I've seen mention of the Axis interface being "old fashioned", geesh
what would happen with an extended ASCII interface ?
Maybe cnc routers could be a "plug n play" usually the setups are
relatively easy, materials are more or less flat sheets.
When one starts to delve into milling, well that's a different kettle of
fish. How much time is spent thinking about a setup, then implementing
the setup. In some jobs the actual machining time can seem trivial
compared to the setup. This is where the real skill comes into play,
something I'm still learning and very much in the novice corner in that
respect.
Now what will be the reaction of a user who wants a "plug n play"
solution when they find out about the time spent in setups ?
As much as the Arduino is a great product, it has taken the focus away
from discrete components and to focus on "everything can be done in
software". There are quite a few projects that seem to use an arduino
when it's not really required.
Linuxcnc is somewhat easy to customise by the use of hal comps, would an
embedded system aid in that ?
But I guess the "hipster maker fanbase" wouldn't care, as long as they
can post their latest gizmo on social media.
In relation to Open Source, it's the people who use the software
produced by the project that are creating it. Not some programmer
grinding out code for a day job, that needs an a middle man to be
between the end user & programmer. If that relationship isn't great well
then......
It's seems that this thread is turning more towards an embedded solution
rather than the PC solution Linuxcnc is.
As someone mentioned some of the ideas expressed seem to be more in the
realm of the Machinekit project.
On 15/2/20 5:56 pm, Rafael Skodlar wrote:
On 2020-02-11 01:04, Chris Albertson wrote:
I said people *want* to use CNC like a laser printer. Most
setups are
not that good. It is a goal and if designing a new system. It is
good to
set the bar high and try to do what can't be done today. What I
really
meant was that with a printer, all the critical timing happens in the
printer. There are no servo-loops on the PC and you don't need a
real-time
OS to print to paper. I think people want CNC to work this way.
That's how some CNC machines work. I came across a small woodwork
business owner with very nicely garage that was converted into
workshop. Win PC in the corner for designing parts in CAD, large Axiom
CNC machine with a pendant to control it. Tiny LCD is all that's
needed to select the job, i.e. file from a USB stick.
The owner did not know what's inside the CNC machine itself and he
doesn't care. That's what you say Chris I think and I agree with.
I don't know if there's an option for connecting that CNC machine to
LAN. I would not use wireless connections for such as it's security
issue due to hacking possibility in the neighborhood. Another
possibility is noise on WhyFy frequencies from appliances, bad power
lines, etc.
In any case, that CNC machine does not have or need a PC computer with
modern GUI interface connected directly to run it. That's why I
started this discussion. X-windows is waste of resources, it's another
thing that needs to be maintained and updated in some instances. Too
many things to go bad in what's supposed to be a relatively simple
embedded system.
The tiniest user interface would be possible using extended ASCII
characters as in old DOS. We used to play with that in old email
signatures. My fun with ASCII art in the 1990s:
. . . . . . . . o o o o O o
___________________ ___________ _____ O
| Rafael Skodlar | | LINUX | ____==== ]OO|_n_n__][.
| ra...@mydomain.com |=| Support |=||=[________]_|__|________)<
~~~~oo~~~~~~oo~~~~~ ~~oo~~~oo~~ oo oo 'oo OOOO-| oo\_
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
Add colors, lines, and block characters and ... you see the picture
that's taking extremely little memory by today standards.
Simple ASCII DRO + G-code scroll window and 4x4 keypad would be enough
for most work. No need for keyboard, mouse and X-windows on large
monitor.
On Mon, Feb 10, 2020 at 3:06 PM Bari <bari00...@gmail.com> wrote:
A laser printer is a good example of how people really want a CNC
mill to
work. You design you document on the computer then press "print"
and the
printer creates it. After the last of the data is moved to the
printer
you can turn the PC off it you like.
Why it's not that simple:
https://www.machinedesign.com/3d-printing-cad/article/21122653/top-11-myths-of-cnc-machining
the article states:
Myth #4: G/M Code is a Thing of the Past
That's true too. It amazes me that the industry did not go away from
primitive code by today standards. G-code was only modified or updated
by some CNC machines manufacturers as far as I know but most of G-code
is still the same. Compare that to computer/software advancements
since 1980s. Perl, php, python, Go, html, etc.
Using G-code is like writing computer programs in assembly language!
It time to upgrade it to something like HP-GL with addition for Z and
other axis obviously. Such a language would make it much easier for
human(e) use. 4 to 6 letter long abbreviations for tool manipulation
would still make code terse enough to fit on smaller LCD displays and
we could remember the commands for small jobs after a while.
For start, HP-GL commands would need to be modified to accommodate
relative or absolute CNC tool movement.
Magazine Digital Machinist has some very cool CNC related articles but
you need to wait long for the next quarterly issue to follow them.
None of the advertisers mention LCNC ;-(
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