A couple of months ago, after several years of work, I released the new version of TouchDRO - TouchDRO V3. It took much more time than I expected, but overall I'm really happy with the result. The application is much easier to use, has a lot of new functionality, and overall is a big step up from the 7-years old V2.5. Now that the proverbial dust has settled, I'd like to chat about what is next for the project, at least for the foreseeable future.
TouchDRO "Plus" Version
If you follow the TouchDRO sub-forum of the Hobby Machinist forum, you might've seen me mention that I'm planning to have a paid version of TouchDRO (for now I'm going to call it TouchDRO Plus). Conceptually I see it as a more advanced [paid] version of the app with functionality that is targeted at enthusiasts and professional machinists.
My design philosophy for TouchDRO is that it should help you get things done faster and more accurately, but stay out of the way while doing this. Thus, my goal for any TouchDRO Plus functionality is to allow the machinist to get things done with touching the DRO as little as possible. I don't yet know all of the functionality that will be in the Plus version, but I have a "proof of concept" for a few new features that will likely be in it.
Graphical Display Automation
The Graphical View display offers a much more convenient way to work with sub-datum coordinates. The free version of TouchDRO can automatically select a sub-datum as the spindle approaches it, and the guide lines provide a way to quickly toggle the cutter radius compensation direction or the near-zero warning target.
In the Plus version, the Graphical View display will have more functions that allow hands-free operation. For example, the DRO will automatically select a guide line as you move towards it. The app can then switch the tool offset direction without you needing to touch the screen. A use case for this would be pocket or slot milling, for example. You will be able to define the boundaries of the pocket, and then remove material between the lines.
CAD Drawing Overlay
Another big feature I'm planning for the Graphical View display is the ability to use a CAD drawing or a photo as a reference background. TouchDRO Plus will have a way to calibrate the drawings to the real world machine coordinates by asking you to locate two or four known points on the workpiece. I see a few different uses for this function:
A CAD drawing can be used as visual reference in conjunction with pre-entered sub-datum coordinates. When working on a complex part, it's very easy to drill a hole in the wrong place, or use the wrong drill bit, etc. The drawing will provide a visual sanity check.
In situations when you would normally use layout fluid and scribe lines to layout features on a workpiece, you will be able to use a CAD drawing on screen instead. This is more convenient, since you can zoom in to better see the lines, and the lines will not be scratched off by swarf or obscured by coolant.
More Touch Probe Functionality
The base version of the app has support for an electronic touch probe input. Namely, the Indicate Workpiece function allows you to use a touch probe to quickly indicate an edge, find the centerline, the center of a hole, etc. All you need to do is to select the edge you are probing, and when the probe triggers, the app will capture the position and apply the stylus offset.
The Plus version will be able to automatically detect which axis was moving before the probe was triggered, and set the edge position automatically.
Sub-Datum Coordinate Import
When working on a complex workpiece with lots of holes (for example), it's more convenient and less error prone to pre-enter the coordinates before starting the machine. In TouchDRO this is easy enough to do by long-pressing the "Add" button in the sub-datum list, but with dozens of holes this can become very tedious. TouchDRO Plus will allow you to import those coordinates from a .CSV file, which you can create on a computer in Excel or Google Sheets. If you're a hobbyist, this makes sub-datum entry more convenient. If you run a professional machine shop, this can save you hours of machine time every week: you can keep running the machine, while someone else is entering coordinates for the next job on the computer in the office.
Adapter Hardware Updates
In many regards the current generation of TouchDRO scale adapters can run circles around any traditional DRO. For example, the adapter for Glass and Magnetic scales can read scales with ridiculously high input pulse rates (on the order of several MegaHertz on each of four axis inputs simultaneously). On top of that it can handle tachometer input with up to 100 KHz frequency, and has support for a touch probe input and limit switches.
One area where the TouchDRO adapter falls short in comparison to some high-end traditional DRO units is support for a reference track. DRO readers from Acu-Rite, Newall, Mitutoyo and few other high-end brands are tightly integrated with their scales, and can use the reference track to quickly re-establish the machine datum. Before, I wasn't able to add support for reference tracks since TouchDRO can't be tied to a particular scale brand, and the reference track implementation differs widely between brands.
Now that TouchDRO V3 is out, and supports two-way communication with the adapter, it gives me a way to configure the reference track handling from the application. Thus, my plan is to update the adapter hardware and firmware to add support for the reference signal. While at it, I am planning to add native USB support and a few other features (that I will discuss once I do a proof of concept).
My goal is to have the first revision of the adapters ready by the end of the summer, and if things go as planned, have the adapters ready for sale by the end of the year.
Website Updates
When I first started selling TouchDRO adapters, I wasn't expecting there to be much demand. After all, the main appeal of TouchDRO [in my mind] was that it's a do-it-yourself project that you can build at very low cost. I looked around, and discovered that there is a way to let people order from me using "PayPal Buttons" - a small snippet of markup that takes the user to PayPal's website, where they can enter their shipping address and send a payment. When I was getting one or two orders per week, this system worked fine. Now that I'm getting several orders per day, the time has come to invest into a proper e-commerce front end. I've researched several options, and have settled on the popular Shopify platform. The catch is that now I need to figure out how to make the "canned" template look and feel like it's a part of the website, set up the products, payment methods, shipping options, various policies etc. I don't have a definitive timeframe, but I hope that by the end of the year I will have everything in place to start using Shopify.
Along with the store revamp, I have a lot of catching up to do with the user manual. In the application, I've added user manual links to many of the function dialogs. Those manual pages still need to be updated, and there are many areas of the application that are not well documented. At one point, I looked into hiright a technical writer, but it turned out to be very expensive, so I will have to bite the bullet and write the docs myself. Furthermore, I would really like to start making training videos. TouchDRO has a lot of functionality that people simply don't know about, and short how-to videos would be perfect for this. I'm completely new when it comes to videography, so I have some studying to do on this subject.
Conclusion
Now that I'm done with the TouchDRO V3 release, I will be working on the goals I described above. Frankly, the amount of work I have planned for the remainder of the year is a bit ambitious, to say the least, and I'm not sure I will be able to pull all this off in 2023. That said, I will be focused on making progress in small incremental steps towards those goals. If you are interested in the upcoming things, I post pretty frequently to the TouchDRO sub-forum on Hobby Machinist. It's less formal than full blog posts, and it's much easier to have a conversation there. Coincidentally, if you have feedback or suggestions, the forum is also a great place to post it.
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