Making a pocket NC jog controller #RaspberryPiPico #CircuitPython

George Yuan, frustrated when doing some manual machining on a Pocket NC, decide to make a CNC jog controller like the ones you find on a HAAS machine.

The controller has to have 2 basic functions: 1. Being able to select the axis, 2. Have a jog wheel.

Also, I don’t want to make the controller only limited to Pocket NC, but be a “universal” controller, if I make a robotic arm in the future, I want the controller able to, controller.

To do this I decided to use the new Pi Pico as the controller’s control board, running CircuitPython, it will communicate to the computer HID, basically act like a mouse and a keyboard. Then I have a Python script running on the computer to interpret the control’s input and translate it into action needed; in this case, licking the axis button on the Pocket NC control site.

See the video below, the Hackaday.io post, and the project GitHub for all the details.