A machine controller may communicate with a joystick (or grip) and/or a touchscreen Human Machine Interface (HMI) (or other input module) on first data communication bus or path, and communicate with machine specific control modules and/or a field computer on a second data communication bus or path. The machine controller may receive operator commands from the joystick or other input module and instruct the corresponding machine specific control module accordingly. Concurrently, the field computer may be used by the operator to monitor and/or control a different function of the machine via a different machine specific control module. As a result, the operator may keep his hand on the joystick or other input module while monitoring a different function.
