Congrats! I would prefer the control through Fusion 360. Of course, once I understand how to control everything with Fusion 360. I’m very excited to learn more about when this will be available! Thank you for the constant updates!
_Mike
I’ts seem to be unnecessary to change this inside of Fusion / Gcode. There’s an option in the control software under the “tool” section. A user on the Facebook group pointed out that there’s an checkbox option “rapid auto off”. That seems to fix the problem!
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That is truly an amazing piece of hardware! Excellent work
-Alex
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Wonderful to see the finished panel - well done. If not too much trouble, could you post a short video which briefly shows the functioning of each of the buttons/switches/joystick? It would help me to visualize and fully understand how the panel works.
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That looks amazing! I appreciate that you made it look good as well as being so convenient and functional. 
Cant wait for this to be available. Great Job … Keep me on the list. I will buy what ever option you go with.
Great Work
I’d get the fully functional tested unit…. Plug n play
I’m interested as well. I started a similar project a couple months ago using an Arduino. I got a prototype working that did just about everything on the joystick, but then abandoned it due to time constraints. Yours looks like it has a few extra features that I like. Nice job…am definitely interested in a kit.
Some of you where asking for a video to see the remote panel working with all its features, so here it is.
[EDIT] In the video I mistakenly mixed router and spindle together (I thought this was the same thing) But this panel is specifically designed to make a dumb (Makita) “ON / OFF” router more smart. Not for a VFD spindle.
I’ve been sourcing al day for parts and the cost of it is really adding up. Especially al the nice mechanical led switches, the joystick controller, USB ports and Emergency stop button are expensive. Before you read any further, did you had a price for a complete DIY kit in mind? That is all the parts included, Buttons, switches, electronics board, printed / laser cut acrylic panels and even a breakout box connector for the 1f controller. (Not the wood enclosure, but I’ll make a cutting template for it. I guess most of you have some sort of cnc 
)
To be honest, I think the lowest price I can go is about 230€ (approx. $265). Plus shipping from the Netherlands is about 35€ (about $40) extra (for Europe about €15 – €22). For me it’s a bargain/ “introduction” price considering the price of all the parts and the work I still have to do / have done. Especially for such a low volume product. But I also can relate to the user who might think that you can buy a complete gamepad for $45 in the Onefinity store and considers this too much. Especially since you need to solder all the components yourself.
Also, this DIY kit is not for everybody, you need to handle a solder iron. It’s not complicated, all the components are “trough hole” and I will provide documentation. Especially for the components that needs to go in a special orientation. Also, I will provide the Arduino source code for every user that wants to code their own routines. The firmware comes preloaded, but you might need to update the code if Onefinity fixes some bugs in their controller firmware. So a bit handy behind the computer is also useful.
I’m thinking about creating 13 kits and one complete version (for testing purposes first, but can be sold later). After that I’m out of PCB’s, and then we will see if there’s still enough interest to create a next batch. Or maybe a populated PCB with smt components if it’s really hitting popularity levels that this is feasible to do. (So no component soldering)
So what are the thoughts? Still interested?
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How did you create the top layer with the text on it? I’ve wanted to do that for other projects.
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I’ve created it myself for a Youtube channel. If you want details: I created a Mogrt in Aftereffects, and used it inside Premiere. (I’m a motion graphic designer 
)
Did you also use an Arduinio Leonardo? Took me a while to figure out the control scheme. Apparently the button assignments are different compared to the official Onefinity remote.
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How did you get the top layer printed and on what type of material? Did you use a home printer or online service?
I used a small 32u4 board: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3677
Maybe it’s a cheaper alternative to the Leonardo. It’s still compatible with the Arduino IDE and libraries. Number of pins might be an issue.
I also had the same issue where the codes didn’t match up with the Onefinity joystick. I ended up creating a routine where I went through every button until I found the right ones for each operation.
Hey Satoer,
congratulations for your creation, I assume that you made many people’s heart beat higher here, not least with the video.
I like Arduino Leonardo feat. ATmega32U4 also very much. I use it for small three-button keyboards, i.e. for a Vol + / Vol- / Mute keyboard.
For those who don’t know this Arduino Board / AVR Chip: Leonardo’s USB port can behave like any USB HID device, i.e. like a PC keyboard. But since AVR’s also have analog / digital converter ports, you may connect a potentiometer as input also.
No doubt about it, Satoer’s offer is cool.
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For sure still interested in this setup.
It’s a printed (on a professional printer) and laser cut piece of paper sandwiched between 3mm thick white acrylic, and 2mm thick transparent acrylic.
Thought of that (Arduino pro mini), but I needed the voltage regulator also. I believe the voltage regulator was a little less beefy on the pro mini. So cost affective it didn’t really matter, and made the circuit a bit simpler.
QUESTION: On the panel I wrote “SPINDLE”. I assumed a router and a spindle was kind of the same thing… (I have the same thing with “mill” and “bit” 
) But this is designed especially to make the Makita a bit smarter (or other dumb ON/OFF router). Not a VFD spindle. It might work with a VFD Spindle, but this takes some hardware tinkering and also depends on the VFD options I think. (I don’t have a VFD). Anyhow, should I replace the text “Spindle” to “ROUTER” on the panel? Or is more like ‘Potato, Patato’. (as you might noticed already, English is not my native language 
)
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Hey Satoer,
interrupting the connection between VFD and spindle is strictly prohibitive (except emergency circuits). If you want to switch a spindle off, you have to switch off the power to the VFD. But that neither is the correct way to stop a spindle. It is controlled by software or by the safety circuit in or around the VFD (e.g. by a G9SE).
So if your switch is just a switch for the mains connection of the router, yes, I would suggest to write “Router” on it. Or “ear killer” 
PS: Non-native english speaker too
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I agree, it should say “Router”. When I saw it on the panel my first thought was, what if I have a router?
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Forgive me, like I said: I have no experience at all with VFD if I say something stupid, please let me know. But as I understand, a VFD spindle is controlled with a variable PWM signal. It shouldn’t be a problem to detect this signal, and pass it trough another Pin (connected to the VFD) if “AUTO” is selected. (The pcb has 2 left over pins broken out) If “OFF is selected” than it passes trough nothing. Then we have the “ON”… what could you do with that? some kind of default speed PWM signal?
Then there’s the “ARM” switch. This switch breaks the path to the relay. So it might be possible to switch the “Safety circuit” with this?
Anyhow, this is just overthinking possibilities in maybe a future update.
Hey Satoer,
I have to go to bed immediately (Europe, eh ), but I’ll think about what you wrote and will reply tomorrow or later.
The way the Onefinity Controller (which is a variant of Raspberry Pi 3-based buildbotics.com controller) controls the VFD usually is a serial line, i.e. RS-485, available on pins 13 and 14 of the breakout board adapter. I do not know if when using the chinese VFDs you control the VFD via PWM which is also possible, but I would always use the serial line.
On the output of the VFD to the spindle, this is three-phase current with a variable frequency, but rather I’d have to dive into my Omron MX2 User’s guide on how to reach the information directly from the VFD for the interaction with a panel like you did build. At least the VFD I own (which is practically identical to Hitachi WJ200), it has a lot of possibilities for control and requesting information, which you could show on a display for example.
By the way, I have never seen a User’s Manual of a Huanyang VFD (I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t any)
EDIT: It’s here: Huanyang VFD Manual, on buildbotics’ Connecting a Huanyang VFD page.
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