I've been exploring the OpenBuilds Interface for the last few weeks and found a few issues and also missing a much needed feature. Just an FYI - I have a custom Atmel Based GRBL controller running GRBL-Mega-5x. I've encountered a bug where the GRBL parameters don't reflect what's actually in the controller, for example my "report inches" is set to false, but the Interface shows it as "ON" and won't toggle. Another bug is an inconsistent behaviour with a hardware "HOLD" and "RUN" signal. If a program is running and HOLD is pressed - the interface recognizes this, but pressing "RUN" causes the Interface XYZ readout to be stuck, even though the program is still running. This is in passthrough mode via USB. A feature I really need is the ability to jog to a specific XYZ value. In my workflow I often need to jog to a specific XYZ position. Is it possible to add a submenu in, for example, the "Set XYZ Zero" or "Go Home" section to be able to just jog to a particular position? There's already a nice interface to enter numbers when editing GRBL parameters, so perhaps that could be utilized? Is the firmware source code completely closed or is it planned to be opened up at some point in the future?
Note that Interface is only tested against vanilla Grbl and we have seen Grbl 5x bugs affecting CONTROL users too By design. Interface and CONTROL forces report mode to mm. It uses mm in the backend. To show units in inch go to Tools and Utils > Interface Settings > Units instead Only to be used for debug. Can't have two active hosts controlling the same Grbl instance. Computer or Interface - not both. Secondly as our BlackBox doesnt expose Grbl's hardware buttons not much implementation to properly support them exists, sorry Noted, thanks for the suggestion Sorry, at this time yes.
Thanks for the quick reply, Peter. Is there any sort of beta-testing program I could sign up for? What about an NDA based firmware source release for collaboration/rapid prototyping?
I am unsure of the NDA possibility, please do post a request to support.openbuilds.com > new ticket and the store team can get that escalated to the right people for you. Beta testing: We run a very fast release cycle during dev - buckle down for a couple days to work on firmware, fix known bugs, add features, release. You may have seen posts in the past where I just post the "beta" firmware binaries in thread when working with someone on a specific issue for them to help test if it got resolved for them. I might post here if we implement one of your feature requests like that
You can jog to specific positions one axis at a time - just type the position you want into the appropriate [X, Y or Z] DRO box and when you press enter the machine moves there. (I use it regularly).
He it wants in the Interface Yes, CONTROL already has it (though I'd like the alternate, type in a number and press enter to have that axis set to that offset, thus shifting the WCS 0)
Not this one? Enter to go to entered value, Shift+Enter to set current position as the entered value?
CONTROL is the more fledged solution. Interface is meant for that "on-machine" lets just run the job applications. Loved by those that mass produce stuff. You can include relevant GCODE in the Job header, or even create little macro gcode files for yourself. The "run the job as set up" concept behind Interface just means your gcode has to do everything. Not sure what you intended use case was - but if its something like "move over and run the job again" - that should be CAM'ed with both jobs for example
