New Accessory in Handibot Store!

Afternoon everyone--just wanted to let y'all know that I've added a new accessory to the store. It's called the "Quick-Bit" and it is a pressure sensitive Z Zero plate--meaning that there is no need to clip a wire onto your bit to measure the cutter. It is more versatile than the built in Z Zero plate and can be placed anywhere on the material. Because it sits directly on top of the material that you're cutting, you'll get even more precise results. [store.handibot.com]

This was really a necessity ahead of the release of the 24" Y axis handibot. That new frame won't have a good spot for a built in Z Zero plate--and it will be nice to be able to zero to specific locations on your material with such a large cut area.

The design of the mechanism was done by Dave Preiss who worked as an intern with handibot a few summers ago before landing a job as an engineer at ShopBot. I've admired the cleverness of it for a while and am really happy to have found a way to integrate it with the handibot!

There's a new app to go with it as well!

I absolutely love seeing this as the solution to Z zeroing for the Extended Y handibot.

Every time my confidence in your ability to be awesome wanes you do something like this.

I have some ideas for accessories for the ExtY but I am not going to reveal them until you are shipping as I don't want to distract you. :-)

Your confidence was waning?!?! Just kidding--I know I owe everyone more accessories asap. Hoping to find time to work on them at the end of the day is always what keeps me going in the shop during the day!

I just tried hooking mine up. I can't get it to work. I double checked all of the connections, it seems right.

I also installed the macro. When I try to "measure cutter" it just moves the bit down without any regard to the plate. Do I need to update the firmware on my handibot?

Daniel,

No firmware update should be required. I'm communicating with someone else about this over email as well. I'm admittedly new to assembling these and I'm double-checking everything I've got here right now.

When you have yours hooked up, check the status of input #5 (right below the digital position readout on the right side of the screen). Is it already illuminated? If not, when you press on the plate, does it light up?

I'll check later tonight, and post.

Unfortunately I can't run the test yet since I'm back to my "waiting for fabmo" / engine down problem.... I'd reflash again , but I'm remote and I don't want to guide my daughter through THAT procedure just yet...

In any case, from my recollection, light 5 was on all the time, but I'll have to get it back up and running to completely verify. At that point, I didn't understand that that was a reflection of the input status -- makes total sense now. That certainly seems like a good "pre-flight check" to add to the instructions - press on the plate, see if light 5 lights up, that ought to be added to the instructions before someone breaks a bit or screws up the router clamp, etc.

Ok--we're working on all of these things as I type this It looks like there was a software version released a little bit ahead of schedule this weekend--which is probably what was installed on your tool when you performed the update. Factory reset should work and the software on the web is good now. I'll go into more detail in the other thread.

Quick-Bit wise--it looks like I was the lucky one to discover a batch of aluminum parts that arrived slightly out of spec from our machinist. I am reworking parts right now and will be shipping new Quick-Bit plates to everyone that ordered them; plus replacing any bits that were broken when trying them out.

Details for those who are interested: Quick Bit is a conductive zeroing system, just like the clip and plate system on the handibot. However, the circuit is contained entirely in the little puck that is wired into the tool. The aluminum disc in the middle of the puck is held just above the metal base frame by an O-ring. When you run the routine, the bit presses on the plate and compresses the O-ring allowing the plate to make contact with the metal base frame, completing the circuit and sending a signal to your tool that measures the bit.
However--the slot in which the O-ring sits was milled too deep on the batch that I built, so the O-ring sits too low and allows the disc to close the circuit even when no pressure is being applied. Because the circuit is always closed, the routine doesn't see the input pulse that lets it know when to stop--so it keeps going...bonehead move on my part, not testing every single one of these--I got a little too excited to get them moving out the door.

I'm revamping the design a bit to make this less prone to failure--and I will release an update to the app that checks to make sure the circuit is open when it starts the routine--if the circuit is already closed, then it should abort the routine. I'll post here when the app update is available.

At least that helps me figure out why both of those things were happening!

Hopefully that revamped design includes the longer cord too And updated instructions for others to check that light 5 lights up when you press on it...

Thanks for your quick support!

Yes! I am going include a longer cord--actually it will be an extension cord. There will be a connector outside of the electronics enclosure that will be easy to unplug if you want to remove the plate temporarily.

The new version looks good! Just finished cutting the parts. I need one more component that I've had overnighted to me--so I should be able to ship everyone's stuff out by tomorrow. I'll include a return label so that we can get back the duds.

Great. I was going to suggest a longer cord too.

I got the updated version. Works great!. Thanks.

Do you want me to send the old back? I saw there was a return shipping label in the box.

Thanks,

Dan

Dan, normally I say I don't speak for ShopBot /handibot but this time.... Yes they'll want it back so that they can rework it.

I got my updated one installed and the program installed . Working great.

Tried to enter network mode but the network screen will not populate with wifi channels even with one right beside it! I may be cursed to direct mode forever!

Yes, Daniel, Please do send the dud plate back when you get a chance.

I'm glad to hear that everyone is back up and running now!