MonoKrom - QtPyVCP GUI for PlasmaC and Mill

AgentWD40 wrote: Sorry I'm not able to download this and see for myself before I ask.. Do the buttons have a different color when pressed? Im just thinking about mashing a touchscreen with fat fingers, it might be nice for the + and - buttons to flash the control green and red respectively when pressing the "kerf width" control for example.

We can definitely make that an option. I will make the icons in the spinbox buttons shift a few pixels when pressed, which gives some feedback.

AgentWD40 wrote: If you press and hold + or - will the number cycle up or down as long as you hold or does it only increment once per tap? I assume that holding wouldn't be practical for some controls. What's the increment value? Will the increment value be end user adjustable in a config?

The numbers will increment up, based on where the cursor is in the number. It works pretty well. In the future it would be nice to have the MPG increment the number in any spinbox that was highlighted.

AgentWD40 wrote: Finally, will there be room for me to add my own buttons somewhere? At least a couple on the main screen?

I am all about customizability (is that a word?). Everything that looks like a simple frame in the VCP is actually a special TabWidget that can have custom tabs added very easily without having to change anything in the main VCP code. So you can add your buttons just about wherever you like, while still keeping the clean look!

Cheers,
Kurt

I'm a little late to the party here. I like the feel of the GUI and where it is headed! I had made a crude mockup of one myself back in March, but I don't have the skill to bring it to life without years of study (as you said ). Keep up the good work.

I have some unsolicited feedback and suggestions if you'd like them:

1. The first thing I noticed is the Breakaway status is missing from the Main page.
2. The THC panel has things in it that have really nothing to do with the THC.
3. Consider having all of the "File" options on their own tab, this will free up a lot of room.
4. I agree, there is a need for custom buttons on the main tab. A lot of us use that a lot.
5. I saw you left the Hypertherm Comms off of the config tab. Do you have a plan for those? As a hypertherm user, I need them
6. The rapid, feed, and jog sliders are a bit large, any thing we could do to shrink them?
7. Any chance we could work the time on to the main page? If we are going to load this full screen on touch monitors, seeing what time it is is really useful :laugh:
8. Can the "Alarm" tab, or really any of them blink when there is something that requires your attention there?
9. For cut recovery, there are a few directional arrows missing (diagonal).
10. I really like the colored G-Code.

I attached a screenshot of the mockup I made from March, so that if for no other reason, you could maybe derive something useful, inspiration maybe (if necessary lol) out of it. If not, that's ok too! Some of the layout I would do different, as there are now features that there were not back then. For example, the OHMIC and THC wouldnt have to take up so much room.

rodw wrote: The Cut parameters drop down needs to display the material name, not just the number.

thats not a numer, it can be anything.

rodw wrote: I Know you want to keep true to a monokrom screen but when I looked at best practice for HMI controls, it said that colour and other features should be used to draw the eye to a problem. So if it were possible, I would like to suggest that a section of the screen be allowed one different colour combination to highlight problems and errors. My press brake has one single status line that turns red when in an error state (estop, on limit etc) is present. I would suggest something similar but for this GUI, I think red background with white text would draw the eye very effectively. It would be great if all the annoying popups that Linuxcnc raises on errors could be captured and constrained to a single fixed area of the screen.
I'm not sure if linuxcnc can be tamed in this way.

Linuxcnc is open-source so is MonoKrom.
I will have to agree with others.
For saving the monochrome experience. I think only errrors and Estop Indicator Can be me made red.. at a specific location.
That location can only arise in Estop and error and replace a widget.
Please, no other color while normal working.

rodw wrote: And yes I agree that its amazing whats been done so quickly and it just shows how powerful group projects become.

Thankyou

rodw wrote: I Know you want to keep true to a monokrom screen but when I looked at best practice for HMI controls, it said that colour and other features should be used to draw the eye to a problem. So if it were possible, I would like to suggest that a section of the screen be allowed one different colour combination to highlight problems and errors. My press brake has one single status line that turns red when in an error state (estop, on limit etc) is present. I would suggest something similar but for this GUI, I think red background with white text would draw the eye very effectively.

I have this implemented for axis faults. I think it looks ok, and is clearly indicates which axis has faulted.

rodw wrote: It would be great if all the annoying popups that Linuxcnc raises on errors could be captured and constrained to a single fixed area of the screen. I'm not sure if linuxcnc can be tamed in this way.

Yes, QtPyVCP already catches and makes the error messages as channels. There is an error messages widgets that records each error with a time stamp, and you can sort and filter error messages based on type. Maybe we can use this, or make something similar that might fit in with the design better.

snowgoer540 wrote:
1. The first thing I noticed is the Breakaway status is missing from the Main page.

It can be added.

2. The THC panel has things in it that have really nothing to do with the THC.

can you mention those?

3. Consider having all of the "File" options on their own tab, this will free up a lot of room.

if more people ask so.

4. I agree, there is a need for custom buttons on the main tab. A lot of us use that a lot.

again if more people ask it

5. I saw you left the Hypertherm Comms off of the config tab. Do you have a plan for those? As a hypertherm user, I need them

it was a space problem, I'll see if can manage

6. The rapid, feed, and jog sliders are a bit large, any thing we could do to shrink them?

they are work under progress, you must have seen large screen screencapture
see the first page for reference size

7. Any chance we could work the time on to the main page? If we are going to load this full screen on touch monitors, seeing what time it is is really useful :laugh

time can me placed. I'll update in next screen

8. Can the "Alarm" tab, or really any of them blink when there is something that requires your attention there?

Sure

9. For cut recovery, there are a few directional arrows missing (diagonal).

i have not used cut-recover before.
those can be added in needed.

10. I really like the colored G-Code.

Sorry, red is only for errors.

For example, the OHMIC and THC wouldnt have to take up so much room.

read carefully.
thats only a config panel.

thankyou for your suggestions. you've got a pretty GUI yourself

KCJ wrote:

Yes, QtPyVCP already catches and makes the error messages as channels. There is an error messages widgets that records each error with a time stamp, and you can sort and filter error messages based on type. Maybe we can use this, or make something similar that might fit in with the design better.

I have come up with something.
When an error arrives, screen should auto switch to Alerts tab and highlight axis, estop or whatever.
And we have plenty of room there for error and alert widgets.