TouchDRO Initial Configuration

Step 1: Create the Machine Profile

The first thing you need to do is create a machine profile. A machine profile is where TouchDRO keeps everything about one machine: the machine type, the default units, which adapter input feeds which readout, and, as you use the machine, its settings, saved coordinates, and tools. The first time you open TouchDRO, it will ask you to create one in the "Set Up TouchDRO" dialog. The dialog has no Cancel button, and what you enter becomes the "Default" profile. Later on, you can create more profiles from the "Machine Profiles" list using the same form, titled "New Machine Profile".

To start, name the profile after the machine, pick the machine type, and pick the units you normally work in. The machine type decides which readouts you see:

• Vertical Mill shows the X, Y, and Z readouts. If your mill has a separate quill scale as well as a knee scale, turn on the "Quill scale" input. TouchDRO will read it on the W input and can sum it with the knee travel into one Z reading.
• Lathe shows only the X (cross slide) and Z (carriage) readouts, so you don't need to turn anything off by hand.
• Horizontal Mill shows X, Y, and Z for a machine with a horizontal spindle.

After that, you can leave the axis inputs at their defaults. If one of the axes has no scale on it, turn off the switch at the end of its row, so that you don't end up with a readout that never moves. If you wired an RPM sensor to the adapter, turn on the "Tachometer" switch as well. Once you are done, tap "Apply".

Note that you can change everything in this dialog later in Settings, except the machine type and the profile name, so a wrong guess on the inputs costs nothing. If you get the type or the name wrong, you will need to create a new profile.

You will know this step worked when the main screen shows your profile's name at the top of the screen and a set of grayed-out zeros. Gray digits are correct at this point, since the application is not connected to an adapter yet.

Step 2: Create the Adapter Profile

Next, you will need to create an adapter profile. An adapter profile is where TouchDRO keeps everything about one adapter and the scales wired to it: the input modes, the resolution and counting direction of each scale, and the calibration and error maps. TouchDRO creates it the first time you connect to the adapter, so this step starts with connecting. Make sure the adapter is powered up, then tap the connect button in the top corner of the screen. On a new install it shows a Bluetooth icon. The first time, you will also need to pair the adapter with the tablet: in the "Select a TouchDRO Adapter" dialog, tap "Pair New Adapter", wait for "TouchDRO" to appear in the tablet's list of devices, and tap it. If the tablet asks for a pass code, enter "1234". Then go back to TouchDRO and tap the adapter in the list. The "Connecting To Scale Adapter" page has the full procedure, with screenshots of each screen.

Once the connection is made for the first time, TouchDRO will open the "Create Adapter Profile" dialog. The name is already filled in, so tap "Create". If TouchDRO then asks whether to activate TouchDRO Plus for the machine profile, answer "Yes".

You will know this step worked when the application plays a chime and the readout digits turn from gray to green. A moment later, the device-status button next to the connect button will turn green as well. From now on, TouchDRO will reconnect to the adapter on its own.

If "TouchDRO" never shows up in the tablet's Bluetooth list, if Android says it couldn't connect, or if the connection times out, the "When Things Go Wrong" section of the connection page covers each of those cases. Most of them come down to the adapter not being powered or the wrong device being selected.

Step 3: Verify That TouchDRO Is Getting Readings from the Scales

Now that the tablet is connected, you should check that TouchDRO is actually getting readings from every scale before you set anything up. To open the "DRO Adapter Details" dialog, tap the device-status button next to the connect button. At the top of the dialog you will see the adapter's model, Bluetooth name, and firmware version. Below that, each scale input has its own block, and three things in it matter at setup time:

• Input Mode is the protocol the adapter uses to read the scale on that input. Every input starts out as "Quadrature A/B", which is correct for glass and magnetic scales. If your scale connects through a converter, you will change this in Step 4.
• Raw Value is the unscaled count coming from the scale. You will use it to check that each scale is alive before you set anything else.
• The gear button opens that input's encoder settings, which you will use in Step 5.

Before you go any further, crank each handle in turn. You will know the wiring is right when each handle changes the raw value of the input its scale is plugged into. Note that a scale that connects through a converter will not count until you set its input mode in the next step, so for those, check the raw value after Step 4 instead.

If the raw value of a glass or magnetic scale doesn't change when you move the axis, the scale is not getting power or signal. Check the plug at the adapter and the scale's own cable; the "Connecting DRO Scales to TouchDRO" page covers the hookup.

Step 4: Set the Input Mode for Serial Scales

If all of your scales are glass or magnetic, you can skip this step and go straight to Step 5. If any of them connects through a converter (iGaging, Shahe, and Mitutoyo SPC scales do), you first need to tell the adapter which protocol the converter speaks. Until the mode matches, that readout will not follow the scale, no matter what else you set.

1. In the "DRO Adapter Details" dialog, find the input the converter is plugged into and tap its "Input Mode" dropdown.
2. Pick the matching protocol: "iGaging 21 Bit" for iGaging EZ-View and DigiMag scales, "BIN6" for Shahe scales, or "Mitutoyo SPC" for Mitutoyo Digimatic instruments and iGaging AbsoluteDRO Plus scales, which speak the same protocol.
3. Tap the save button that appears beside the dropdown. An orange banner will appear at the top of the dialog saying that the change needs an adapter restart.
4. Tap "Restart Now". The application will lose the connection while the adapter restarts, then reconnect on its own after 20 to 30 seconds.

You will know this step worked when, after the reconnect, the raw value of that input changes as you move the axis. If it still doesn't, the "Adapter Details Dialog" page covers the dropdown and the restart in more detail, and the "Capacitive Scale Setup Guide" covers the wiring on the scale side.

Step 5: Set the Resolution and Direction of Each Scale

With the adapter counting on every input, the next step is to tell TouchDRO what each scale is. You do this in the "Encoder Settings" dialog, where you describe the scale on that input: what kind of encoder it is, how fine it counts, and which way it counts. To open it, tap the gear button in the input's block. For a typical linear scale, you only need to look at three settings and can leave the rest at their defaults.

• Measurement mode stays on "Linear" for an ordinary DRO scale. "Angular" is for rotary encoders.
• Resolution is the scale's count density, in counts per inch. Every input starts out at 25400, which is right for a 1-micron glass or magnetic scale and wrong for everything else. As a starting point, enter:
  • 5080 for 5-micron glass and magnetic scales
  • 25400 for 1-micron glass and magnetic scales
  • 2650 for iGaging EZ-View and DigiMag scales
  • 2540 for other capacitive scales
  These values get the readout into the right ballpark. Calibration, which you will run after the next step, replaces the guess with the measured value.
• Reverse counting direction flips which way the number grows. Leave it off for now; the next step tells you whether it needs to be on.

Once the three settings are right, tap "Save", and then repeat this step for each input that has a scale on it. The remaining settings (hysteresis, error map, input filter) are covered on the "Encoder Settings" manual page, and you don't need any of them to get a machine running.

Step 6: Check the Readouts

At this point the setup is complete on paper, and the last step is to check it against the machine. Close the dialogs, crank every handle on the machine, and watch the screen. Three things should be true:

• Each handle moves its own readout. If a different readout moves, either swap the two scale plugs at the adapter, or change the axis input assignments in the machine profile under Settings.
• Each readout counts the right way for your machine's convention. If one counts backward, open that input's "Encoder Settings" again and turn on "Reverse counting direction". No rewiring is involved.
• A measured move roughly matches the screen. Move an axis by a known distance, for example against a gauge block or a dial indicator, and the readout should be close. If it is off by a factor of two, five, or ten, the resolution from Step 5 is wrong for that scale.

You will know the setup is done when all three hold on every axis. The numbers are not exact yet, and they are not supposed to be. The next step is to run "DRO Scale Calibration" on each axis, which will measure the true resolution and correct the direction at the same time.

After calibration, you are done. The settings are stored with the adapter, so you won't need to repeat this for the same machine. From here, you can pick up the "Quick Start Guide" at its practice project, or go straight to work.