Release candidate for new software version, 20.05.2021

[JuKu]

The original thread is getting long and old, so I open a new one. Here is the release candidate for the new version. If you are not familiar with this: During the previous year or so, I have been re-writing big parts of the software. Many changes are not visible, but allow me to put in new features easily than the "official" version. The biggest change is unlimited number of visual processing algorithms with much improved measurement system. The changes are big enough that I want to have some user experience from people, who understand they are testing new software.

The (long and old) original thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6304

NOTE TO CURRENT USERS: This version breaks your Z heights! You need to redo nozzle height calibration and answer "Yes" at the end when it offers to reset the Z values.
Unfortunately, this change was a must. There were two issues: First, a crash at bad time on probing could leave the TinyG in a state that wasn't easy to restore. The second: Terms like placement depth, pickup Z and probing result were not properly defined, which caused unwanted and confusing interaction. Now, probing result, pickup Z and placement Z are all "nozzle just touching" value, and pickup/placement depths are added to these. (Yes, you now have separate pickup and placement depths. This makes sense, as for pickup, you only need a gentle touch for the vacuum to get a grip; for placement, you likely want to push parts down to paste a bit more.)

Installation files

The plain exe is here; you would use this with an existing installation (but see above!), just copy this to you LitePlacer directory. You can also make a copy of your current directory and take the exe there. https://www.liteplacer.com/Downloads/be ... 5-2021.exe

The installation file for fresh installs is here: https://www.liteplacer.com/Downloads/be ... 5_2021.exe

Documentation!

Much of the work and the reason why this hasn't become the official version yet has been that writing the documentation has taken me (too) long. It is still "work in progress", but it is rather complete, better than the current version ever was.

Software reference main page: https://liteplacer.com/software-reference-v2/
Setup and calibration main page: https://liteplacer.com/setup-and-calibration-2/

Fingers crossed that I haven't goofed up too badly! As always, all feedback is much appreciated.

[AnalysIR]

Code: Select all

B: Save values
Saving nozzle calibration data to C:\Users\*****\Desktop\Arduino\LitePlacer\LitePlacer.NozzlesCalibrationData_v3
SaveCADdata failed: Access to the path 'C:\Users\*****\Desktop\Arduino\LitePlacer\CadDataSave.csv' is denied.
SaveJobData failed: Access to the path 'C:\Users\*****\Desktop\Arduino\LitePlacer\JobDataSave.csv' is denied.
Writing C:\Users\*****\Desktop\Arduino\LitePlacer\LitePlacer.Appsettings
Saving nozzle calibration data to C:\Users\*****\Desktop\Arduino\LitePlacer\LitePlacer.NozzlesCalibrationData_v3
SaveVideoAlgorithms to C:\Users\*****\Desktop\Arduino\LitePlacer\LitePlacer.VideoAlgorithms
Skipping writing board settings file; board type unknown

I am running an initial test on a PC without the LP/TinyG connected and got some errors when closing the app. (initially I got some issues with my AntiVirus system, but this is OK now)

It seems from the log above that it is trying to save the job data in the root directory (where the exe is) as CadDataSave.csv & JobDataSave.csv.
FYI: I cannot see why access would be denied in this directory, plus it shouldn't be saving there ???

However my actual Job data is loaded from a sub-directory /Jobs (read in correctly at startup. & displayed correctly on the Job tab.). I would have expected any saving to be done in the directory where the Job data is loaded from??? (BTW: probably is a good idea to use a sub-directoy structure for all job data by default)

I will test with a real LP/TinyG later on.

[JuKu]

I’ll look into this, but I think it is trying to save the temp files, so that when you start again, you have the same data in the tables.

[AnalysIR]

weird....seems to have gone away by itself ....these files are not being written now.

(Could possibly be AV related??? ????)

[AnalysIR]

Installed the latest RC ...

...I got the pop up message initially looking to reset the z stuff on the TinyG, which I accepted.
... Nozzle height calibration was fine and seemed simpler
... Pick-up is now OK (Although the Z travel seems longer than before...I think.) Did you ever get a chance to implement a pseudo Z-ceiling

I also played around with using the pockets instead of the holes on paper tapes for recognition. This seems to work very well with the new vision system/algorithm & will add an extra tool for situations where it is hard to recognize the holes. In fact it might be better to do that by default as it will get rid on an extra move from the hole to the part.

I tried to see if I could get it to actually recognize the 0805 resistors themselves but it didn't work out for all tests. Will continue that later as it would get rid of any orientation & small offset in the pockets.

Will try this with clear & black tapes & caps later on.

On the plus side as I was testing this, I got a failed recognition of one slot/resistor. Then I got a popup asking if I wanted to jog to the part/hole, which I did. This is a great addition as it means we can easily continue if there is an issue recognizing a hole/part...GREAT++++

As you are doing a pop-up...would it be possible to add an option just to skip this part and go on to the net one. (Sometime the position might be empty because the part jumped out by accident) Or if I jog to the next component that it would continue seamlessly from there on(correctly adjusting next part number). From memory there was a lot of red in the popup, which suggests fatal error...maybe change that to orange/yellow as a warning.

When testing vision on Tapes (in the tapes tab), it would be useful to just find the NEXT part/hole. Alternatively just add a numeric updown control in place of the part# text box.

Maybe the Go to next button is supposed to do this but it sent me always to hole position #1 (bug??)

That is all for now. I may get time to test some more over the weekend.

[AnalysIR]

Maybe the Go to next button is supposed to do this but it sent me always to hole position #1 (bug??)

This button just goes to the next position as indicated in the Next column of the Tape Data grid,

[AnalysIR]

On the plus side as I was testing this, I got a failed recognition of one slot/resistor. Then I got a popup asking if I wanted to jog to the part/hole, which I did. This is a great addition as it means we can easily continue if there is an issue recognizing a hole/part...GREAT++++

Seems I misread this popup feature...

On the plus side as I was testing this, I got a failed recognition of one slot/resistor. Then I got a popup asking if I wanted to jog to the part/hole, which I did. This is a great addition as it means we can easily continue if there is an issue recognizing a hole/part...GREAT++++

The popup text suggests you just jog and retry the vision. Surely if you jog then it should just accept this and proceed. As before offering the option to proceed with this position and/or skipping to the next component would avoid messing with the active job.

[Krzys]

I have installed a new version and unfortunately - it cannot get through HOME.
Measurements are good but ....
There is no red cross in the camera image, only a horizontal line.
I checked everything, even the installation from scratch clean.
The same problem.

Krzysztof

[AnalysIR]

@kryzs

Not really any help for you, but the latest RC works fine for me on WIN10 so far.

For homing did you redo the vision algorithm for the 'home' dot? I found using the radio buttons for 'Show processing' along with the 'Features to Search' & measure button to be very helpful in getting it right. The 'Acceptable Size' also eliminates irrelevant detections. Took me a while to get used to it.

Did you make sure the check boxes for various camera lines are checked in the camera tab for both cameras?

So far I have used the vision processing a lot & redone most of my paper/clear tapes to use the pockets instead of holes for registration. This helps to get rid of any skew in the tape orientation, which using the holes would not.

I am now using vision to recognize 0805 LEDs directly in the black tape which helps reduce any offset within the pocket. So far have been unable to directly recognize the 0805 resistor/caps directly in the tape pockets, so using the actual pockets for these. In short the new vision stuff is a great step forward.

I have also completed the full nozzle change & calibration feature successfully. I have also tested fiducial recognition along with measured location of components and they seem fine. Obviously homing is working for me also.

This week I plan to run a few panels thru it using the latest RC and will report back.

[Krzys]

I checked everything.
I have been using Liteplacer for several years. It wasn't a problem.
The March version and the current one did not work for me.
I don't know what the cause is.
I'll try to install it on another computer and see what comes out.
Greetings.
Krzysztof