MONSTER - A learning experience... pyVCP machine

Yes, I could have changed the pin... it would have then shown as contacted any time the probe was removed... I didn't think about the self-contacting part of the jack. And oddly enough... the jack I'm using has that feature.

It is working well... and as an added bonus, the setup makes an audible "CLICK" and has the LED color change when it makes contact... so that feature makes it easy for troubleshooting. I had wanted to use a NO input so that I could make a sensor from a piece of PC board as I had seen elsewhere... the tool contacts the upper surface and you offset by the known thickness of the piece. Can't do that now however... it would be opposite of how the probe works.

I need to build a tool setting device... a NC switch in a small container... then have the tool come down into contact with it... knowing the height of the device, I can then reset the Z-Axis so that when I issue a G0 Z0 command, the tool will just come into contact with the part. I also have more probe routines to write... I never knew how useful a probe could be until I started designing my panels.

I'm putting my progress all in one place for anyone interested, just posted the video of the probe testing.

Huge updates on the way...

I'm doing a bit of rewire to add a Stainsmart breakout board... two actually... I'm also adding another parallel port for added functionality.

I did want to show off the partially completed control panel however... I'm getting pretty good at this... probably going overboard... but I'm having fun.

"MONGO" is the name of my development machine (PC in my office)... once completed, I'll install in MONSTER and start testing.

Jerry

nice panel Jerry , good work

the other option you have with the probe , without using a relay is inverting the input pin , but depending on what breakout board your using
it may have a pullup resistor to 5v , if it's still a problem, you can pull the pin low with a resistor to ground . or use a opto which by default inverts the signal by default


but as they say if it works , dont fix it !
chances are also that without a relay it will trigger faster , so giving a faster result

I'll start with the PROBE first... the relay had issues. If you go to my series on my askjerry.info page you can learn all about it.
Here is the latest information on the probe...



As for the new panel... it is not yet completed of course... but I have two Stainsmart boards and a breadboard connected with switches, relays, and LEDs to test everything as I build it. When it is close... I'll format the machine in the shop and load this version of Linux into it for compatibility... then begin resetting the actual limits, home switches, etc. (I should be able to copy-paste a bunch from the original MONSTER into MONGO to get it to work. Then I'll save it as MONSTER-2 and do a whole series on it.)

MONSTER --> Machine in the Shop
MONGO --> This development PC in my office.

Dunno where I got the names... at 2:00am you kinda get punchy.

Lastly... if you want to play with the panel... here is the latest stable version, plus all graphics files, etc. Let me know if they are helpful... I'm getting pretty good at creating them.

Thanks ~ Jerry

I have a bit of confusion and wonder if there will be a way to connect two signals or parport pins to the probe, something like:

loadrt or2 count=1

addf or2.0 servo-thread

net probe1 or2.0.in0 parport.0.pin-11-in

net probe2 or2.0.in1 parport.0.pin-12-in-not

net probe motion.probe-input or2.0.out

yes you can as you describe , but how ( if any do you want to differentiate between them)
you need to add a select pin , as at least one needs to be selected
or use a mux

Hi cncbasher, do you mean swap the probe's input signals with the mux function? it seems a little complicated for me

here you go :

loardrt or2 count=1

net probe1 parport.0.pin-10-in or2.0.ino
net probe2 parport.0.pin-11-in or2.0.in1

net probe-in motion,probe-input or2.0.out

I lost something, could you please explain me what is the difference between this post:

loadrt or2 count=1
addf or2.0 servo-thread

net probe1 or2.0.in0 parport.0.pin-11-in
net probe2 or2.0.in1 parport.0.pin-12-in-not
net probe motion.probe-input or2.0.out

and this one:

loardrt or2 count=1

net probe1 parport.0.pin-11-in or2.0.in0
net probe2 parport.0.pin-12-in or2.0.in1
net probe-in motion.probe-input or2.0.out

in this case we must also consider that the first probe (pin 11) is normally closed and the second one (port 12) is normally open