Touch DRO with other hardware.

[stevewidg]

Some time ago over here in UK I designed and built a PC based DRO with PC only software.
https://www.machine-dro.co.uk/m-dro-pc-d...rface.html
This is sold as a finished end user product, ( usually with a a set of encoders and mounting parts) rather than a diy kit, so a different market area to Yuriy I think.
I am currently revising the hardware with a modular multi channel approach to allow for Quad encoders , Mitutoyo, Chinese scale, Volts Amps or pretty much any other sensor you might want to be mixed. Touch DRO is a brilliant piece of software that works well with my new kit, but I'm uncomfortably that Yuri wont get any money,  it does say downloads are for personal use only, and I dont want to upset anyone.  I dont see a donate page even where I ( or my users ) could donate.
I would really love to offer my customers a guilt free option to use this software. Perhaps a way of monetising it would be to charge a reasonable sum for the new Beta code, and keep current unit free for ALL. Without some revenue there is probably a very reduced incentive to develop the software. I would be happy to do the same thing with my PC software by making it Yuriy compatible.
Otherwise I will have to re-write my code for Android, an area I have little(no) expertise, preferring  to spend my time on hardware development.
Ive tried sending messages outside forum to Yuriy, but had no response. Hope this provokes one

Regards
Stevewidg

[Yuriy]

(11-16-2018, 12:22 PM)stevewidg Wrote: Some time ago over here in UK I designed and built a PC based DRO with PC only software.
https://www.machine-dro.co.uk/m-dro-pc-d...rface.html
This is sold as a finished end user product, ( usually with a a set of encoders and mounting parts) rather than a diy kit, so a different market area to Yuriy I think.
I am currently revising the hardware with a modular multi channel approach to allow for Quad encoders , Mitutoyo, Chinese scale, Volts Amps or pretty much any other sensor you might want to be mixed. Touch DRO is a brilliant piece of software that works well with my new kit, but I'm uncomfortably that Yuri wont get any money,  it does say downloads are for personal use only, and I dont want to upset anyone.  I dont see a donate page even where I ( or my users ) could donate.
I would really love to offer my customers a guilt free option to use this software. Perhaps a way of monetising it would be to charge a reasonable sum for the new Beta code, and keep current unit free for ALL. Without some revenue there is probably a very reduced incentive to develop the software. I would be happy to do the same thing with my PC software by making it Yuriy compatible.
Otherwise I will have to re-write my code for Android, an area I have little(no) expertise, preferring  to spend my time on hardware development.
Ive tried sending messages outside forum to Yuriy, but had no response. Hope this provokes one

Regards
Stevewidg

Hi there,
Good to hear from you. I've heard a lot of good things about your DRO; glad you could step by.
Short answer - the app is distributed free via Play Store and there are no strings attached regarding use. Personal use is for the firmware only. The communication protocol is described here: http://www.yuriystoys.com/2012/09/androi...layer.html. It doesn't cover probe and tach, but basically tach is "t" and should return pulses per minute and probe is "p" and should return 0 for off and 1 for on.
Long(er) answer - new version of the app will come in three versions: Free, "Plus" and "Plus Cloud". The former will basically be a bit better version of the current app. "Plus" will include more professional/enthusiast features and "Cloud" will have online services and some more advanced features that require more processing power (import/exports, backup, sharing etc.) The latter two will be paid, so I am building a way to "gently" monetize the app. Long-term I would love to get out of selling hardware and concentrate on the software, but there is a large percentage of TouchDRO customers who don't have the tools or electronics experience to build their own boars, so for now I'm stuck.

Please feel free to email me at yuriystoys at gmail dot com. I can give you more details offline.

Regards
Yuriy

[stevewidg]

Thanks Yuriy,
glad youve heard of us the other side of the pond!! I'll be getting back to you soon with more details of my kit.

Stevewidg