GRBL v1.1 Machine Control and GCODE sender Plugin

[gerritv]

The current version of GrblPanel shows the Grbl version in Settings page. Also if running Grbl 1.x then the Overrides controls show on right hand size of display, since those are not showing dh52 is Grbl 0.9x

Gerrit

[BR52]

Karst,

Sorry the error was mine, I changed the folders by mistake, I had the old one.
I confirmed the version with GeblPanel, thank you very much Gerrit.

Works perfectly, Karst you are a very valuable jewel.

   Armando

[karst.drenth]

Hi Armando,

Good to see it works there for you.

But I still see some exceptions... and... no Speed and Feed readout.

I will check if it's possible to make GRBLMachine (partially) compatible with lower versions of Grbl.

Grtzz,

Karst

[karst.drenth]

Hi All & Armando,

Good news !

I just completed making GRBLMachine compatible with versions from 0.8a upwards

Version 0.8x and 0.9x have limited functionality, since they do not send speed and feed data. This makes the animation a bit more jerky/shaky. For full functionality it is still advised to have Grbl 1.1f on your machine.

I will post the update later on this day.


Grtzz,

Karst

[karst.drenth]

Hi All,

Well, AFAIC it's done ...

Version 1.0.0 is there, as usual also including sources  !

I posted this new version at the bottom of this post: GRBL v1.1 Machine Control and GCODE sender Plugin

Mods:

- Solids have been separated from GRBLMachine
- CamBam.CAD.Solids.dll MUST also be installed in 'plugins' ( since GRBLMachine uses it ! )
- GRBLMachine has been made 'tolerant' for Grbl versions from 0.8c ( reduced functionality )

Note: CamBam.CAD.Solids.dll installs the Solids plugin, you can switch off the menu's to create the solids by simply disabling them from the 'Plugins' Menu


So... have fun with the plugin and/or the sources !


Grtzz and please keep me informed about what you think of GRBLMachine,

Karst

[BR52]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to inform you that GRBLMachinePlugin works perfectly.
I did several tests gave OK.

Many thanks Karst.
Muito obrigado Karst. <-- Brazil

   Armando

[Dragonfly]

I've been following the thread with my mouth open, figuratively speaking   Amazing what a man who's deep into the internals of programming can do in short time.
Time to give a try to the solids since I don't have GRBL control.

[sraney]

Amazing work and I was surprised it just worked once I dropped the files in the plugin folder. No magic needed. I've been using CamBam for my ShapeOko for ages and I was glad to see I can get even more use out of it.

 I was hoping I could scrape a bit of information from you about the EleksMill, would you be so kind to export your EleksMill machine definitions for it? XML or text would be great. 

Also, the VBits they include, are they 45 or 60 deg? 

[karst.drenth]

Hi,

Thnx for the compliment ! 


Well, in the meanwhile I 'extended' my EleksMill a little bit ...





... I replaced the complete Y-axis with 400mm long parts from AliExpress. Rendering a lot more travel in that direction.
However rigidity suffered from that and therefore the milling capabilities degraded even further. I also tried the laser.



... that one is really nice, used it to cut sticky foil. Somewhere this or next week I'll post that work in 'Member Projects'


But... a 3040Z-DQ is on it's way into my workshop. ETA tomorrow afternoon  Then I can do some real milling. But not before I have made a GRBL-to-Parallelport converter ( No parallel port present on my laptop...) In that way I can continue using CamBam + GRBLMachine instead of Mach-3

Anyway,



... the V-Bit are about 20 degrees and merely engraving bits.


My Eleksmill settings:



... aside from the Axis parameters and dome direction bits, it is still default as Grbl v1.1 comes out of the box.

In text:

Code: [Select]

**** Connected to COM170 @ 115200 baud ****

Grbl 1.1e ['$' for help]
>G21F100:ok
>>> $$
$0=10
$1=25
$2=0
$3=6
$4=0
$5=0
$6=0
$10=1
$11=0.010
$12=0.002
$13=0
$20=0
$21=0
$22=0
$23=0
$24=25.000
$25=500.000
$26=250
$27=1.000
$30=1000
$31=70
$32=0
$100=400.000
$101=400.000
$102=400.000
$110=3000.000
$111=5000.000
$112=4000.000
$120=100.000
$121=100.000
$122=200.000
$130=132.000
$131=93.000
$132=35.000
ok

Grtzz,

Karst

[atwooddon]

Well, I have run into a couple problems.  The first may be plugin related, the second is probably my fault not understanding how GRBL works. 

#1 is a problem that seems to be associated with the GRBL Machine Control and GCODE Plugin.  This problem occurs with version 9.6 and V1.0 of the plug in. And this occurs with both latest releases of CamBam 9.8P and Version 1.0.  As soon as I install the plugin from either version of the GRBL plugin I start getting a WMI Provider Host task running (shows in Task Manager).  And it uses 30-40% of the cpu until I shut down CamBam. I can remove the plug in and the issue goes away.  PC gets very sluggish with the WMI Provider Host task running.  Any ideas?  

#2 Have been trying to get the GRBL Machine Control to work with an Arduino board (no CNC shield attached) just to see if I can get it to recognize the Arduino board, send gcode and display machine movement.  No luck yet.  It recognizes the Com port and seems to get ready to send the gcode but nothing happens after that.

Thanks
Don  

[karst.drenth]

Hi Don,

Although not obvious, both problems might be related...

GRBLMachine opens two WMI queries to get notified of USB insertion and removal. That's functionality to detect an eventually plugged in Arduino while GRBLMachine already running to update the 'COMPort' combobox. It could be that there is a driver issue with the Arduino, since it apparently won't send data.

1) Please take a look in the console to see whether there are any exception messages.
2) Which version of Grbl do you have loaded into your Arduino ?
3) What Baudrate do you use in GRBLMachine ? ( 9600 for 0.8/0.9 and 115200 for 1.1 )
4) Which version of Windows are you running ?

Grtzz,

Karst

[atwooddon]

Karst

Thank you for the quick response.  I am running Windows 10 and thought I had uploaded the latest GRBL however I am not sure that was successful.  To verify communications was working, I uploaded my latest Marlin firmware for my 3D printer to the Arduino board and it is working fine.  I can communicate with the board fine. 

Will go back to square 1 for the GRBL upload and make sure that is correct before attempting CamBam again. 

Once again, thanks for your help.  And thank you for the work you have put in on this plugin for CamBam.  If I can get it to work, I may abandon Mach3.  Mach3 has worked well for me but hardware/software technology has moved away from the serial port and dedicated (real time) information being sent from the 'PC'.

Don

[karst.drenth]

Hi Don,

...Once again, thanks for your help.  And thank you for the work you have put in on this plugin for CamBam...

... you're more than welcome

...If I can get it to work, I may abandon Mach3.  Mach3 has worked well for me but hardware/software technology has moved away from the serial port and dedicated (real time) information being sent from the 'PC'...

... that might be a (very) wise thing to do... I will be shortly facing the same 'problem' as soon as my new 3040Z-DQ arrives... It comes from China with merely a parallel port (and a 'copy' of Mach3). First thing to do is build a Grbl Arduino into the controlbox. So stay tuned, there will also be some hardware stuff here to convert a Mach3 machine to Grbl And... I am planning full support for tool-length probing, including Auto-Levelling. Of course with the help of CamBam to include the auto-levelling info into the GCODE ...

Grtzz,

Karst

[Bubba]

I may abandon Mach3.  Mach3 has worked well for me but hardware/software technology has moved away from the serial port and dedicated (real time) information being sent from the 'PC'.
*******************
You are right Don.

Except, since changing from paralel/serial port to ESS (ethernet smooth stepper) Mach3 still rock. For me at least.

[Dragonfly]

Yep, although old Mach3 is still superior in functionality. I've been thinking why for all those years no one produced a PCI I/O card suitable for Mach3. Instead of going the more complicated way of coding and driving data through a serial connection and decoding it again.