New platform development. Help needed!

[hanke-cnc]

I have seen your strong programming skills and talent. I need your email to communicate with you. I believe you shouldn't waste your time and talent on adapting to various MCUs; you need to focus on one thing.

[Paciente8159]

You can join the discord channel and send me a private message there. I'm usually online.

[hanke-cnc]

Hi, I would like to inquire if it is too difficult to have some industrial controller functions, such as G84 tapping, threading on a lathe, automatic tool change, radius compensation, etc. This is why I hope to pay to find a partner, because I am not very good at programming and cannot take it further.

[Paciente8159]

Hi, I would like to inquire if it is too difficult to have some industrial controller functions, such as G84 tapping, threading on a lathe, automatic tool change, radius compensation, etc. This is why I hope to pay to find a partner, because I am not very good at programming and cannot take it further.

I'll try to answer the best way I can.

• G84 is not currently implemented. It's possible to be implement taking what was done with G33 as reference. It's not implemented yet because I don't have a machine to test it out. I need to build a small lathe type jig to conduct proper tests on it.
• Threading on a lathe is implemented using uCNC extension module G33. This modules HAS VERY LITTLE testing and is just a partial implementation since G33.1 is not implemented. Again the above mentioned lathe jig and some proper testing would be fundamental.
• uCNC is prepared for automatic tool change but this feature depends a great deal on how the tool changer works and is implemented. All tools have a startup and shutdown function that can be modified to run code (for example the code to do the tool switch). This gave me an idea. I can implement a generic case were a user can define a gcode file to run on startup and another on shutdown. If the tool changer can be fully controlled with Gcode then this should do the trick.
• Radius compensation is probably the only one that I hardly think it can implemented. The problem with G84 is that it must be implemented in a per tool path. Each tool path can contain anything from a few lines of Gcode to thousands of lines. On small device like these MCU there is just not enough RAM to perform that. The only way this might be achieved would be to have that in a file, the parser go though the whole file and basically generate a second file with the compensated path. For that you might as well do it in a PC alot more easier and faster. Also this is more a task for the CAM itself then the machine (I think).

[hanke-cnc]

So cool, it's already running. RP2350 and UCNC are still a bit unfamiliar to me, but I'm getting familiar with them.

[Paciente8159]

Beware that the RP2350 core is still at an early stage of development. I had very little changes to test it. The Arduino framework itself seems a bit incomplete too. Things like EEPROM emulation, Multicore and SPI with DMA support are not working.

[hanke-cnc]

OK, I understand. I have a question: Can it use USB for virtual serial communication? This would make it convenient for users to upgrade the firmware. Or can the RP2350 use serial port 0 for firmware upgrades?

[Paciente8159]

Serial communications run both on UART and USB.
As far as I know you need to use USB to upload firmware.

[hanke-cnc]

I am very sad that you seem to think I am a profit-driven businessman. 😖

[hanke-cnc]

Terjeio is also not interested in my ideas. I was originally a DIY CNC enthusiast, and I still am. I'm not a company; I sell it in my spare time. I just want to make it better. I'm not a programmer and can't add or modify code in the existing grblhal code, so I'm looking for a partner.

[hanke-cnc]

My goal is not industrial machines either, as I don't have the capability or funds to compete with industrial controllers. My target is also DIY CNC enthusiasts. Most DIY CNC players don't write code, so selling them stable, affordable, and reliable control boards is also a form of help. I believe that something profitable is a good thing; otherwise, how would the author have the energy and time to maintain it? Therefore, I also think Terjeio is selfless and great.

[Paciente8159]

otherwise, how would the author have the energy and time to maintain it?

How about just because the author enjoys it? Somethings are just priceless. The freedom to do a thing just because you like doing it without strings attached, deadlines or obligations has no measurable value. As soon as you remove that freedom from the process it becomes like any other regular job.

[hanke-cnc]

Alright, I completely respect and understand what you mean.

[Paciente8159]

Ok. While I make up my mind about the board I'll will order a generic STM32H750 development board to kickstart development. It should take about 2 to 3 weeks to arrive.

[Paciente8159]

I'm not sure if I understood your question.
µCNC works over the Grbl message protocol. When a user defines a X limit pin the board might or not make use of that information (controlled by settings $21 and $22). Regardless of the board actually doing something with that input (to perform homing or limit/crash detection) the status of all special inputs (like control pins, limits and probe) is always available in the status message. What the program does or not with that information depends only on the software side of the machine. There are some caveats.

Other generic inputs can be configured to detect stuff, synchronize gcode excution, custom actions, etc...depending on a module implementation for that.

The delay between the actual limit trigger and the actual software handle is undetermined. Depends on how frequently the status is being pulled, transmission speeds, and several other factors.

[hanke-cnc]

I'm just reading its documentation and have some questions. It seems that all inputs can be defined/configured in the host software, such as tool setting, ESTOP emergency stop, and limit switches, and can be set as normally open or normally closed. Additionally, I found that each axis surprisingly requires three signals (for example, Z-axis positive limit, Z-axis negative limit, and Z-axis mechanical origin), which is quite confusing.

[hanke-cnc]

I'm not sure why it was designed this way. Why does each axis require three limit signals? Perhaps the original GRBL intended to design it this way but was limited by the Arduino's pins.

[hanke-cnc]

I remember operating a machining center with a Fanuc system, which can indeed trigger hard limits in both the positive and negative directions. However, what I don't understand is why it would trigger hard limits when soft limits are already in place, especially since it uses absolute value servo motors. It's perplexing.

[Paciente8159]

Failsafe?! Software limits depend on user input and hardware limits protect against human error.