Repetier CNC plugin question

Software / Firmware
#1

Hi everyone! Our makerspace bought a MPCNC kit and were all very impressed with the thoroughness of the design. And then we got to the control side of things.

I have a lot of background in creating the g-code, so no troubles there, but using the repetier host software with the cnc plugin didn’t work the way all the other cnc’s I’ve ran to run the g-code. We meet once a week and didn’t have much time to play with the software as we spent much of the night finishing up the build, but when we got it running, we were not able to zero the readouts nor could we input a value.

So my question is were we doing something wrong in the software and we’ll figure it out at our next meeting? Or does that software not work that way? We did get it moving and even used the 3d side of things to simulate a 3d print and it worked fine. It even moved the z axis up for next print layer.

Here’s an example of what I want it to do : I want to be able to jog to a position “X, Y, and Z” and set zero on the control software screen for all 3.

#2

Hi Ed,

one thing, I have in mind, is that the Marlin FW need to provide the G-Codes for switching between relative and absolute coordinates… And the G30 must be configured for single probing…
The other thing I’ve seen regarding the plug in is, that it doesn’t seem that the developer spent much time in improving/bug fixing of the plugin over the past two years.
The good news, the plugin comes with C# sources, so, because I’m a software engineer, it might be possible to proceed and enhance the plugin for the need we have… The software it self is under Creative Common licence, so there’s no blockers…
I’m currently limited with my time, so I haven’t had a closer look to it, but once I (hopefully) get finished my MPCNC, I’ll have to have a deeper look on the plug in and set up the development environment and try to recompile the plugin… If this works, I’ll be able to make changes…

Cheers,
Juergen

#3

While there maybe a better way via G Code that I dont know, but all I do when I need to set zeros for current position is just pull the USB cord from the mega for 5 seconds and plug it back in… Current position is now 0

#4

Juergen, That would be great if we can get it to be more user friendly. I’ll have to leave that programming stuff to smart people like yourself as I am just an end user. But I will let you know what issues I have and we have a couple programmers at the makerspace as well that you and I can bounce some ideas off of.

Jason: I did think of that, and it would work for many setups. But with my Tool and Die machinist background I want more.

      But tell me, when you pull the usb, do the steppers power down or stay on? Because I may want to tweak my cross arms to be a little more square and then power up so that the steppers hold it in place and I don't want them to release to set zero.

      And, do you have any issues with using Repetier and cnc plugin to do milling? I'm starting to think maybe as I'm writing this that I may be too rigid and just need to alter my process.

Thx for your time helping me out!

#5

If you are talking about the plugin from the other post, I would just skip it. I am not seeing anything above what repetier already has.

With an lcd screen there is a command for set home offsets. If you re not using the screen and want to use repetier. I would suggest making it a script. the numbers below the manual controls are quick script buttons. With your gcode background it is very easy to set one to reset all axis to 0, or all kinds of things. Pretty sure it is g92 x0 y0 z0, but I am not 100%, but it is something similar to that, You can use the manual controls to quickly get to the exact position you want withing .1mm if you need more you can just type the coordinates into the box at the top and it will move there.

my scripts are set to torture test all axis, torture z axis, laser focusing script, all of which I have posted here and made a video for the laser one.

If you need me to make the scripts let me know I can do it after the shipments go out.

#6

Just had some minute to give the CNC plugin a try on Visual Studio. There is a description on how to write plugins for Repetier-Host: Repetier-Host plugin Dev.

I followed this and I can proper build the plugin DLL from the sources and could add the build DLL to Repetier-Host…

I had a short view on the plugin so far. I guess it is only a jog dial with variable distance settings and the capability to use the keyboard for control the xyz axis… Cursor buttons are used for moving xy and the pageUp/Down is used for z. With F9-F12 you can switch between the distances. There are two other addons, one is the Z-Probe capability and the other is the spindle control…
So I agree, it will not giving much benefits against the manual control…

But, there might be some potential to add additional things…

Cheers,
Juergen

#7

Thx vicious1, I’ll work with my guys at the makerspace next week and try that thing with the script. We will likely go with the LCD screen in the end, but we like to try all avenues to see what we like best and wanted to use repetier if it was possible and then move on from there. We have a couple programmers, so scripting should be easy enough to try. I found your laser focus script I can show them as an example here https://www.v1engineering.com/forum/topic/laser-focus-script/

Thx again

#8

After I get to position in repetier I just hit disconnect and connect again to set the new home position.

Now I have just switched to running from sd and controlling it with the display attached to the ramps.

#9

Ya’ll might want to keep an eye on this…https://www.v1engineering.com/forum/topic/estlcam-with-experimental-arduino-mega2560-ramps-1-4-support/

#10

Thx vicious1! We will make do until he gets that done and then make a switch. We want as many options as possible and Estlcam sounds very good for the times when a computer hooked to the machine is ok.

#11

It’s actually fairly easy to customize the LCD menus in Marlin. I have a copy in my github account here:

Which I modified with a few extra commands including one to zero the machine. So I just position the tool where I want it then hit that command to set it as zero.

I also have some commands in there to send servo commands for the needle cutter I use for cutting foam board.

The change for addinga “zero xyz” option is really just two lines of code:

I also defined a new submenu with MPCNC options:

But honestly never use it since it means having to go another layer deep in the menu which is slower.