GUI Discussion

Here is a web site that simulates OEM screens:

fanuc:
www.swansc.com/en/cnc/fanuc21im.htm

That site has been out there a while. I remember using it many moons ago before I picked up my first CNC Mill and CNC lathe. GE/Fanuc used to sell a DVD called Fanuc i-Docs that contained electronic copies of all their manuals, though not sure if it's still available.

Here's a few more links that provide additional material on the Fanuc Series 30i/31i/32i. There are many others if you google on Fanuc 30i

www.eagleeyecnc.com/manual/fanuc.pdf
www.cnc1.com/Content/FANUC_CNC_Standard_...ures_and_Options.asp
www.cnc1.com/Content/FANUC_Brochures_and_Specs.asp

Heidenhain also contains documentation on their controllers on their main web site


.Jay

BigJohnT wrote:

fanuc:
www.swansc.com/en/cnc/fanuc21im.htm[/quote]

Yuck! those are ugly...

John[/quote]

I agree. I am more interested in the intuitive functionality of the screens.
Just scanning for ideas.

the one I posted was Fanuc but the site has many more.

looking at the heidenhain cnc pilot control
here is a link to the brochure ( it's too big to post)
www.heidenhain.de/doku/cncpilot4290/html...x/N10431/N10431.html

most of the GUI is about programming.
But this is the style I'm roughly basing things on at the moment.

I was reading about recutting threads. I wonder how difficult it would be to get EMC to be capable of that.
I also wonder how often it would be used.
C axis machine interests me too.

KPA wrote:

What I do find exciting is the recent developments incorporating Glade and the possibilities it brings. We have a deep investment in the Python/GTK approach vs QT so using Glade is a natural progression. What I don't know is if Glade and GTK is robust enough for an elegant front-end.

I think the Glade/GTK framework is robust enough to do that, and some folks like for instance Norbert Schechner, are venturing doing standalone applications solely based on that.

A major piece is the - undocumented - gremlin preview widget - while it seems to work fine, I have no idea as to what would be missing if anything to replace the Axis preview and live plot.

I would guess a Glade/GTK/Gremlin based Axis-like application would be more easily customized and extended as Axis stands now. Personally I am usually lost in a comment-free maze of layers, TCL code, undocumented widgets, and a control flow which is very hard to follow for me.

- Michael

recutting threads ?
so long as u have a servo drive spindle , it should be possible
but you'd need a reference point of the thread to be able to pick it up reliably
but i must admit i cant see a real need for it .

C Axis is this for a Lathe or Mill Chris ?

Dave

The heidenhain cnc pilot control is for a lathe.
It actually has options for adding C and Y axis for live tooling.

My screen should do both but since I will use it primarily on a lathe I might cater more that way first of all.

no need to a servo drive spindle to recut threads.
How they do it is you position the toolbit in the center of a good thread and then based on the spindle encoder angle and Z position it calculates where to start synchronizing from. then you enter thread data and let it go.
I remember a few years ago when threading was new in emc reading that some one had a machine in thread mode and moved the spindle by hand and it tracked, sorta half way there. of course this would require a higher resolution encoder on the spindle.

Chris

mhaberler wrote:

I think the Glade/GTK framework is robust enough to do that, and some folks like for instance Norbert Schechner, are venturing doing standalone applications solely based on that.

A major piece is the - undocumented - gremlin preview widget - while it seems to work fine, I have no idea as to what would be missing if anything to replace the Axis preview and live plot.

I would guess a Glade/GTK/Gremlin based Axis-like application would be more easily customized and extended as Axis stands now. Personally I am usually lost in a comment-free maze of layers, TCL code, undocumented widgets, and a control flow which is very hard to follow for me.

- Michael

At the moment I cheat and run a regular gui then load my own. I am just getting it to display some real information eg the DRO readout.

I have the gremlin display working as long as the other GUI is running. It needs a way to change the view dynamically, it may have I haven't looked at the source code.
MDI widget doesn't seem to works i get an error about EMC_MDIhistory not having stat.

Yes Axis is un_penetrable lucjily is very good as is.
I am ending up hacking bits of Touchy to make mine work.
I will need help in the end to clear up the code and make it easier to customize.
But I am no where near anything usable.

yes under stood Chris , iv'e not try'd recutting threads , i'll give it a go sometime , i have a 5000 count encoder on the spindle of the hardinge that should be more than enough to sync
what i realy meant was the fact of using a servo drive spindle which is cabable of positional control with feedback , would have been a better explaination

yes i'd like to add Live tooling sometime ,