USB Keypad as a remote pendant/remote controller

Would it be possible to remap the Z up/dn to page up/page dn? Then a numeric keypad could be used.

I have an old Griffin USB PowerMate Jog controller. I might be able to write a driver that generates Z up and Z down command as it spins.

I used to have one of those! So cool looking / feeling, but I could never find a use for it. This would have been perfect!

Funny story about page up/down… I do not own a computer that as those keys and would have to look up the keycodes!

pg up/down is what UGS uses for its Z movement btw. not sure if that helps

I just ran out and bought a USB numpad, but, also had another idea…

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.steppschuh.remoteinput

Will be testing shortly.

Edit: That app does not have a numpad. :unamused:

Edit 2: I can’t get HID macros to send a shift-up or down. According to the docs, it seems like it should be +{up} and +{down}.

What about a usb video game controller non techy guy here…

I use a Shuttle-Xpress on my current CNC. It would be nice to use it on the XCarve too!

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Are the Inventables any closer to making Easel “Pendant Friendly”? I love my X carve and like the convenience of using easel…especially as a gcode import software. I don’t enjoy struggling to get my head around different software just to have the ability to easily jog the machine using a pendant. I’m sure their are alot of other users with my concerns to make life as easy as possible in order to get the most out of the machine.

I’ve just purchased a cheap usb numeric keypad for the xcarve. I want to use HIDmacros (or any easy alt program) to save number 9 (pgup) which is shift + arrow up, and number 3 (pgdn) shift arrow down to my keypad. the script code for shift on HIDmacros is + and trying to put in ++ sure a heck don’t work.I’ve been trying most of the day to program this sucker with no luck. Is there anyone out here (what a silly question) that might give a detailed explanation in simple terms so that I can achieve this? Thanks in advance.

Here is a great program for programming macros. It is 100% free too! A lot of examples and a lot help on the forums.

would be nice to have macro support, so i could click a button to g28 my machine isntead of constantly going through the machine inspector.

Yep…been looking at the tutorials on autohotkey as well. I still can’t find a simple script line for Shift & Arrow Down (and Up) equals 3 on my numeric keypad. This is so every time I want the z axis to go up or down I can press a 3 or 9. If someone can just jot down that line it would be most appreciated.

Finally got it to work using Autohotkey.
The script I was after is NumpadPgDn::+Down and NumpadPgUp::+Up
I feel so proud of myself lol. (accidents do happen sometimes)

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Next Question which has been kicking arouns the forum for a long time…is there any progress or movement in providing keyboard shortcuts for pause and resume? As well increments for jogging shortcuts.

does AHK and/or HIDmacros function on operating systems other than windows? I’m interested in creating a raspberry pi control computer and want to having a usb pendant connected to it for jogging support.

Is there a chance we could get an option to change Z control from ‘Shift + Up/Down’ to ‘Page Up/Down’? This would enable numerical USB or wireless keypads to be used for jogging the machine, as they have no shift key.

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Never mind. I found a free app called Karabiner (PC and Mac) that lets you create profiles for different keyboards, and map the keys however you like, including things like Shift + Up for example. So I programmed it to change ‘Shift + Up’ to ‘Page Up’ and ‘Shift + Down’ to ‘Page Down’ on my USB keyboard, which means the keyboard on my Macbook Pro is unaffected. Great workaround I think.

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Hey Paul …is there a keyboard shortcut for pause yet?

You guys just announced $11+mm funding for improvements to Easel. Please add::

  • USB keypad pendant functionality
  • suggestions mentioned elsewhere in these forums to cleanup the interface
  • direct Sketchup file import
  • 3-axis zeroing
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OH YEA! I love this idea. Someone needs to make this and tell me how to get it!

I realize this is an old discussion but if you click on the eyeglass, type in antimicro, this will shows how to use a game controller to control your x-carve in case you have one laying around. You can fine the game controllers really cheap too. Just a suggestion.

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