ units have some type of capacitor or battery, but really I just know what they do.

Maybe only the readout gets shut off, so I’ll try unplugging a couple and see if there is any difference.

I honestly thought T-DRO did this, but I may be disremembering and thinking about the backup battery for the inductive scales.

Which brings up another question. Do you lose position if there is a power outage?


If this were the case with industrial units no one would buy them. Imagine losing data while working on a 30k part due to a power outage.

That would be very bad.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I think Yuri addressed the shutting down issues, so I won't repeat, but there's no reason the power cord would need to be dangling. Every DRO head I've seen (though I am admittedly a novice machinist) has power and signal cables going to it and you just secure the cables so they don't interfere with anything. No reason you couldn't do the same with the single cable the tablet needs. If you're moving the tablet between machines, just dedicate a cable and power supply to each machine and secure the cable in place. You'll need a couple inches free to plug into the tablet, but shouldn't be hard to keep that bit away from the spinny bits even if the tablet is unplugged.

Pretty sure I covered that.

They are semi permanently attached with screws and the power cord is easily zip tied to them

That is the back of a $400 unit that conforms to osha regs and our company policy.

This is an excellent unit and will possibly put some competitors out of business.

The power cord on these units are a ***** to remove specifically due to the risk involved if it were to come loose.

And yes I understand this is the hobbiest forum, but safety and the potential to be maimed by even a small lathe if caught off guard cannot be understated and should not be overlooked.

 

[mchasal]

Yes, I understand the screwed connectors, but that doesn't do anything about the cabling. I'm certainly not dismissing safety, but I don't see how that's an issue if you zip tie the power cord to the mounting for the tablet only leaving the minimum necessary free to make the connection, just like the unit you pictured is doing with the non-secured power plug. Even if the usb cable were to come loose, unless you're mounting the tablet 3" from the chuck/work, it should never be able to be caught in anything if the cable is secured.

Does your tablet have wireless charging? If so, or if you replaced it with one that did, you could have wireless charging pads hard mounted and cabled at each machine and then you'd get power just by setting it on the stand.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

It's the very last line in that screenshot. Removing it will disable the "keep awake" feature, or one could wrap in into an application setting.
The problem is that there 48.5K other lines of code that you would need, and I can't/won't share them.

Regards
Yuriy

I get turning it off, but I forget to do this at times and come back a day later to a dead tablet that then wants to be charged for a while before I’m able to use it.

This is admitted a user issue, but I’m trying to manage with my disability(forgetfulness) as best I can.


I would have to assume the big $$$ units have some type of capacitor or battery, but really I just know what they do.

Maybe only the readout gets shut off, so I’ll try unplugging a couple and see if there is any difference.

I honestly thought T-DRO did this, but I may be disremembering and thinking about the backup battery for the inductive scales.

Which brings up another question. Do you lose position if there is a power outage?


If this were the case with industrial units no one would buy them. Imagine losing data while working on a 30k part due to a power outage.

That would be very bad.

Update to this.

One of our industrial electricians happened to wander by and hear me and my lead man discussing this.

When our EDM was installed 10yr ago the whole shop was upgraded to a UPS system to provide as he described it low current high voltage UPS so machines wouldn’t lose position/critical programs during power outages or when out sun station got quarterly maintenance.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Yes, I understand the screwed connectors, but that doesn't do anything about the cabling. I'm certainly not dismissing safety, but I don't see how that's an issue if you zip tie the power cord to the mounting for the tablet only leaving the minimum necessary free to make the connection, just like the unit you pictured is doing with the non-secured power plug. Even if the usb cable were to come loose, unless you're mounting the tablet 3" from the chuck/work, it should never be able to be caught in anything if the cable is secured.

Does your tablet have wireless charging? If so, or if you replaced it with one that did, you could have wireless charging pads hard mounted and cabled at each machine and then you'd get power just by setting it on the stand.

Not to be blunt, but are you able to comprehend I’m trying to do a specific thing here? I have a specific set of circumstances I’m trying to work within.


There’s nothing limiting me to solving this in several ways, I simply want something specific.

Not looking to spend more money or have more cables than absolutely necessary. I do this type of thing for a living and I don’t stray from known accepted standards as this can be problematic on several levels I don’t home time to go into.


I think yuoiry said this is possible, so I will give that a try.

Thanks for your input.