PoKeys or Modbus - Need a little more IO

[Mattw]

I need a little more IO for my pending CNC expansion (getting axiis 4 and 5 going).  Limit switches, pumps and stuff... no encoders or anything demanding like that. 

Are there any real pros and cons between Pokeys or ModIO?  Does (can?) the PoKeys "miss" commands and leave an output on?  I've heard this is possible with keyboard emmulators.

[borisz]

Hi!

PoKeys is not only keyboard emulator. Normally you are using PoKeys as an HID IO device which is very reliable.
There are no reports about issues which you "heard".
If PoKeys does not have enough IOs, you can add aditional outputs with PoExtbus devices.

regards

Boris

[arturod]

Matt,

If it is just a couple of I/Os, a second parallel port will do.  If your application is more related to HID and special functions, pokeys is the answer.  It is much more than just a keyboard emulator, handles all kind of functions and it is very reliable with mach3.  Modbus might be if you need very high speed encoder reading, or need to device to be kept running even after the PC is dead.

Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com

[Mattw]

Oh, I already have both parallel ports pretty well full.  Are limit switches through PoKeys an ok plan, or should I keep it just to operator Pushbuttons and the like.  When you say it's good for HID and special funcitons, I don't know exactly what that means. (I do know what HID stands for, though )

What if I wanted to run a tool changer through PoKeys somewhere down the line?  Would everyone feel pretty good about that?

[borisz]

Limit switches are not very good idea on PoKeys. User interface and tol changer are OK.

regards

Boris

[JHChoppers]

Can you move any of your non real-time IO thats on your 2 ports now over to Pokeys?  Then put you real-time IO, (like limit, probe trig, and home sensors), back onto your newly freed up Port IO ?

Just a thought?

JH

[Mattw]

That's a pretty good idea.  I'll have to go through my IO again and see if I can pull that off.

Thanks for the input guys.

[Mattw]

OK, fellers, my PoKeys hardware is on the way!  I'll be spending the holidays tearing my panel apart and running wire.  Sorry, but you guys can probably look forward to a few dumb questions from this noob.