TouchDRO Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Gather What You Need

A complete TouchDRO setup has four parts:

• DRO scales mounted on your machine (or ready to be mounted), one per axis. TouchDRO works with most new and legacy scales, including the ones left behind by a dead DRO console; "DRO Scale Compatibility" covers the supported brands and signal types.
• A TouchDRO adapter. The adapter reads the scales and sends their position to the tablet over Bluetooth. Adapters for milling machines and lathes are available in the TouchDRO store.
• An Android tablet. Any reasonably recent Samsung, Lenovo, or Amazon Fire tablet will work; the "Recommended Android Tablets" guide covers specific models.
• A USB power source for the adapter. A common USB phone charger works.

You will also need a way to connect your tablet to your Wi-Fi network for Step 4. The DRO itself does not need internet once it is set up.

Step 2: Mount the Hardware

The scales mount to the machine axes, the adapter mounts somewhere out of the way of chips and coolant, and the tablet mounts where you can see and reach it. If your scales came with the machine or are already installed, skip ahead to Step 3.

Scale installation is the most machine-specific part of the whole setup, and it is covered separately. For the tablet, the "How to Mount TouchDRO" guide shows the mounting approach we use in our own shop, built from an inexpensive monitor arm.

Step 3: Plug In the Scales and Power

Each scale plugs into one of the labeled inputs on the adapter, and the adapter gets power over its USB cable. Which scale goes into which input determines which on-screen readout it drives, so plug the X-axis scale into the input labeled X, and so on.

Plug the USB cable into the adapter and into your power source last. There is no power switch. The green "Power" light comes on at once, and about a second later the blue "Data" light gives three quick blinks and settles into one brief flash every two seconds.

You will know this step worked when the "Data" light is doing that slow flash: the adapter is running and waiting for the tablet. The scales get checked in Step 6, when you crank a handle and the matching number moves. If a plug does not fit or your scales have an unusual connector, see "Connecting DRO Scales to TouchDRO".

Step 4: Put TouchDRO on Your Tablet

TouchDRO installs from the Google Play Store like any other Android application (or from the Amazon Appstore on Fire tablets). Installing takes a couple of minutes; the one prerequisite that trips people up is that the Play Store requires a Google account, so if you don't have one, plan for a ten-minute detour to create it.

1. Connect the tablet to your Wi-Fi network and sign in to your Google account.
2. To find the app, open the Play Store and type "TouchDRO" into the search box.
3. Tap "Install". The application will download and install in the background.

The "TouchDRO App Installation" guide covers this step in detail, including creating a Google account, the Amazon Appstore differences on Fire tablets, and three tablet settings worth changing for shop use (the screen timeout in particular).

The first time you open TouchDRO, it will ask you to describe your machine. The "Set Up TouchDRO" dialog collects a profile name, the machine type, and your default units. The axis inputs can stay at their defaults; turn on the "Quill scale" input if your mill has a separate quill scale, and the "Tachometer" if you wired an RPM sensor. Tap "Apply". The dialog has no Cancel button, and an untouched form describes a vertical mill working in inches.

Everything in this dialog except the machine type and the profile name can be changed later in Settings, so name the profile after the machine and pick the type with care. The rest is not a commitment.

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

Step 5: Pair the Tablet with the Adapter

The tablet and the adapter talk over Bluetooth. The adapter must be paired with the tablet once; after that, TouchDRO connects to it with one tap. Make sure the adapter is powered up, then pair from inside the application:

1. Open TouchDRO and tap the connect button in the top corner of the screen. On a new install it shows a Bluetooth icon. The "Select a TouchDRO Adapter" dialog will open.
2. If the tablet asks for permission to use Bluetooth or to find nearby devices, allow it. Without that permission, Android will not let the application talk to the adapter.
3. On a new tablet the list is empty. Tap "Pair New Adapter". The tablet's own "Pair new device" screen will open and start scanning.
4. Wait for "TouchDRO" to appear in the list of available devices, and tap it. If the pairing dialog asks for a pass code, enter "1234" (without the quotes) and confirm.
5. Go back to TouchDRO and tap the newly paired adapter in the "Select a TouchDRO Adapter" dialog. The connect button will animate while the application connects.

The first time you connect to an adapter, TouchDRO will open the "Create Adapter Profile" dialog, saying that it looks like you connected a new adapter. The adapter profile is where the scale settings from Step 6 will be stored. The adapter name is already filled in; tap "Create".

The first time you connect to a TDA adapter, TouchDRO will also ask "Activate TouchDRO Plus?" for the machine profile. Answer "Yes"; the adapter includes the license.

You will know this step worked when the application plays a chime and the readout digits turn from gray to green. On the adapter, the blue "Data" light changes from a flash every two seconds to a flash every half second. TouchDRO will reconnect to the adapter on its own from now on.

If "TouchDRO" never appears in the tablet's Bluetooth list, if Android says it couldn't connect, or if the connection fails or times out, the "Connecting To Scale Adapter" guide has a section for each of these cases; most come down to the adapter not being powered or the wrong device being selected.

Step 6: Set Up TouchDRO for Your Machine

The machine profile from Step 4 covers the machine. What remains is describing the scales themselves. Those settings are stored with the adapter profile from Step 5, so they are set after connecting. To reach them, wait for the device-status button next to the connect button to turn green, then tap it. The "DRO Adapter Details" dialog will open, with a block for each scale input. The gear button in an input's block opens that input's "Encoder Settings" dialog, and two settings there have to be right before you can trust the numbers:

• Resolution, the scale's count density in counts per inch. The default of 25400 is right for 1-micron glass and magnetic scales and wrong for everything else. As a starting point, enter 5080 for 5-micron glass and magnetic scales, 2540 for capacitive scales through a converter, or 2650 for iGaging EZ-View and DigiMag scales. Calibration, below, replaces this guess with the measured value.
• Reverse counting direction, which flips the way the number counts. Leave it off for now; the verification loop below tells you if it needs to be on.

Repeat for each input that has a scale on it. The "TouchDRO Initial Configuration" guide covers the rest of both dialogs, none of which is needed to get a machine running.

Serial Scales: Set the Input Mode

Glass and magnetic scales need nothing more. If any of your scales connects through a converter (iGaging, Shahe, and Mitutoyo SPC scales do), there is one more setting, in the same "DRO Adapter Details" dialog. The adapter ships with every input set to "Quadrature A/B", which is wrong for a serial scale. Until the mode matches the converter, that readout will not follow the scale, no matter what the resolution says.

1. In the "DRO Adapter Details" dialog, find the input the converter is plugged into and tap its "Input Mode" dropdown. Pick the protocol that matches the converter: "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.
2. Tap the save button that appears beside the dropdown. An orange banner will appear at the top of the dialog saying the change will not take effect until the adapter is restarted.
3. 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 adapter reconnects, the "Raw Value" for that input changes as you move the scale. The "Adapter Details Dialog" manual page covers the rest of the dialog.

The verification loop is the important part. With the application connected, crank each handle on the machine and watch the screen:

• The matching readout should change. If a different readout moves, two scale plugs are swapped at the adapter; swap them back, or change the "Prefix" on that axis's settings screen to the letter of the input the scale is actually plugged into.
• A readout that does not move at all, on a scale that connects through a converter, almost always means that input is still in "Quadrature A/B" mode. Set the mode to match the converter and restart the adapter.
• The number should count the right way for your machine's convention. If it counts backward, turn on "Reverse counting direction" in that input's "Encoder Settings"; no rewiring is involved.
• The distance will be close but not exact. The resolution is still the starting guess, and calibration is what sets it.

Calibration takes about ten minutes per axis with a gauge block or a known-size workpiece, and it starts from the calibrate button (the ruler icon) in the same "Encoder Settings" dialog. Follow the "DRO Scale Calibration" guide before making any real parts.

You will know this step worked when each handle moves its own readout in the right direction, and a measured move matches the screen. The settings are saved with the adapter profile, so this is a one-time job.

Coming from a Traditional DRO

If you have run an Acu-Rite, Sino, or similar console for years, your hands already know a set of buttons that TouchDRO doesn't have. The table below maps the old habits to their TouchDRO equivalents; everything else about how you work stays the same.

On a traditional DRO	In TouchDRO
ABS/INC key	To switch one axis between absolute and incremental, tap the mode button next to its readout. Each axis switches independently.
Zero an axis	To zero one axis in incremental mode, long-press its mode button.
Preset a dimension	To preset an axis, long-press its readout. The "Set Dimension" dialog will open, and the input accepts arithmetic, so "1/2 + 0.015" works.
1/2 (centerline) key	To halve a reading, tap the axis readout and press the "1/2" button in the "Axis Details" dialog.
SDM / zero memory	The Sub-Datum Panel beside the readouts. Sub-datums are saved per part in named workspaces, and there is no practical limit on how many you can store.
inch/mm key	To toggle all axes at once, tap the "Inch/mm" button on the function strip at the bottom of the screen; to toggle one axis, tap the "inch/mm" button beside its readout.

Common DRO Jobs

TouchDRO is built around working to zero: set a zero point somewhere useful, then move to a number. Most of its functions exist to place that zero with less effort, and the "DRO Coordinate System and Datums" page covers the underlying model. The five jobs below cover the functions most people reach for first; each links to the full instructions.

Mill a Slot to Length

1. Plunge the cutter at the start of the slot.
2. Long-press the axis mode button to zero it there.
3. Cut until the readout shows the slot length minus the cutter diameter. The "Axis Details" dialog, opened by tapping the readout, has the per-axis zero, preset, and centerline functions in one place.

Drill a Bolt-Hole Circle

1. Position the spindle over the center of the circle.
2. Open the "Hole Circle" function and enter the circle diameter and the number of holes.
3. TouchDRO will place a zero at each hole in turn; crank both axes to 0.0000 and drill, then step to the next hole. Rows and columns of holes work the same way with the "Hole Grid" function.

Find the Center of a Part

1. Touch the cutter to one side of the part and long-press the axis mode button to zero.
2. Move to the opposite side and touch again.
3. Tap the axis readout and press "1/2" in the "Axis Details" dialog, then crank back to 0.0000. The spindle is now on the centerline. The "Edge Finder" function refines this with probing and accounts for the tool diameter.

Turn a Shoulder to a Diameter (Lathe)

1. Take a light skim cut and measure the resulting diameter with a micrometer.
2. Without moving the cross slide, long-press the X readout and preset it to the measured diameter. In lathe mode, X reads in diameter, so the screen now matches your micrometer.
3. Feed in until the readout shows the target diameter and turn to the shoulder.

Presetting X after every tool change gets old fast. Storing an offset for each tool once, following "Programming Lathe Tool Offsets", lets you switch tools and keep reading the true diameter.

Come Back to a Position Later

1. Move to the position you will want again: a hole center, a datum corner, the start of a feature.
2. Press the "Add" button on the Sub-Datum Panel beside the readouts. TouchDRO will store the current position in the list.
3. To return to it, tap the entry in the list. The readouts will show the distance to that point, so crank all axes to 0.0000 and you are back on it. The "Sub-Datum Memory" page covers naming, editing, and organizing saved positions by part.