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Author Topic: Adventures in Pokeys  (Read 30071 times)

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Adventures in Pokeys
« on: June 11, 2013, 03:39:43 PM »
Why oh why doesn't it just work like the docs say.
I hesitated buying my 56U for a while, thinking I'd just use KeyGrabber and a couple butchered Wingman joystick controllers. But I found Keygrabber very, very flaky recognizing two different units, same model. I read and re-read the Pokeys manuals and sent off for the 56U from Cnc4pc.
Cool little thing, lights up, Goood.
I pulled the joysticks and their potentiometers from the Wingman units expecting to use one for X and Y, the other for Z. I hooked it all up and then went to the Pokeys config in Mach 3. Well it sort of worked. I got the axis Dro's to move, but don't think the tuning thing did anything. I would assume that you should tune each axis separately but I see no way to select one at a time. I finally tried by disabling two and trying to tune the other; doing that 3 times. Well okay, maybe. I couldn't get the Dro's to stop moving. I tried numbers from 0 to 1000 in the dead zone block, no effect. NO EFFECT! The input voltage appears to be jumping all around and so are the Dro's. Maybe noise; but not much is running, computer 4 feet away, monitor. Maybe incoming voltage; no, steady at 3.311 V. Maybe the pots are bad; but all three of them?
I did some reading and I see that the Wingman pots are a sometime problem with the video game folks.
Okay lets move on to something else. I removed the joysticks from the system, totally; I REPEAT, I totally disconnected all the wires from the 56U. I booted up and what! The voltages were still wandering around what should have been the dead zone for the analog inputs of the joysticks! Unbelievable! I put my voltage meter on the posts of the 56U; what the screen was saying was correct. How is that possible?
Next, try a simple pot for an analog input. I hooked up, after some trial and error I got it to control the rapids over-ride. Cool, HOORAY! But it works backwards, that's simple, just check reverse pins, right. Well it does not work! I mean why have it there if it doesn't work. And the numbers are jumping around. I reversed the leads, that works, numbers still jumping too much. I looked at the Pokeys screen outside of Mach and there is an adjustment there input speed I think. Adjudting that calmed the reading. Aaha. It looks like these two screens work together. It sure doesn't say that in the docs.
Now how about a simple encoder to set FRO or slow jog percentage. I hooked the center post to ground and the other two leads to #1 and #2. I went through all the settings I could find on both screens, ,,nothing, well not quite nothing, the numbers on the Pokeys screen/device/encoders raw, do change. But I can't get the thing to change anything on the Mach screen.
When I get over being infuriated with ti, I'll try rewiring the joysticks and tuning with the Pokeys screen.
At this moment I'm sorry I spent eighty couple bucks for the unit, tax, and shipping. That plus quite a few hours down the *********ter.
Why oh why doesn't it work like the docs say?
Ozzie
   
Re: Adventures in Pokeys couple adds
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2013, 03:42:43 PM »
In my previous post I forgot to say that along the way I updated to the latest lockdown Mach 3, and the development version of Pokeys. Neither of those helped.
Ozzie

Offline NeoTO

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Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #2 on: June 12, 2013, 12:29:54 AM »
Hi, Ozzie

When such problem arise, it is best to start at the beginning.
Close Mach3 and use PoKeys configuration software to test your joystick. What is the resistance of the pot you are using?
Select pin that you have connected the pot to as analog input and send settings to device. Open Peripherals > Analog inputs and outputs and check the same pin again to make it refresh in real time. Does the bar change continuously with the pot rotation?

Regards,
Matevž
www.poscope.com home of PoKeys USB HID, IO, USB, Ethernet controler and PoScope USB PC oscilloscope
Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #3 on: June 12, 2013, 08:40:07 AM »
Hi Matevz,
Good to hear from you, hope we can make this work.
I'm having one of those medical intestinal procedures today, and since I disconnected the joysticks it will be a day or so until I can get back to you.
I assume you are talking about the pots on the joysticks? I will measure those.
The other pot that I've had some success with is a 100k.
Regards,
Ozzie
Re: Adventures in Pokeys -Some success
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2013, 01:31:00 PM »
Hello Matevz,
I worked with Pokeys for a while yesterday and then again just now. I used the Pokeys screen to tune the joysticks the best I could, but it sure would be nice to have a step by step instruction; instructions for dummies :)
Then I went to the Mach 3 config and set those joystick parameters although that is confusing as I'm controlling 3 axis'. when I push config and it says move the sticks to their extremes is that one at a time or what. Again detailed instructions would be nice. My Z axis stick works in reverse and checking the reverse box does nothing!!!!! So, I'll need to reverse the wiring, turn the unit around, or just live with it.
I've read the docs several times and do not see the inter-relationship of the Pokeys screen and the Mach 3 config screen. If I had known that it would have saved 30 points in my blood pressure.
--
Other than the Joysticks I have one pot connected to the "rapids over-ride" Dro and that works as I expect. On boot-up the reading stays where it was when I shut down, that's great. There is a little bouncing in that number but in the case of that Dro it is not critical.
On the analog screen the voltage bounces around and I do not understand that. A potentiometer is a very stable component, why should it put out an unsteady voltage. Is there something I can do to stabilize it?
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Now ENCODERS. I hooked-up a cheap little 3 pin encoder, center pin to ground, other pins to Pokeys 1 and 2. I went through all the settings I could find on the Pokeys screen, then went to the encoder raw screen and it shows that rotating the encoder works; the numbers change. Then on the Mach 3 Pokeys screen I set encoder to OEM Dro 3, slow jog percentage. Nothing, no response. So, what have I missed?
--
I have not tried any buttons or leds yet but I assume that will be easy.

Thanks,
Ozzie

Offline NeoTO

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Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2013, 02:33:48 PM »
Hi, Ozzie

PoKeys SW is/was main application for setting up the PoKeys device and it also contains quite a lot of functions used for debugging purposes.
Mech3 plugin was developed in such a way that PoKeys software is not needed for setup, but is still usefull for debugging stuff (it is way harder to implement these function in the plugin). So, this is why there is a separate manual for PoKeys (software) and separate for Mach3 plugin. We know that there are many things missing in the manual, but it is hard to describe all of them due to shear amount of them.

Regarding the pots - if you are using long wires between PoKeys and pot and using 100k pots that you mentioned, the wires pick up noise from the environment, which effects the measurements. Many times, analog inputs filtering if not solves, but at least greatly improves the situation. Open PoKeys SW and go to analog inputs and outputs, then slide the filter slider a few pixels to the right and check if it is any better.

Encoders - some Mach3's OEM DROs don't 'like' to be overwritten by the plugin. Did you configure the encoder in the plugin also?

Regards,
Matevž
www.poscope.com home of PoKeys USB HID, IO, USB, Ethernet controler and PoScope USB PC oscilloscope
Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2013, 03:10:31 PM »
The wires are about 9" long, but hardly anything is running. I can't imagine much interference.  I have some 10k and some 5k pots, would switching to one of those help.
The slider you mention is already all the way right.
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Encoders. There are only a few Dro's I want to control, slow jog percentage and incremental jog; maybe later feed over-ride. I've tried them all and get nothing. I won't be using encoders for jogging, I'll use the joysticks and buttons for that. There must be some setting in Mach that I'm missing. Yes the encoder is configured in the plug-in. However the column "I/O" is set to none, is that correct?
Perhaps someone you talk to at Mach can answer the problem.
Ozzie
Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2013, 04:45:10 PM »
Matevz,
ENCODERS
I tried using the working pot on some of the Dro's that I want to control with an encoder; no problem. So it's not a case of certain Dro's not liking to be over-ridden!
I've been re-reading some of the posts in this section of the forum and it looks like this is a not-so-new problem.
Ozzie

Offline tantan

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Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2013, 02:58:57 AM »
hi ozzie,

do you see the raw values changing in the standalone pokeys software?

Re: Adventures in Pokeys
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2013, 09:36:23 AM »
Hi Tantan,
Yes!
Ozzie