|
4 July 2008, 16:49 UTCZenbot Lives
Nearly a year ago, I got an inexpensive CNC router
off ebay. It is constructed from HDPE, and the original table was made
from wood. Unfortunately, I found that the table was not flat enough for
milling circuit boards. With a few upgrades, though, I've made a usable
circuit board and have good hopes for the machine's usefulness in the future. read more...
5 June 2008, 14:47 UTCaxis-dropbox: Automatically open new or modified gcode files in axis
Whether you are writing gcode by hand or generating it with cam
software, you will find yourself frequently hitting "open" or "reload" in axis.
With the axis-dropbox script, a new or modified gcode file will automatically
be opened in axis, speeding up the 'edit / preview' cycle just a bit. read more...
12 May 2008, 14:56 UTCExperimental Ubuntu 8.04 + EMC2 Live CD
Alex Joni has announced a Live (and installable) Ubuntu 8.04 CD with EMC2 and
a real-time kernel included. If you have a non-production system you'd like to
test on, and feel you can give good bug reports in the event of trouble, maybe
you should give it a spin. But heed Alex's warning:
Before describing download and install procedures I would like to point out
that at this point the packages have been tested by a semi-large number of
people, and only a couple problems have been reported so far (on some
hardware where it doesn't work at all). Therefore I do not encourage at this
point to replace a working dapper install with the new hardy version. Dapper
is still supported until 2009, and as long as it's supported we will be
building emc2 packages for it.
In addition to the 32-bit Live CD, you can also add emc2 to a 64-bit install
by using the emc2-install.sh mentioned in the linked message. That version
is even more experimental than the 32-bit version; Unfortunately, I see
kernel crashes after 2 days to 2 weeks even when not running EMC2.
[permalink]
12 May 2008, 14:51 UTCRelease: EMC 2.2.5 By jepler
I'm pleased to announce the next bugfix release of the EMC 2.2 series,
version 2.2.5. This version fixes user-reported problems and adds a new
hardware driver.
The new packages are now available in the package repository. If you
already installed 2.2.0 or 2.2.1, this is available as an update. If
you are still using 2.1.7 but want to upgrade, instructions are here.
CVS users can get this release by checking out the RELEASE_2_2_5 tag.
Changes in this release:
- Include license statement for the 'Togl' software, which is
incorporated in emc2
- added m7i43_hm2, a driver for the Mesa 7i43 board with HostMot2
firmware
- axis: numeric keypad fix in prior version was incomplete
- various documentation improvements
- stepconf: do not allow axis acceleration to be set to zero during an
axis test (SF#1938763)
- last move no longer discarded if it's a G1 and the file ends with %
(SF#1937281)
- add a workaround which fixes pyvcp for hardy
- backport fix for #1929461 - halui stops reading inputs during a MDI
- Fix a bug that caused backplot to freeze during linear moves
- add serbian translation for AXIS/stepconf
[permalink]
16 March 2008, 21:36 UTCRelease: EMC 2.2.4 By jepler
I'm pleased to announce the next bugfix release of the EMC 2.2 series,
version 2.2.4. This version fixes many user-reported problems.
The new packages are now available in the package repository. If you
already installed 2.2, this is available as an update. If you are still
using 2.1.x but want to upgrade, read the instructions.
If you do not have a network connection on the machine where you run emc, you
can download a ".deb" file and transfer it using a USB drive or any other
method. Instructions.
CVS users can get this release by checking out the RELEASE_2_2_4 tag.
Tarballs will be available on sourceforge.net within the next 24 hours.
Changes in this release:
- make xxxmach exit reliably with 'halcmd unload' (SF#1816781)
- hook up encoder index for homing in the motenc sample configuration
- axis: don't reset the interpreter during touch-off and reload. This
fixes the loss of modal settings from MDI, including tool length offset,
fixing SF#1825638
- stepconf: clarify that it is the ratio of teeth on each pulley that must
be entered
- hal_input: fix 'ZeroDivisionError' for absolute axes that report the same
value for min and max
- fix various inaccuracies in the documentation
- halscope: fix the time displayed when mousing over a trace
- axis: fix ctrl and - or = starting an unstoppable jog
- axis: fix the numeric keypad with numlock on
- task: fix the initial coordinate system offset (SF#1895693)
- stepconf: fix "Both Limit"-type inputs (SF#1906640)
- stepconf: fix "HOME_SEQUENCE" problem without full set of home inputs
(SF#1906641)
- stepconf: fix Z home and limit switches on lathes (SF#1910452)
- stepconf: fix 'offset' value calculated for spindle speed control
- stepconf: enable 'dither-pwm' for spindle speed control
- traj planner: fix velocity 'bobble' between 1st and 2nd consecutive synced
moves
- halscope: fix 'sample every Nth time' function
- configs/univstep: fix external estop in this configuration
- pluto_step: fix for negative scale values (SF#1915407)
- pluto_servo: fix for pwm+direction mode
- stepconf: improve calculation of HOME_LATCH_VEL
[permalink]
28 January 2008, 3:42 UTCRelease: EMC 2.2.3 By jepler
I'm pleased to announce the next bugfix release of the EMC 2.2 series,
version 2.2.3. This version fixes many user-reported problems.
The new packages are now available in the package repository. If you
already installed 2.2, this is available as an update. If you are still
using 2.1.x but want to upgrade, instructions are available
CVS users can get this release by checking out the RELEASE_2_2_3 tag.
Tarballs will be available on sourceforge.net within the next 24 hours.
Changes in this release:
- gcode quick reference had G98, G99 transposed
- gcode quick reference had wrong links to G18, G19 documentation
- initialize all axes, including unused ones, to 0.00000. this fixes several problems:
- g38.2 probe logs 0.000000 for axes that do not exist
- several types of 'following error' messages. In particular, 4-axis code seemed to be affected by this.
- axis: make 'touch off' work when the loaded file uses percent signs
- stepconf: fix several problems with Test Axis button
- hal_input: make sure absolute axes are driven with the correct value at startup
- axis: show emc2 version number in title bar
- axis: show lathe tools with very small diameters better
- test suite: update expected results for several gcode tests
- fix sample configuration 'lathe-pluto'
- axis: fix incorrect line in the preview where tool length offset is changed
- fixed ferror problem when using start-from-line
- fix #1853953 M66 doesn't work with parport inputs
- temp fix preventing segfaults on bad M66 indexes
- pluto-step: fix a problem when the motor position went beyond +-2^20 counts
- fix NAN that appears when you move below the lower extent of a screw comp file
- pluto-servo: fix a problem with pwm+direction mode
- updates to romanian translation
[permalink]
16 January 2008, 15:47 UTCGenerating HAL files from Eagle schematics By Jeff
Martin Schöneck has created a neat set of scripts and supporting
files that allow the creation of EMC2 HAL files from Eagle schematics.
Martin seems to have found a way to express all of HAL's important features
(parameters, pins, modules, threads, functions) in Eagle schematics.
http://martinschoeneck.de/hal-write
Personally I like the idea of using an existing schematic layout program
for this task, instead of creating all-new schematic capture software.
[permalink]
25 December 2007, 14:51 UTCImproved Analog & Digital Interface with Arduino By jepler
Building on my earlier work, I've now improved
the interface between HAL and the Arduino board
to have:
- 6 8-bit PWM "analog" outputs
- 6 digital inputs/outputs (partition chosen when component is loaded)
- GPL license statement in source files
As before, the driver consists of an Arduino Sketch (halintf.pde)
and a HAL Userspace Component written in Python (arduino.py).read more...
24 December 2007, 19:46 UTCAnalog inputs with Arduino and EMC
I recently got an arduino board. The AVR
microcontroller on it has 6 10-bit ADCs. The version I got has a USB
connection, so I decided to write an analog input firmware and associated
userspace HAL driver in python. read more...
21 December 2007, 14:54 UTCEMC runs a real 5-axis machine By jepler
This new video shows
Chris's modified MaxNC 10 mill doing 5-axis milling. A slightly different
configuration than the virtual machine in his initial
work, this has one rotary moving the work ("C") and one rotary moving the
spindle ("B"), requiring a different kinematics module. However, when each
machine is run with the appropriate kinematics module, 5-axis XYZBC code has
the same meaning on both.
XYZ moves refer to the coordinate system defined by the workpiece, and UVW
moves refer to the coordinate system defined by the tool. Chris notes that
"I put my 30-60-90 triangle on the table and went to B30. Now the V axis cuts
right along it. This is extremely useful."
All this work is in the "w_tool_length" branch of CVS.
[permalink]
18 December 2007, 13:42 UTCEMC 2.2.2 released
26 November 2007, 16:30 UTC5-axis machining with emc
8 November 2007, 16:59 UTCAnd the first new features start appearing in CVS...
8 November 2007, 16:40 UTCEMC 2.2.1 released
5 November 2007, 18:39 UTCEMC 2.2 released
27 September 2007, 17:02 UTCGutsy Gibbon's "-rt" kernel
12 September 2007, 14:58 UTCHAL: the trouble with doubles
11 September 2007, 2:37 UTCStepconf: Many Improvements
30 August 2007, 2:37 UTCSecond evening with the Zenbot
28 August 2007, 22:03 UTCZenbot Mini CNC Router
27 August 2007, 16:00 UTCEMC 2.1.7 release
26 August 2007, 13:15 UTCDoubling software step rates in emc2 (Update: Now in CVS TRUNK)
19 August 2007, 14:56 UTCCustom USB input device with emc
29 July 2007, 18:17 UTCStepconf: GUI to configure parport "step+direction" machines (updated)
24 July 2007, 11:20 UTCpluto-step ran a mill
8 July 2007, 2:41 UTCpluto-step: it's not done but you can test it anyway
15 June 2007, 21:16 UTCEMC2 does rigid tapping
13 June 2007, 3:14 UTCCNC workshop 2007: threads from emc on servo lathe
13 June 2007, 3:14 UTCEMC 2.1.6 released
11 June 2007, 2:05 UTCFest 2007
All older entries
| 
AXIS: A User Interface for EMC2
