DIY CNC Milling Machine Control Panel for EMC2


This is meant to be an addition to a regular industrial style alphanumeric keyboard with trackball. It contains the most widely used functions as far as I now know. Since I am using a CNC4PC C11G I only have 5 inputs. All these functions are available on the keyboard within EMC2 and will not require a separate input. This panel will require a keyboard encoder either bought, ripped from an old keyboard, or made with a custom pcb. Keyboard encoders are available from Hagstrom, Ultimarc ($40) and Vetra.

Beyond Logic has all the information for rolling the code for your own keyboard controller which has some advantages. If you code your own then you can include functions for rotary switches (that include one-shots) and analog inputs.

This control panel is meant to be a cheap way of controlling the machine before or in conjunction with an MPG. This panel can be made for less than $200 which is a lot cheaper than an MPG.

One of the things this is missing is indicators/blinken lights. The power button is meant to be lit when on. Suggestions?

Machine Functions
  • Emergency Stop - with an added contact for drivers/vfd input
  • Machine On - Lit - with an added contact for machine functions/relay/contactor/etc
  • Coolant toggle
  • Spindle toggle (Turns the spindle on CW, could be more advanced as my Bridgeport has 2 speeds for Hi/Lo. But when do you need a button to control the spindle speed otherwise?)
  • Touch Off
Program Functions
  • Run
  • Stop
  • Feed Hold/Pause
  • Resume
Jog Functions
  • X increase / X decrease
  • Y increase / Y decrease
  • Z increase / Z decrease
  • A increase / A decrease
  • Jog Feed rate increase / decrease
  • Continuous Jog
  • Incremental Jog increase / decrease (first press selects incremental and second moves in 0.001,0.01,0.1)
  • Limits Override
Display Functions
  • DRO/Path Preview Toggle
  • Jog (Jog keys do not work in MDI so this button selects the jog page. MDI can be selected by the track ball or keyboard but will not have a button as it is a keyboard function)
Expansion
  • 3 buttons without functions.
I would like to have a feed override but EMC2 does not have an easy buttons for this function. Instead EMC2 uses the number keys to select a percentage. I think that a potentiometer would be the most useful for feed override but that would require an analog input into the computer which I do not have.

For your reference here is the list of keyboard commands for EMC2 from the Axis Quick Reference help page.

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