Suitable tablet for TouchDRO?

Inferno said:
OT

Today I was using the new version of Touch DRO and when the display got to -100.00 it dropped the last 0.
I see there's a font option that I didn't play with because my setup sometimes resets the coordinates if I mess with things (I have to watch the display when powering on the machine) and I was in the middle of a pretty important set of numbers.
I really need that second zero on the MM work I do.

I thought it was a glitch in the display preferences so I went back in and set the # of decimals to 3 but that didn't do anything.
Click to expand...
Display format should work ( I just tested it, and it definitely shows the right number of digits). Is the digit clipped by a chance (i.e. not enough space?)
 
ycroosh said:
Display format should work ( I just tested it, and it definitely shows the right number of digits). Is the digit clipped by a chance (i.e. not enough space?)
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a not enough space issue
.
DRO1.jpg

DRO2.jpg
 
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DavidR8 said:
If you don't need the in/mm button I think it can be turned off
Click to expand...
As odd as it seems, I use both mm and In in some projects. In fact, many.
Sometimes I'll have mm on one axis and In on another.

I know, it seems dumb.

I'll find a solution that will work for me.

Removing buttons didn't make a difference. It just made them go away.
 
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ycroosh said:
SNIP! The whole point of TouchDRO is that it runs on commodity hardware and OS. This approach offers a LOT more flexibility and functionality that would be impractical with a traditional design. Quick case and point: I just finished the code for .CSV file import/export for sub-datums and tool library.
Click to expand...

@ycroosh I'm pleased to see this is in the pipeline! One of the things I was thinking while entering the datums required to mill DB9 connector positions in a box was it would be nice to be able to import existing, verified data to avoid the work and chance of error from doing it by hand. Getting to a CSV file is a good step forward.

That said, if I want to wish for even more I'd ask for a way to import the data from a .DXF file. ;) I would create the data in a 3D CAD system, export to .DXF and import to TouchDRO. Probably not on your radar but it would be nice for complicated things like one project I have in mind. Of course I already appreciate how easy it is already in TouchDRO. :)

Can't wait to try out the datum import.

D :cool:
 
Capo. said:
@ycroosh I'm pleased to see this is in the pipeline! One of the things I was thinking while entering the datums required to mill DB9 connector positions in a box was it would be nice to be able to import existing, verified data to avoid the work and chance of error from doing it by hand. Getting to a CSV file is a good step forward.

That said, if I want to wish for even more I'd ask for a way to import the data from a .DXF file. ;) I would create the data in a 3D CAD system, export to .DXF and import to TouchDRO. Probably not on your radar but it would be nice for complicated things like one project I have in mind. Of course I already appreciate how easy it is already in TouchDRO. :)

Can't wait to try out the datum import.

D :cool:
Click to expand...
Well, DXF import has been on my radar for years. This: Virtual Layout Feature Preview started as a DXF import, but then I ran into all sorts of problems and decided to dumb it down to just a bitmap import. In the bowels of the app there is also a full-fledged G-Code parser. The main reason this feature is not released is because I can't figure out how to make it work well. Bitmaps are too crude, and the workflow is pain ugly. G-Code is an overkill (and the same issue with ugly workflow). Basically DXF import is the right answer, but parsing DXF files is a LOT of work, and then I still can't figure out what to do with the file once I parse it.

Regards
Yuriy
 
ycroosh said:
A well designed tabled with proper battery governor circuit should not charge/discharge the battery when plugged in for a few reasons:
1. good quality LiPo batteries have very low self-discharge rate, so they should not just drain when not used
2. When a tablet is plugged in, it should not use battery at all. The power should come from the AC adapter
3. Even when the battery is charged, it should not be charged all the way to 100%. Most of deterioration of LiPo batteries comes from over charging and over discharging. Good battery governor will prevent both
In short, yes, there is a risk associated with Lithium Polymer batteries, but tablets and laptops are designed to handle being plugged in 24/7 without any ill effect for the batter. Inferno's battery swelling up is more of a fluke (possibly due to a defect in the battery) than a norm, so I would not over index on it.

As far as making TouchDRO into all-in-one solution that uses a proper touch screen - well. that is called a traditional DRO. Those exist, and and this point cost about as much as a TouchDRO adapter with a good tablet. The whole point of TouchDRO is that it runs on commodity hardware and OS. This approach offers a LOT more flexibility and functionality that would be impractical with a traditional design. Quick case and point: I just finished the code for .CSV file import/export for sub-datums and tool library. All I had to do was to add a few dialogs that exposed the "Import from File" and "Export to File" buttons and a bit of logic to format/parse the records. CSV reader/writer was already available as a standard Android library (and it has all the controls for various CSV flavors), file picker is a part of Android OS (or can be installed from the Play Store) and access to Google Sheets or MS Office 365 can be used to create CSV files right on the tabled. I think I spent about a week on this (not including testing, which is still WIP). Doing this from scratch on proprietary hardware would take multiple person months and would probably be much more clunky anyway.

Regards
Yuriy
Click to expand...
you made me even more confident in your product with this post
 
Inferno said:
OT

Today I was using the new version of Touch DRO and when the display got to -100.00 it dropped the last 0.
Click to expand...
I saw the same issue the other day and hadn't yet done any research on it, but here's what I've noticed. First showing the problem, this got really bad when it went over 10" and I could only see tenths of inches:
Screenshot_20230415-223400.png

When I ran into this initially, I found that if I hit the button on the top right to expand the workspace view, the digits were fine there. So I was able to complete the project doing that:
Screenshot_20230415-223409.png

When I experimented a bit more just now, I see that it's only evident with the monospace or system fonts. The 7 segment font renders fine:
Screenshot_20230415-223435.png

The other font looks better, but using the 7 segment seems to be an easy workaround for now.

I see that the negative sign seems to occupy a dedicated space in the 7 segment version where it seems to be sharing a digit's space in the other font. The decimal point also seems to be taking up a full width space as opposed to the narrow space on the 7 segment. Between these 2 differences, it looks like it's just chewing up the available space much more than the 7 segment display does. These 2 factors are not evident in the expanded workspace view even with the nicer font, however there does seem to be column alignment issue on that view. There's some extra space between the last digit and the units on the top axis, but not the bottom one.

As Inferno said, eliminating a button didn't help.

I don't know how TouchDRO is determining the font sizes, but maybe there's some difference there between the 2 font types. Happy to try any suggestions or test versions that may help figure this out.

ETA: This is running on a Nexus 7 tablet, TouchDRO version 3.23.01 build 2023-01-12
 
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