Convert my existing dro to DIY Touch DRO?

[Flyinfool]

My mill currently has an old Sieki 2 axis DRO. The florescent display is showing signs of old age. I am trying to figure out if there is a way to use the already installed scales and add a scale to the knee for Z and then add a scale to the rotary table and have it all interface with the Touch DRO? I am not sure how to determine what type scales are on the mill now and if they would be compatible. It is the mounting of the scales that is the part I look the least forward to.

I would also like to add a Touch DRO to the lathe, I would assume that I could use the same tablet for both machines? Possible to have them both on at the same time and just switch screens back and forth for the one I am using at the moment?

I do a bit of playing around with electronics, but if it requires ANY software or firmware, it is above my pay grade.

I started a new thread so as not to hijack the one that @Schtimpy had started on just his rotary table as that is just part of what I am doing. But I will be watching that thread for info on the rotary part.

 

[Tio Loco]

You could use one tablet for both, but each machine requires a microprocessor with bluetooth capability to connect read the scales and send data to the tablet. Switching machines would involve breaking one bluetooth connection and re-establishing a link to the other. Not a huge deal, but my old (2014) version can be contrary about connecting sometimes.

Not sure how the app would handle the different configuration either... hopefully Yuri will weigh in on this.

 

[ycroosh]

The app has a concept of "Preference Banks" (the general idea is described here: TouchDRO Design Philosophy under "Configurations" (this is the manual for the upcoming version, so some things are bit different, but the concept applies). In the current version you need to go to the app settings and switch banks there (takes three or four clicks). I'm moving this to the front screen in V3, so it will be a two-click thing.

As far as your current scales go, that is the hard part. Without having the "white paper" for the given scale model (or just using an oscilloscope to probe the signals) it's next to impossible to know what protocol they use. Many older scales output sine waves and do interpolation in the DRO head; others (Sony and Mitutoyo, for example) do the counting in the scale and use proprietary data protocol.

 

[Flyinfool]

I don't have a scope and I am not sure I would know what to look for if I did.

My current DRO is old enough and the company has been out of business long enough that I was never even able to find a manual for it to learn how all the functions work.

Yes I would expect to have everything on each machine from the scales to the Bluetooth transmitter. Just share the tablet. The mill and the lathe are right next to each other.

 

[ycroosh]

This is how it's set up in my shop: I have one tablet that I move between the machines and it works pretty well. All your saved tools, sub-datums and settings are compartmentalized to a preference bank (AKA "Configuration"), so when you switch the bank, the app behaves as if you had a separate tablet.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm moving it to the top level (second picture on this page shows the side panel with the menu item: TouchDRO User Interface) so it will be a bit more convenient.

As far as the scales go, if you feel like shipping the DRO head and one scale to me I can try to figure out the protocol, but if they are large, it might be more economical to just get a set of Chinese glass scales. Even the cheap ones are pretty good.

 

[Flyinfool]

This is my equipment.
Unfortunately the end of the scale data plate is missing. The X scale is under a cover that will not be easy to get to.
I dont know if you can tell anything from this.

 

[ycroosh]

I can't find anything about those scales, besides the fact that it's probably from the early '90s. My bet would be that even if it's a quadrature scales, it's probably not TTL 5V, unfortunately.

 

[Flyinfool]

I bought this mill with the DRO on it back in the 98. The DRO manufacturer was already out of business with no info to be found. The mill its self was made in 1954, I am guessing it might even be older than 90s.

It might just be best to get all new everything. Was just hoping to be able to save a couple hundred bucks and the hassle of mounting new scales.