QtDragon MDI buttons

Hello.

I'm currently running Gmocchapy, and love the functionality and the native probing of QtDragon. That said, I do use a few MDI buttons which Gmocchapy makes fairly easy to set up via the DISPLAY section of the INI file. In other words, the buttons are created and then execute an .ngc file.
I am not sure I am explaining it 100% correctly, but I'm hoping that someone who has crossed over from Gmoccapy to QtDragon could enlighten me as to whether this GUI has similar features or how to implement the same with QtDragon.
Thanks,
Marty.
 

Are you using 2.8 or master branch of linuxcnc?

2.8.xx

Debian 10 buster ISO from the downloads page

Unfortunately, 2.8 version has no macro buttons built in.
If you are adventurous you could add some.
In master, qtdragon has two definable macro buttons and qtdragon_hd has more.
I see they are undocumented though.

Chris

Interesting Chris!
Importantly, I don't have the monitor resolution for the hd version, so for now, I will have to stick with the std version.
But... the primary reason for the question was that I have a 21 tool ATC, and was going to write a routine whereby I could define what tool numbers (a series) would come and touch off on a Z probe for length, then set the tool table offset prior to loading a job. With the focus on probing, I'm now wondering whether QtDragon may have something like this natively embedded in the GUI anyway??

QtDragon does not have a routine for touching off all tools in an ATC.
This sounds like a very useful utility though, I'm assuming you would use a probe with this?

Chris

I have both a Z axis tool touch off probe and a kinematic probe.
I'm thinking I'll stick with gmoccapy and use an mdi button to create a probing routine for the Z tool probe and then write the offset into the tool table. Select which (or all) tools to run the routine, then only when a specific tool has been changed out at a later stage. Typically my tools live in the ATC for a while as they cover a large gamut of possibilities.
Thereafter once tool Z offsets are known, the kinematic probe can check the stock material for Z height and there's the Z offset between tool and job...

When 2.9 is released (when ever that is) this would be much easier to do in qtdragon then in 2.8.
I would be interested in seeing your probe routine for the ATC when you write it.
Maybe then I could incorporate something similar in qtdragon in the future.

Chris

I'll let you know Chris

Hi Chris.

Further to your request, I've written the following program which measures from a tool probe then inputs the results into the tool table offset for that tool number.
I didn't set it up as an auto ATC routine, simply because one of the inputs requires the tool tip to spindle nose distance (to allow the Z axis to transition from a rapid move to searching for the probe with sufficient buffer to not hit the probe at rapid speed). Thus to be able to measure that distance the tool needs to be in the spindle in the first place, hence doing an M6T# outside the routine is necessary anyway to measure.

I have put plenty of comments in to help comprehension.

The probe results are an average of three probes. I did this not knowing what the accuracy requirements of users might be, nor knowing how accurate their probe might be. But whilst it takes a little longer, I felt it a good tradeoff in term of time vs accuracy.

Hope some of this helps Chris!!
Just wondering whether QtDragon will be expanded from 4 to 5 axis at any time? And whether it can accept at least 21 tools?

Cheers,
Marty.