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OpenBuilds CONTROL Software

Discussion in 'Control Software' started by Mark Carew, Oct 8, 2018.

  1. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Because it accidentally got in 1.0.110 before it was ready. Whats coming when its done is even more awesome. Coming this next week - soon-ish (;
     
    #31 Peter Van Der Walt, Nov 3, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2018
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  2. Hector Beltran

    Hector Beltran Well-Known
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    First of all, great work. I have been using the control software for a couple of weeks. I started with 104 and see you are already on 111.
    In any case, I appreciate having the option to use my Mac with my Workbee. I do have a couple of comments: the control software doesn’t seem to quit when I select the option to quit. I have to a Force Quit every time. Secondly, the application maxes out my core i7 CPU to nearly 100%. I am not sure why so many CPU cycles are required even when the application is idle.

    Thanks for all the hard work.
     
  3. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Quit: see Add option to Disable Autostart on boot. · Issue #17 · OpenBuilds/SW-Machine-Drivers basically working as designed (has to stay active all the time for integration to work. Read the issue linked in full). There is a proper quit on the dock context menu (right click dock icon): see https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/31449271/46294148-692a9f00-c595-11e8-89e4-64227982849c.gif

    Cpu: well, even in idle, 3D viewer renders at 30-60fps in a backround thread. Animation needs cpu cycles :) - its a full WebGL 3d viewer. But do post more details on a new github issue if you need further investigation please. It shouldnt be 100% on all cores. One core, maybe
     
    #33 Peter Van Der Walt, Nov 4, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2018
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  4. Hector Beltran

    Hector Beltran Well-Known
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    Thanks. I will check out how many cores are getting the full work out. I noticed my MacBook Pro getting pretty warm which is what got me thinking. I will report back once I get back home in about a week.
     
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  5. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Sounds like a plan. Post details in a Github Issues if you need to (as much detail as possible) :)
     
    #35 Peter Van Der Walt, Nov 5, 2018
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2018
  6. uwsdandt

    uwsdandt New
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    I have just started using this controller with my school students on a c-beam machine. I previously used grbl panel which worked well but I found it crashed all the time which was frustrating. We are using Fusion 360 to create the tool paths and the grbl post processor but had to delete some commands on the first time as it came up with an error and now it just alarms on the finishing path. Is there a different post processor or is there something I am missing. Great bit of software and I love the c-beam it would just be great for them to work together happily!
     
  7. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    Yes, use this one: Strooom/GRBL-Post-Processor

    I'm working on making it a bit easier to use, but its not ready yet. The main gotcha with the one above is that its not smart enough to realize that you want G54 when you have 0 set in WCS Offset in the Post Process tab of your setup. Set it to 1 if you want G54.
     
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  8. uwsdandt

    uwsdandt New
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    Thanks for your help though it is a bit above my level of understanding. But I have downloaded it and I think I have installed it on my computer. It appears in Fusion 360 listed as Open Hardware Desktop CNC Router / OpenbuildsGRBL is this right? I'll try it tomorrow in school if I can.
     
  9. uwsdandt

    uwsdandt New
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    I have just created a gcode with this processor and when I checked it there was a G54 command which I take is a good sign!
     
  10. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    Yes and Yes. :) If you dont change 0 to 1 in the processor tab, then you'll get and error when you try to post. If you didnt get an error then you should be good to go.

    You should also pay attention to the post properties for machineHomeX, machineHomeY and machineHomeZ. These tell the machine where to go after the job is complete. They are "machine" coordinates (g53), NOT work coordinates (g54). -10 is good for Z. However, -10 might not be good for X or Y depending on your physical setup (i.e. clamps in the way). If you need clarification on this, check this out: Strooom/GRBL-Post-Processor

    I might as well tell you about the hasSpeedDial settings as well. If you choose yes, it will spit out some suggested dial settings. Those dial settings are for a Makita router. Part of the changes I've made to mine is allow you to select which router you have, since the Makita and Dewalt have different RPM/Dial settings. If you have a spindle instead of a router, you can set the hasSpeedDial to no and forget I ever mentioned this :)
     
  11. uwsdandt

    uwsdandt New
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    Hi Sharmstr, Thank you for your help. I have discovered how little i know but your help has allowed me to machine the work on my c-beam even if I don't fully understand how I did it! The cutter goes to a place that is safe from harm but when I have a little more time I will try my best to take full control! I am using a DeWalt router that I am controlling manually which is OK at the moment though I believe it is possible to switch it on and off with the control board which would be good - it would at least be more obvious that the machining had finished! Thanks again for your help. Andy
     
  12. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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    @uwsdandt Great news. I'm pretty green when it comes to the openbuilds and grbl stuff. I've had a Tormach for a while, so I get most of it. I think you have a few options when it comes to the router (dewalt). The two I know of are these.

    The simple way: IOT Switching Relay Power Strip Basically plug the router into that and run a single wire to the xpro. I bought one to control my dust collection.

    The hard way (which I'm doing): www.SuperPID.com - Super-PID Closed-loop Router Speed Controller A lot more involved, but it also allows you to control the rpm of the router.

    There are probably others, but like I said, I'm pretty new to all of this "diy" cnc stuff.
     
  13. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    (; *cough* thread hijack *cough* (; sorry gents but this thread is for the OpenBuilds Machine driver support - would love it if we can take the spindle control and hardware questions to new threads - both for the sake of this thread, but also, for your own benefit, users see the new title, and jump in to help. Here it kinda gets lost in an unrelated thread :) - all good, but just trying to help everyone
     
  14. DA_Spec

    DA_Spec New
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    How hard is it to configure ? Im using a tb6600 4axis board on mach3 demo version but im limited to 500 lines of g code which is not enough for the job i wanna do. I have to deliver the job on saturday and dont wanna loose the day on it
     
  15. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Only works with grbl/smoothie based controllers. Not mach and its style of hardware. You can checkout LinuxCNC instead though
     
  16. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Nick, you can checkout the new Macros function added in 1.0.117 (yesterday)

    macros.PNG

    edit.PNG
     
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  17. sharmstr

    sharmstr OpenBuilds Team
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  18. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Hector, I've put up RPI compile instructions at OpenBuilds/SW-Machine-Drivers (unsupported, you're on your own - but at least its there if you feel brave)
     
  19. Trooper11040

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    Is “stop job” like an e-stop to the board? I was using my newly built 1010 today using a v3 stepper controller. Everything was functioning fine. I hit stop job, and now I can’t get motors to fire up at all. I restarted everything and nothing. Board boots up but no motor power to any stepper.
     
  20. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    It sends an immediate feedhold to Grbl, and flushes the Queue, nothing more. Grbl may enter alarm mode, check if the bell icon is flashing, and hit Unlock Alarm if it is.
    Sure there wasnt any other actions, check your Grbl settings, the XPRO needs $4=1 or "Invert step enable pin" = "Enable" in our settings.
     
  21. Trooper11040

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    $4=1 was the answer. Don’t know how that got swapped. Thank you!
     
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  22. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    That ones a kinda FAQ around here for "motors not energising" - as the setting only applies when the board reset - sometimes when copying settings from the forum or somewhere, customers enter $4=0 or when they do a Factory Reset settings, etc, but things keep on working - till the board reboots and $4=0 becomes active...

     
  23. Trooper11040

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    Interesting. I’ve only done wiring so far. Fired it up, moved the gantry forward a bit to finish cleaning up everything...booted down my computer and the machine. Came back 15 mins later to continue working and thats when panic set in thinking I did something wrong lol. Otherwise it’s all good and working which is the best result!
     
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  24. Rob Mitchell

    Rob Mitchell Well-Known
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  25. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Grbl (best features support) and Smoothieware (no longer supported since 1.0.15x onward), sorry. Try Chilipeppr or CNC.js?


    EDIT: Noted that Smoothie is no longer supported
     
    #55 Peter Van Der Walt, Dec 18, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2019
  26. Douglas Grimm

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    Can software be changed to inches?
     
  27. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    The Jog etc, not at this time. But it supports inch mode gcode, if you load gccode in inch, 3D viewer displays in Inch, and the job runs accordingly
     
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  28. Trooper11040

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    I’ve been trying to use picsender since I already own it and use it on my xcarve. Every time I try it and go to home the machine, it locks the motors and turns them off. The only way to get the machine back functioning again is to go back into openbuilds software and reflash the firmware. Is there a reason I can only use the openbuilds software and not something else as my sending software? Thanks..
     
  29. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Not at all. All we do is send. Nothing else.


    Re lockups during homing
    Check your homing settings ($20,$21, $22 etc, also check if Picsenders changes these for you, or if you are not somehow? If you dont have endstop switches installed, be sure to disable hard limits and homing - i know you do, just mentioning for others in same situation) and if its a 2 axis machine and you do have homing switches, check gnea/grbl (else it waits for Z homing, times out because there is no Z, and goes into alarm mode). V1.0.121 and up, comes with a utility to flash the modified 2 axes Grbl

    To get going instead of a reflash, just unlock with $X or the Unlock button

    The Grbl wiki at github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki is worth a read too
     
    #59 Peter Van Der Walt, Dec 22, 2018
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2018
  30. Trooper11040

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    I’ll try this today. I think picsender is changing $4 for some reason and not sure why. Worst case I could use universal g code sender but I’m so used to using picsender it would be easier to just keep on using it for both machines running side by side
     

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