Gmoccapy - A new screen for linuxcnc

Halo Dejan,

the translation has been added and pushed.

Norbert

@All,

is there a need to get gmoccapy to control also plasma cutters?

I did some work on that, but I do not now exactly how that should work, so I would need help in making an sim plasma cutter.
I tried to copy part of plasma-thc-sim, but I did not get it to work.

So, should I invest some more time, or isn't there a need for plasma cutters?

See the screenshot for a first layout.
Replacing the tool Info frame and the spindle and coolant frames is allready possible with custom glade files, but not jet documented.

Norbert

Hi Norbert
Hope you had a nice holiday.
YES YES YES please. I had just started to look at that as I do lots of plasma machines. I have just finished developing a THC controller that has the following pins: Most of the THC controllers on the market has the same but not all has the ARC VOLTAGE feedback. The THCAD form Mesa does have feedback.

THC SET VOLTS -> PWM signal from LCNC
ARC VOLTS <- analog signal that I read with a SPI type component
ARC OK <- once the plasma has established the pilot arc and ready to move
TORCH UP <- tell the component to pick up the Z axis
TORCH DOWN <- tell the component to drop the Z axis

There is also a THC RATE which is s percentage of the maximum feed rate. When you are in run mode you dont have the luxury of acceleration settings so you must make sure that the Z axis acceleration during THC control does not cause the motor to slip.

There are more things that we could discuss. I will assist if you want.

With regard to the simulator, that is going to be very hard as you dont have the actual plasma functions.

EDIT: - Norbert something I am missing on your picture is the plasma cut height. One has to set cut height, pierce height and travel height.

yes Norbert Plasma screen would be good .

Norbert
Some more thing to think about when you look at plasma:

One must be able to turn the THC on and off at certain times during cutting. A setting that will look at the feed rate. When a corner is approached, the machine will slow down due to velocity control. Once the speed has slowed to coincide with this setting ( say 80% of feed for example), then the THC UP/DOWN must be ignored. A pin to turn the THC on and off will also be of great help. In sheetcam for instance, we have a function whereby we control the THC with a number of programmable rules. Usually by means of an M code.

I use JT's THCUD component and it work great. It does however not deal with these kind of settings at this time. I have done some work on getting some of them implemented on Johns comp but not all of them just yet.

Plasma has a lot of little problems that makes it a very difficult thing to get to work for all circumstances. Cutting at different speeds causes different problems. Hence the need for some finer adjustments.
Constant velocity and velocity control synchronized with THC is where most the effort is usually spent.
Job probing can be a challenge depending on the approach. I like the idea that it is done in code in LCNC. The other method is using Gcodes like G28.x or G32.x. The downfall of these are that you cannot keep track of the Z position at all times and hence it is difficult to recover a job or use "run from Line".

In the end, I would suggest that you make all the settings available and then leave some of the work to be done in a component. You maybe have to look at the CV stuff but I am not sure about that.

Please ask if you need info, I have done a lot of plasma machines. Mostly on Mach up to now, and I am not happy about that but there are some advantages in Mach. That will also change if you do plasma in Gmoccapy.

Lastly, I am willing to do the control comp if you wish to go that route. I am busy with two plasma machines right now and should be in a position soon to test.

Ok! I will go on with Plasma design.

How is willing to check the hal pins?

Get this two archives.
gmoccapy_plasma
gmoccapy_plasma_config

After a fresh git pull, extract

gmoccapy_plasma.tar.bz2 to ~/linuxcnc-dev/share/gscreen/skins/

and

gmoccapy_plasma_config.tar.bz2 to ~/linuxcnc-dev/configs/sim/

Than start gmoccapy_plasma and check for the pins.

Do you need more?
Shell I get rid of others?

You will find in the config folder two panels:
signals.glade containing the LED
plasma.glade containing the widgets to adjust.

Both have there own hal files.
And plasma got his own python file, witch is used to set the default values, of the INI file.

This version does not contain a simulation mode for THC, it is just for first look and feel.
There will not be the need of two different "designs" later on, as both panels are just embedded tabs.

@John: Do you see a possibility to get the THC sim comp to master?
I have still to check you comp and it does only make sence to make a plasma sim, if users do not need to compile thinks by theire own.

@Marius: I am not planing to include a special way to control linuxcnc, it is just the GUI, what I am making, so most of the mentioned special cases will not change, until you make a special component for it


Norbert

Norbert
I will do the component no problem. I will also test the HAL pins a bit later. I have to take my wife for supper or else I wont be able to work again

With regard to the component, I will go with what I have included into John's component for now and I will enhance the rest as I have tested it. I will keep the special control in one component and the custom interface in another. This way you can get almost any hardware to work on it.

Norbert,

please find some icons might be useful for you app.

Cheers,

Norbert,

Thanks for all the work you've done. It's a great screen set.

Is there a way to change how the "load a program" button works? I prefer the way the "open a file" button works (after pressing "edit the loaded program" button. The drop-down lists in that pop-up window are more convenient by allowing different file extensions.

Thanks,

Jim