Posts Tagged Sherline
Logitech Dual Action Gamepads: Mac vs. PC
Posted by Ed in Home Ec, Oddities, PC Tweakage, Software on 6-May-2013
Turns out that there’s no difference between the Mac and PC versions of the Logitech Dual Action Gamepad:
Logitech Dual Action Gamepads – Mac vs PC
I picked up a Mac version cheap from the usual eBay seller and discovered that LinuxCNC / HAL was perfectly happy. That wasn’t too surprising; they have the same model and part numbers. Most likely, the only difference was the CD and maybe the Quick Start Guide that I didn’t get in the opened retail box…
So now I have either a hot backup for the Joggy Thing or one for a different box.
Most likely, it was cheap because nobody wants a blue-and-black peripheral next to their shiny white Mac…
G-Code and M-Code Grand Master List
Posted by Ed in Machine Shop, Software on 14-March-2013
Here’s a combined and sorted list of all the G-Code and M-Code commands for (as many of) the Free Software G-Code interpreters (that I could find) relevant to DIY 3D printing. With any luck, I now know:
- What a given command does
- What other interpreters do with that command
The short descriptions come from tables on the original source pages, perhaps with a bit of massaging to make things more uniform; I did as little rearranging and editing as possible.
If you see anything wrong or have another G-Code interpreter I should include, let me know…
3D Printer G-Code and M-Code Commands 27 Feb 2013 Ed Nisley - KE4ZNU V3 - NIST RS274NGC V3- http://www.nist.gov/manuscript-publication-search.cfm?pub_id=823374 LC - LinuxCNC - http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/2.5/html/ RG - ReplicatorG - http://replicat.org/gcodes and /mcodes JF - Jetty Firmware - http://replicat.org/mcodes at bottom RR - RepRap - http://reprap.org/wiki/G_codes (cross-linked from many G-Code pages) MF - Marlin Firmware dialect of RR (via Dan Newman) G0 LC Coordinated Straight Motion Rapid G0 MF same as G1 G0 RG Rapid Motion G0 RR Rapid move G0 V3 rapid positioning G1 LC Coordinated Straight Motion Feed Rate G1 MF Coordinated Movement X Y Z E G1 RG Coordinated Motion G1 RR Controlled move G1 V3 linear interpolation G2 LC Coordinated Helical Motion Feed Rate G2 MF CW ARC G2 RG Arc - Clockwise G2 V3 circular/helical interpolation (clockwise) G3 LC Coordinated Helical Motion Feed Rate G3 MF CCW ARC G3 RG Arc - Counter Clockwise G3 V3 circular/helical interpolation (counterclockwise) G4 LC Dwell G4 MF Dwell S<seconds> or P<milliseconds> G4 RG Dwell G4 RR Dwell G4 V3 dwell G5.1 LC Quadratic B-Spline G5.2 LC NURBs Block Open G5.3 LC NURBs Block Close G7 LC Diameter Mode (lathe) G8 LC Radius Mode (lathe) G10 LC L10 Set Tool Table, Calculated, Workpiece G10 LC L11 Set Tool Table, Calculated, Fixture G10 LC L1 Set Tool Table Entry G10 LC L20 Coordinate System Origin Setting Calculated G10 LC L2 Coordinate System Origin Setting G10 RG Create Coordinate System Offset from the Absolute one G10 RR Head Offset G10 V3 coordinate system origin setting G17 LC Arc plane XY G17 RG Select XY plane (default) G17 V3 XY-plane selection G17.1 LC Arc plane UV G18 LC Arc plane ZX G18 RG Select XZ plane (not implemented) G18 V3 XZ-plane selection G18.1 LC Arc plane WU G19 LC Arc plane YZ G19 RG Select YX plane (not implemented) G19 V3 YZ-plane selection G19.1 LC Arc plane VW G20 LC Unit of Measure - inch G20 RG Inches as units G20 RR Set Units to Inches G20 V3 inch system selection G21 LC Unit of Measure - millimeter G21 RG Millimeters as units G21 RR Set Units to Millimeters G21 V3 millimeter system selection G28 LC Go to Predefined Position G28 MF Home all Axis G28 RG Home given Axes to maximum G28 RR Move to Origin G28 V3 return to home G28.1 LC Store Predefined Position G29-G32 RR Bed probing G30 LC Go to Predefined Position G30 RG Go Home via Intermediate Point (not implemented) G30 V3 return to secondary home G30.1 LC Store Predefined Position G31 RG Single probe (not implemented) G32 RG Probe area (not implemented) G33 LC Spindle Synchronized Motion G33.1 LC Rigid Tapping G38.2 LC Probe toward, stop on contact, error G38.2 V3 straight probe G38.3 LC Probe toward, stop on contact G38.4 LC Probe away, stop on release, error G38.5 LC Probe away, stop on release G40 LC Cancel Cutter Compensation G40 V3 cancel cutter radius compensation G41 LC Cutter Compensation - left G41 V3 start cutter radius compensation left G41.1 LC Dynamic Cutter Compensation - left G42 LC Cutter Compensation - right G42 V3 start cutter radius compensation right G42.1 LC Dynamic Cutter Compensation - right G43 LC Use Tool Length Offset from Tool Table G43 V3 tool length offset (plus) G43.1 LC Dynamic Tool Length Offset G49 LC Cancel Tool Length Offset G49 V3 cancel tool length offset G53 LC Motion in Machine Coordinate System G53 RG Set absolute coordinate system G53 V3 motion in machine coordinate system G54-G59 RG Use coordinate system from G10 P0-5 G54 LC Select Coordinate System 1 G54 V3 use preset work coordinate system 1 G55 LC Select Coordinate System 2 G55 V3 use preset work coordinate system 2 G56 LC Select Coordinate System 3 G56 V3 use preset work coordinate system 3 G57 LC Select Coordinate System 4 G57 V3 use preset work coordinate system 4 G58 LC Select Coordinate System 5 G58 V3 use preset work coordinate system 5 G59 LC Select Coordinate System 6 G59 V3 use preset work coordinate system 6 G59.1 LC Select Coordinate System 7 G59.1 V3 use preset work coordinate system 7 G59.2 LC Select Coordinate System 8 G59.2 V3 use preset work coordinate system 8 G59.3 LC Select Coordinate System 9 G59.3 V3 use preset work coordinate system 9 G61 LC Path Control Mode - exact path G61 V3 set path control mode: exact path G61.1 LC Path Control Mode - exact stop (same as G61) G61.1 V3 set path control mode: exact stop G64 LC Path Control Mode - Optional Tolerance G64 V3 set path control mode: continuous G73 LC Drilling Cycle with Chip Breaking G76 LC Multi-pass Threading Cycle (Lathe) G80 LC Cancel Motion Modes G80 V3 cancel motion mode (including any canned cycle) G81 LC Drilling Cycle G81 V3 canned cycle: drilling G82 LC Drilling Cycle with Dwell G82 V3 canned cycle: drilling with dwell G83 LC Drilling Cycle with Peck G83 V3 canned cycle: peck drilling G84 V3 canned cycle: right hand tapping G85 LC Boring Cycle, No Dwell, Feed Out G85 V3 canned cycle: boring, no dwell, feed out G86 LC Boring Cycle, Stop, Rapid Out G86 V3 canned cycle: boring, spindle stop, rapid out G87 V3 canned cycle: back boring G88 V3 canned cycle: boring, spindle stop, manual out G89 LC Boring Cycle, Dwell, Feed Out G89 V3 canned cycle: boring, dwell, feed out G90 LC G91 Distance Mode G90 MF Use Absolute Coordinates G90 RG Absolute Positioning G90 RR Set to Absolute Positioning G90 V3 absolute distance mode G90.1 LC Arc Distance Mode - absolute IJK G91 MF Use Relative Coordinates G91 RG Relative Positioning G91 RR Set to Relative Positioning G91 V3 incremental distance mode G91.1 LC Arc Distance Mode - incremental IJK G92.1 V3 cancel offset coordinate systems and set parameters to zero G92 LC Coordinate System Offset G92 MF Set current position to cordinates given G92 RG Define current position on axes G92 RR Set Position G92 V3 offset coordinate systems and set parameters G92.1 LC Cancel Coordinate System Offsets G92.2 LC Cancel Coordinate System Offsets G92.2 V3 cancel offset coordinate systems but do not reset parameters G92.3 LC Restore Axis Offsets G92.3 V3 apply parameters to offset coordinate systems G93 LC Feed Mode - Inverse time G93 V3 inverse time feed rate mode G94 LC Feed Mode - Units per minute G94 RG Feed rate mode (not implemented) G94 V3 units per minute feed rate mode G95 LC Feed Mode - Units per revolution G96 LC Constant Surface Speed G97 LC RPM Mode G97 RG Spindle speed rate G98 LC Canned Cycle Z Retract Mode G98 V3 initial level return in canned cycles G99 LC Canned Cycle Z Retract Mode G99 V3 R-point level return in canned cycles G161 RG Home negative G162 RG Home positive M0 LC Program Pause M0 RG Unconditional Halt (not supported on SD) M0 RR Stop M0 V3 program stop M1 LC Program Pause - optional M1 RG Optional Halt (not supported on SD) M1 RR Sleep M1 V3 optional program stop M2 LC Program End M2 RG End program M2 V3 program end M3 LC Spindle Control - clockwise ON M3 RG spindle on, CW M3 RR Spindle On, Clockwise (CNC specific) M3 V3 turn spindle clockwise M4 LC Spindle Control - counterclockwise ON M4 RG spindle on, CCW M4 RR Spindle On, Counter-Clockwise (CNC specific) M4 V3 turn spindle counterclockwise M5 LC Spindle Control - OFF M5 RG spindle off M5 RR Spindle Off (CNC specific) M5 V3 stop spindle turning M6 LC Tool Change M6 RG Tool change. This code waits until the toolhead is ready before proceeding. This is often used to wait for a toolhead to reach the its set temperature before beginning a print. ReplicatorG also supports giving a timeout with M6 P<secs>. M6 V3 tool change M7 LC Coolant Control - mist ON M7 RG coolant A on (flood coolant) M7 RR Mist Coolant On (CNC specific) M7 V3 mist coolant on M8 LC Coolant Control - flood ON M8 RG cooland B on (mist coolant) M8 RR Flood Coolant On (CNC specific) M8 V3 flood coolant on M9 LC Coolant Control - OFF M9 RG all coolants off M9 RR Coolant Off (CNC specific) M9 V3 mist and flood coolant off M10 RG close clamp M10 RR Vacuum On (CNC specific) M11 RG open clamp M11 RR Vacuum Off (CNC specific) M13 RG spindle CW and coolant A on M14 RG spindle CCW and coolant A on M17 MF Enable/Power all stepper motors M17 RG enable motor(s) M17 RR Enable/Power all stepper motors M18 MF Disable all stepper motors; same as M84 M18 RG disable motor(s) M18 RR Disable all stepper motors M20 MF List SD card M20 RR List SD card M21 MF Init SD card M21 RG open collet M21 RR Initialize SD card M22 MF Release SD card M22 RG close collet M22 RR Release SD card M23 MF Select SD file (M23 filename.g) M23 RR Select SD file M24 MF Start/resume SD print M24 RR Start/resume SD print M25 MF Pause SD print M25 RR Pause SD print M26 MF Set SD position in bytes (M26 S12345) M26 RR Set SD position M27 MF Report SD print status M27 RR Report SD print status M28 MF Start SD write (M28 filename.g) M28 RR Begin write to SD card M29 MF Stop SD write M29 RR Stop writing to SD card M30 LC Program End - exchange pallet shuttles M30 MF Delete file from SD (M30 filename.g) M30 RG program rewind M30 RR Delete a file on the SD card M30 V3 program end, pallet shuttle, and reset M31 MF Output time since last M109 or SD card start to serial M40-M46 RG change gear ratio (0 - 6) M40 RR Eject M41 RR Loop M42 MF Change pin status via gcode M42 RR Stop on material exhausted / Switch I/O pin M43 RR Stand by on material exhausted M48 LC Feed & Spindle Overrides - Enable M48 V3 enable speed and feed overrides M49 LC Feed & Spindle Overrides - Disable M49 V3 disable speed and feed overrides M50 LC Feed Override Control M50 RG read spindle speed M51 LC Spindle Override Control M52 LC Adaptive Feed Control M53 LC Feed Stop Control M60 LC Pallet Change Pause M60 V3 pallet shuttle and program stop M61 LC Set Current Tool Number M62 LC Output Control - synchronized ON M63 LC Output Control - synchronized OFF M64 LC Output Control - immediate ON M65 LC Output Control - immediate OFF M66 LC Input Control - wait M67 LC Analog Output Control - synchronized M68 LC Analog Output Control - immediate M70 RG Display message on machine, with optional timeout specified by P-code in seconds M71 RG Pause activity and display message, resuming build on button push. Optional timeout specified by P-code in seconds. If timeout is specified and no button is pushed, machine should shut down or reset. M72 RG Play a song or tone defined by the machine, by a P-code specifying a song type. Default songs are Error Sound (P0), a Ta-da sound (P1), and a warning sound (P2). all other sounds are user or machine specific, with P2 the default for unknown sounds. M73 RG Manually set build percentage. Valid P values are 0 to 100, values over 100 are rounded down to 100 M80 MF Turn on Power Supply M80 RR ATX Power On M81 MF Turn off Power Supply M81 RR ATX Power Off M82 MF Set E codes absolute (default) M82 RR set extruder to absolute mode M83 MF Set E codes relative while in Absolute Coordinates (G90) mode M83 RR set extruder to relative mode M84 MF Disable steppers until next move, or use S<seconds> to specify an inactivity timeout, after which the steppers will be disabled. S0 to disable the timeout. M84 RR Stop idle hold M85 MF Set inactivity shutdown timer with parameter S<seconds>. To disable set zero (default) M92 MF Set axis_steps_per_unit - same syntax as G92 M92 RR Set axis_steps_per_unit M98 RR Get axis_hysteresis_mm M99 RR Set axis_hysteresis_mm M100 LC through M199 User Defined M codes M101 RR Extruder on, fwd M101 RR Turn extruder 1 on Forward / Undo Extruder Retraction M102 RR Extruder on, reverse M102 RR Turn extruder 1 on Reverse M103 RR Extruder off M103 RR Turn all extruders off / Extruder Retraction M104 MF Set extruder target temp M104 RR Set Extruder Temperature M104 RR Snn set temperature in degrees Celsius M105 MF Read current temp M105 RR get extruder temperature M105 RR Get Extruder Temperature M106 MF Fan on M106 RR Fan On M106 RR turn fan on M107 MF Fan off M107 RR Fan Off M107 RR turn fan off M108 RR Set Extruder's Max Speed (Rnnn = RPM, Pnnn = PWM) M108 RR Set Extruder Speed M109 MF Wait for extruder current temp to reach target temp. M109 RR Set Extruder Temperature and Wait M109 RR Snnn set build platform temperature in degrees Celsuis M110 RR Set Current Line Number M110 RR Snnn set chamber temperature in degrees Celsius M111 RR Set Debug Level M112 RR Emergency Stop M113 RR Set Extruder PWM M114 MF Display current position M114 MF Output current position to serial port M114 RR Get Current Position M115 MF Capabilities string M115 RR Get Firmware Version and Capabilities M116 RR Wait M117 MF display message M117 RR Get Zero Position M118 RR Negotiate Features M119 MF Output Endstop status to serial port M119 RR Get Endstop Status M120 RR M121, M122 Snnn set the PID gain for the temperature regulator (not currently supported by ReplicatorG) M123 RR M124 Snnn set iMax and iMin windup guard for the PID controller (not currently supported by ReplicatorG) M126 JF use acceleration for subsequent instructions M126 RG valve open (acceleration on for subsequent instructions in the Jetty Firmware) M126 RR Open Valve M127 JF disable acceleration for subsequent instructions M127 RG valve close (acceleration off for subsequent instructions in the Jetty Firmware) M127 RR Close Valve M128 RR Extruder Pressure PWM M128 RR get position M129 RR Extruder pressure off M129 RR get range (not currently supported by ReplicatorG) M130 RR Set PID P value M130 RR set range (not currently supported by ReplicatorG) M131 RR Set PID I value M132 RR Set PID D value M133 RR Set PID I limit value M134 RR Write PID values to EEPROM M136 RR Print PID settings to host M140 MF Set bed target temp M140 RR Bed Temperature (Fast) M141 RR Chamber Temperature (Fast) M142 RR Holding Pressure M143 RR Maximum hot-end temperature M160 RR Number of mixed materials M190 MF Wait for bed current temp to reach target temp. M190 RR Wait for bed temperature to reach target temp M200 JF reset (to pick up changes) M200 MF Set filament diameter M200 RR reset driver M200 RR Set filament diameter / Get Endstop Status M201 JF set maximum rates of acceleration/deceleration M201 MF Set max acceleration in units/s^2 for print moves (M201 X1000 Y1000) M201 RR Set max printing acceleration M202 MF Set max acceleration in units/s^2 for travel moves (M202 X1000 Y1000) Unused in Marlin!! M202 RR clear buffer (not currently supported by ReplicatorG) M202 RR Set max travel acceleration M203 JF set maximum feed rates M203 MF Set maximum feedrate that your machine can sustain (M203 X200 Y200 Z300 E10000) in mm/sec M203 RR Set maximum feedrate M204 JF set default rates of acceleration M204 MF Set default acceleration: S normal moves T filament only moves (M204 S3000 T7000) im mm/sec^2 also sets minimum segment time in ms (B20000) to prevent buffer underruns and M20 minimum feedrate M204 RR Set default acceleration M205 JF set minimum feed rates and planner speed M205 MF advanced settings: minimum travel speed S=while printing T=travel only, B=minimum segment time X= maximum xy jerk, Z=maximum Z jerk, E=maximum E jerk M205 RR advanced settings M206 JF set extruded noodle diameter, extruder maximum reverse feed rate, extruder deprime, slowdown limit, and direction of extruder feed M206 MF set additional homeing offset M206 RR set home offset M207 JF set JKN Advance parameters K and K2 M207 RR calibrate z axis by detecting z max length M208 JF set extruder steps per millimeter M208 RR set axis max travel M209 JF turn acceleration planner on or off; enable or disable override of gcode temperature settings M209 RR enable automatic retract M215 JF set steps per millimeter for each axis M216 JF set maximum speed changes for each axis M220 MF S<factor in percent> set speed factor override percentage M220 RR Set speed factor override percentage M221 MF S<factor in percent> set extrude factor override percentage M221 RR set extrude factor override percentage M226 RR Gcode Initiated Pause M227 RR Enable Automatic Reverse and Prime M228 RR Disable Automatic Reverse and Prime M229 RR Enable Automatic Reverse and Prime M230 RR Disable / Enable Wait for Temperature Change M240 MF Trigger a camera to take a photograph M240 RR Start conveyor belt motor / Echo off M241 RR Stop conveyor belt motor / echo on M245 RR Start cooler M246 RR Stop cooler M300 RR Play beep sound M300 RR Snnn set servo 1 position M301 MF Set PID parameters P I and D M301 RR Set PID parameters - Hot End M301 RR Snnn set servo 2 position M302 MF Allow cold extrudes M303 MF PID relay autotune S<temperature> sets the target temperature. (default target temperature = 150C) M304 RR Set PID parameters - Bed M310 RG (filepath) logging M311 RG stop logging M312 RG (message) log message M320 RG acceleration on for subsequent instructions M321 RG acceleration off for subsequent instructions M400 MF Finish all moves M420 RR Set RGB Colors as PWM M500 MF stores paramters in EEPROM M500 RR stores paramters in EEPROM M501 MF reads parameters from EEPROM (if you need reset them after you changed them temporarily). M501 RR reads parameters from EEPROM M502 MF reverts to the default "factory settings". You still need to store them in EEPROM afterwards if you want to. M502 RR reverts to the default "factory settings". M503 MF print the current settings (from memory not from eeprom) M503 RR Print settings M999 MF Restart after being stopped by error
Eagle HAL Configuration: Sherline HAL File
Posted by Ed in Machine Shop, Software on 6-March-2013
More hal-config.lbr tweakage produced enough HAL blocks to completely define the Sherline CNC mill’s HAL connections, all wired up in a multi-page schematic (Eagle-LinuxCNC-Sherline.zip.odt) that completely replaces all the disparate *.hal files I’d been using, plus a new iteration of the hal-write-2.5.ulp Eagle-to-HAL conversion script.
The first sheet (clicky for more dots) defines the manually configured userspace and realtime modules:
Sherline Schematic – 1
That sheet has three types of Eagle devices:
- Generalized LoadRT – devices like
trivkinsthat require only a loadrt line - Dedicated LoadRT – devices like
motionthat require functions connected to a realtime thread - Generalized LoadUsr – devices like hal_input with a HAL device, but no function pins
The device’s NAME field contains either the module name (for the specialized devices with functions) or a generic MODULE for everything else, preceded by an optional index that imposes an ordering on the output lines. The device’s VALUE field contains the text that will become the loadrt or loadusr line in the HAL file. Trailing underscores act as separators, but are discarded by the conversion script.
The immensely long line is the VALUE field that plugs a bunch of variables from the Sherline.ini file into the motion controller.
The conversion script doesn’t do anything special for those devices, other than transfer the VALUE field to the HAL file. Ordinary HAL devices, the ones with functions that don’t require any special setup, must appear in the conversion script’s list of device names, so that it can recognize them and deal with their connections.
That sheet produces this part of the HAL file:
#################################################### # Load realtime and userspace modules loadrt trivkins loadrt [EMCMOT]EMCMOT key=[EMCMOT]SHMEM_KEY num_joints=[TRAJ]AXES base_period_nsec=[EMCMOT]BASE_PERIOD servo_period_nsec=[EMCMOT]SERVO_PERIOD traj_period_nsec=[EMCMOT]SERVO_PERIOD loadrt probe_parport loadrt hal_parport cfg="[PARPORT]ADDRESS out" loadrt stepgen step_type=0,0,0,0 loadrt pwmgen output_type=0 loadusr -W hal_manualtoolchange loadusr -W hal_input -KA Dual loadrt logic count=1 personality=0x104
The conversion script counts the other schematic devices and automagically produces these lines to load their corresponding modules:
loadrt constant count=13 loadrt and2 count=17 loadrt conv_float_s32 count=1 loadrt flipflop count=4 loadrt mux2 count=5 loadrt mux4 count=1 loadrt not count=8 loadrt or2 count=14 loadrt scale count=7 loadrt timedelay count=1 loadrt toggle count=1
Next, the parallel port configuration, which uses the D525′s system board hardware:
Sherline Schematic – 2
The stepconf configuration utility buries the parallel port configuration values in the default HAL file as magic numbers. I moved them to a new stanza in the INI file, although the syntax may not be robust enough to support multiple cards, ports, and configurations. This, however, works for now:
[PARPORT] ADDRESS = 0x378 RESET_TIME = 10000 STEPLEN = 25000 STEPSPACE = 25000 DIRSETUP = 50000 DIRHOLD = 50000
That LOGIC block is new and serves as an AND gate that produces a combined enable signal for the parallel port. The stepconf utility uses the X axis enable signal, but, seeing as how the Sherline controller doesn’t use the result, none of that matters on my system.
The tool height probe and manual tool change wiring:
Sherline Schematic – 3
I’m not convinced the Emergency Stop polarity is correct, but it matches what was in the original HAL file. As before, the Sherline driver box ignores that output, so none of that matters right now.
Four very similar pages define the XYZA step-and-direction generators. This is the X axis driver:
Sherline Schematic – 4
You can imagine what the next three pages for the YZA logic look like, right? There are also a few blank pages in the schematic, so the numbers jump abruptly.
The magic part of this is having Eagle manage all the tedious renumbering and counting. If you remember to adjust the name of the first module from, say, AXIS.1 to AXIS.0, then the rest get the proper numbers as you go along.
The remainder of the schematic implements the Joggy Thing’s logic, much as described there. I discovered, quite the hard way, that copy-and-pasting an entire schematic from elsewhere does horrible things to the device numbering, but I’m not sure how to combine two schematics to limit the damage. In any event, manually adjusting a few pages wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever had to do; starting with a unified schematic should eliminate that task in the future.
The miscellaneous buttons:
Sherline Schematic – 11
The joystick and hat values:
Sherline Schematic – 12
The joystick deadband logic now uses the (new with HAL 2.5, I think) input.n.abs-x-flat pins, which eliminated a tangle of window comparator logic.
The jog speed adjustment logic that sets the fast and crawl speeds:
Sherline Schematic – 13
I should probably put the speed ratios in the INI file, but that’s in the nature of fine tuning.
The lockout logic that remembers which axis started moving first on a given joystick and locks out the other axis, which greatly simplifies jogging up to an edge without bashing into something else:
Sherline Schematic – 14
Combine all those signals into values that actually tell HAL to jog the axes:
Sherline Schematic – 15
The last page connects all the realtime function pins to the appropriate threads:
Sherline Schematic – 16
The LinuxCNC documentation diverges slightly from the implementation, but a few iterations resolved all the conflicts and had the additional benefit that I had to carefully think through what was actually going on.
A deep and sincere tip o’ the cycling helmet to the folks making LinuxCNC happen!
Although the Sherline mill doesn’t have more than a few minutes of power-on time with the new HAL file, the Joggy Thing behaves as it used to and the axes move correctly, so I think the schematic came out pretty close to the original HAL file.
The next step: draw a new schematic to bring up and exercise a different set of steppers…
Gratuitous Engine Jeweling
Posted by Ed in Electronics Workbench, Machine Shop, PC Tweakage on 2-March-2013
While pondering whether I should use the carcass of an old Dell PC to house the stepper drivers and control logic for the LinuxCNC M2 project, I bandsawed a scrap of aluminum sheet to about the right size. It had some truly nasty gouges and bonded-on crud, so I chucked up a wire brush cup in the drill press and had at it:
Machine jeweled baseplate
It’s obvious I haven’t done jeweling in a long time, isn’t it? Even a crude engine jeweling job spiffs things right up, though, even if a cough showcase job like this deserves straighter lines and more precise spacing. The aluminum sheet is far too large for the Sherline, which put CNC right out of consideration, and I’m not up for sufficient crank spinning on the big manual mill.
I match-marked mounting holes directly from the harvested motherboard and drilled them, whereupon I discovered that the aluminum is a dead-soft gummy alloy that doesn’t machine cleanly: it won’t become the final baseplate.
Memo to Self: Use the shop vacuum with the nozzle spinward of the brush, fool.
Eagle 6.4 Schematics for LinuxCNC 2.5 HAL Configuration: Device Creation Checklist
Posted by Ed in Machine Shop, Software on 28-February-2013
I’m updating the Eagle-to-HAL script and library I used to get the Joggy Thing working, with the intent of getting a Nostromo N52 working on another LinuxCNC box.
To that end, here’s a checklist for creating a new Eagle device corresponding to a HAL module.
Remember: although this process has a tremendous number of moving parts, you do it exactly once when you need a device that doesn’t already exist. After that, you just click to add an existing device to your schematic, wire it up, then the tedious write-only HAL overhead happens automagically.
Cross-check the documentation with the actual component code!
The man page lists the names, pins, parameters, and suchlike, but may have typos. This isn’t a criticism, it’s a fact of life.
Before investing a ton o’ time creating an Eagle device, load the module and find out what’s really there:
halrun
halcmd: loadrt conv_float_s32
halcmd: show all
Loaded HAL Components:
ID Type Name PID State
4 RT conv_float_s32 ready
3 User halcmd2395 2395 ready
Component Pins:
Owner Type Dir Value Name
4 float IN 0 conv-float-s32.0.in
4 s32 OUT 0 conv-float-s32.0.out
4 bit OUT FALSE conv-float-s32.0.out-of-range
... snippage ...
Parameters:
Owner Type Dir Value Name
4 bit RW FALSE conv-float-s32.0.clamp
4 s32 RO 0 conv-float-s32.0.time
4 s32 RW 0 conv-float-s32.0.tmax
... snippage ...
Exported Functions:
Owner CodeAddr Arg FP Users Name
00004 fc0a9000 fc0630b8 YES 0 conv-float-s32.0
... snippage ...
Achtung!
- The module name uses underscores as separators:
loadrt conv_float_s32 - The function name uses h-y-p-h-e-n-s as separators:
conv-float-s32.0 - Unlike in the Linux kernel, the two characters are not equivalent
Add the HAL Module to the Conversion Script
The hal-write.ulp script contains a table of all the module names, so you must update the script in parallel with the hal-config.lbr Eagle library.
However, you can create an Eagle device that is not a HAL module by omitting it from the script. In that case, the Eagle device name will become part of the net names that define and interconnect the pins, but the script will not create a statement to load a module. For example, the hal_input userspace program creates a set of pins for each input device that start with input.n, but there’s no corresponding HAL module. I’ll put up an example of all this in a bit.
Create a Schematic Symbol
- The name of the symbol is not critical:
CONVERT.sym- use either dashes or hyphens as you prefer
- The
>NAMEstring must be on layer95-Names - No need for a
>VALUEstring, but put it on layer96-Valuesif present - HAL pins become symbol pins
- Use the HAL pin name, with hyphens
- Set
VisibilitytoPin - Set
Directiontoin / out / ioto match the HAL description - Set
FunctiontoNoneto indicate an ordinary net connection
- Verify the pins against the HAL device!
Create a HAL Schematic Device
- The new device name must match the HAL module name, with underscores, as entered in the conversion script table
CONV_FLOAT_S32.dev
- Set the
Prefixto the HAL function name, plus a trailing period, with hyphensCONV-FLOAT-S32.
- Create the
Descriptionusing copy-and-paste from the HTML source: use the man page in the LinuxCNC doc- Ctrl-U in Firefox reveals the HTML source, Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C, flip windows, then Ctrl-V
- Delete all the boilerplate at the top, leave the centered Title, ditch the reference links
- Add the symbol you created earlier or reuse an existing symbol
- Set the symbol
NAMEto a single underscore: _ - Change the
Add leveltomust
- Set the symbol
- Add a
PIN_FUNCTIONsymbol to the device- Change the symbol name from
G$1(or whatever) to a single period: . - Change the
Add Leveltomust
- Change the symbol name from
- Add
PIN_PARAMETERsymbols as needed- Change the symbol name from
G$1(or whatever) to the parameter name preceded by a single period: .CLAMP - Change the
Add Leveltorequest - Change the
Directionas needed
- Change the symbol name from
- Add the
DUMMYphysical package, then connect all the pins to pads
Create a non-HAL Schematic Device
- The new device name may be anything that’s not in the conversion script table
- The
Prefixmust match the desired pin names, plus a trailing period. Forhal_inputpins:INPUT.
- Create the
Descriptionas above - Add the symbol you created earlier
- Set the symbol
NAMEto a single underscore: _ - Change the
Add leveltomust
- Set the symbol
- Do not add a
PIN_FUNCTIONsymbol, because it has no corresponding module - Add
PIN_PARAMETERsymbols as needed- Change the symbol name from
G$1(or whatever) to the parameter name preceded by a single period: .CLAMP - Change the
Add Leveltorequest - Change the
Directionas needed
- Change the symbol name from
- Add the
DUMMYphysical package, then connect all the pins to pads
Devices may have multiple Symbols, with different Add Level options; can seems appropriate. As nearly as I can tell, you must name each Symbol as a suffix to the full name to differentiate them within the Device; I use a hyphen before the suffix, so that -KEYS generates INPUT.0-KEYS. Those suffixes don’t appear elsewhere in the generated HAL configuration file.
Save the library, update it in the schematic editor (Library → Update ...), and you’re set.
Although it’s tempting, do not include a version number in the library file name, because Eagle stores the file name inside the schematic file along with the devices from that file. As a result, when you bump the library version number and use devices from the new library file, the schematic depends on both library files and there’s no way within Eagle to migrate devices from one library to the other; you must delete the existing devices from the schematic and re-place them from the new library. Or you can do like I did: hand-edit the XML fields inside the library file.
Eagle HAL Device
You’ll almost certainly drive this procedure off the rails, so let me know what I’ve screwed up. It does, in fact, work wonderfully well and, as far as I’m concerned, makes HAL usable, if only because HAL is a write-only language to start with and now you need not read it to modify it.
Hall Effect Current Sensor: Winding and Armoring the Toroid
Posted by Ed in Electronics Workbench, Machine Shop on 22-January-2013
Winding a slit ferrite toroid poses no challenge, so putting 25 turns of 26 AWG wire on it didn’t take long at all:
F50-61 toroid – 25 turns 26 AWG
However, a ferrite toroid doesn’t take kindly to being dropped and I figured that a slit toroid would crack under a stern look, so I decided to wrap some armor around it. A small squeeze bottle offered a cap just slightly larger than the winding, so I used that slitting saw to cut off a suitable ring. The first step was to grab it in the 3 jaw chuck and align its axis parallel to the spindle:
Aligning bottle cap in 3-jaw chuck
I wanted to cut off a slightly taller ring, but the clamping screw on the saw arbor just barely cleared the chuck for a 5 mm ring. I jogged around the chuck jaws to cut two slits in the cap that eventually joined near the back:
Slicing ring from bottle cap
That was about 1000 rpm, no coolant, and slow feed, but also a totally non-critical cut in plastic.
I put a snippet of foam rubber in the slot, put the ring on a Kapton-covered build platform from the Thing-O-Matic, filled it with hot-melt glue, gooshed the toroid in place, and waited for cooling. Trimming and cleaning out the slit produced a hideously ugly, but (I hope) much more durable assembly:
Slit ferrite toroid – with armor
I’m reasonably sure I didn’t crack the ferrite while cleaning out the slit; that hot-melt glue is tenaciously gummy stuff!
Now, to find out whether it actually works…
Slitting a Ferrite Toroid
Posted by Ed in Electronics Workbench, Machine Shop on 21-January-2013
The object of the game: cut a slit into a ferrite toroid that will accommodate a Hall effect sensor. Those doodles showed that an FT50 (half-inch OD) toroid would be about right for the cheap AH49/EH49 Hall effect sensors on hand and those doodles shows that the permeability of the ferrite mix doesn’t make much difference. Not being quite sure how this would work out, I figured I’d start with the simplest possible setup and complexicate things until it worked…
A fold of cereal box cardboard cushioned the brittle ferrite in the Sherline’s clamp and the vacuum hose in the background collects airborne grit. I touched off X=Y=Z=0 with the wheel at the center of the toroid’s equator:
Slitting ferrite toroid – first pass
The first pass went swimmingly, with the diamond wheel far more concentric than I expected, using manual jogging along a 0.5 mm deep cut. The wheel is slightly over 0.5 mm thick, measured on the grit, and showed no sign of strain on a 1 mm deep cut at 100 mms/min, so I used manual CNC to run the wheel back and forth along the cut.
After clearing the slot, I moved the wheel upward to + 0.5 mm, repeated the passes with a 1.5 mm depth of cut, then did the same at -0.5 mm. The end result was a nice slot with parallel sides:
Slitting ferrite toroid – complete
The actual gap measured 1.72 mm, not the 1.5 I wanted, which means the flux density will be lower than the previous calculations predict. Assuming the Z axis backlash compensation works as it should, then the kerf is 0.72 mm. Of course, that also assumes the arbor runs true and the wheel cuts symmetrically, neither of which I’d put (or, heck, have put) a lot of money behind. On the other paw, the sensors are 1.5 mm thick (just under the datasheet’s 1.6 mm spec), so +0.1 mm clearance on each side works a whole lot better for me than, say, -0.1 mm.
All in all, there was no excitement, no muss, no fuss, no chipping, no breakage:
FT50 ferrite toroid with slit
Talk about beginner’s luck!
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