I took a closer look at Liteplacer software and GRBL. The Liteplacer sw seems to have several dependencies on the JSON status reports, how much of that is essential to operation or just nice to have I haven't studied yet. I think it would be fairly straightforward to add an abstraction layer between Liteplacer and the controller.
However, I notice that GRBL only supports 3 axis (XYZ) but Liteplacer would need 4 (XYZA), which might be an issue.
I am thinking about the possibility of porting TinyG software to another board, or adding JSON support to some other firmware. I have several setups including RAMPS, RADDS, Smoothieboard etc all of which run GCode controller s/w, I use these for 3D printing. I haven't found a source of TinyG in the UK, I would have to order from the US I think.
If any non-TinyG controller is used, some firmware mods will be required. RAMPS is probably the cheapest and most widely used setup, and should be quite adequate for the job, so I might use that as a starting point. Proper third order acceleration would be a good feature to have, so a firmware supporting that would be ideal. AFAIK TinyG and GRBL are only open source firmware supporting it.
Use GRBL instead of TinyG
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
The essential parts are the events (knowing if the machine is moving or doing other things)* and the position reports**. Doing setup through the core software might be a bit more work - not difficult, just work.bobc wrote:I took a closer look at Liteplacer software and GRBL. The Liteplacer sw seems to have several dependencies on the JSON status reports, how much of that is essential to operation or just nice to have I haven't studied yet. I think it would be fairly straightforward to add an abstraction layer between Liteplacer and the controller.
All the communications are piped through few key routines, so modifying the core software itself is an option, too. All of * happen in CNC.InterpretLine(), all of '** in CNC.NewStatusReport().
Being able to rotate the components is kind of important.However, I notice that GRBL only supports 3 axis (XYZ) but Liteplacer would need 4 (XYZA), which might be an issue.
Btw, there is nothing wrong with TinyG...
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
Good news!
I've been looking at TinyG and there is a new "g2" version of software which runs on Arduino Due, and there has been some work done to get it to run with RAMPS-FD, which has up to 6 axes. A clone Due and RAMPS-FD can be bought for about £30 on ebay, although the quality of the Geetech manufactured board is quite poor. I designed RAMPS-FD, but was never consulted about manufacturing!
An alternative is official Due plus RADDS which is nicely made but more expensive and less widely available.
I will have a play with the Liteplacer software and Due version of g2 at the weekend.
I've been looking at TinyG and there is a new "g2" version of software which runs on Arduino Due, and there has been some work done to get it to run with RAMPS-FD, which has up to 6 axes. A clone Due and RAMPS-FD can be bought for about £30 on ebay, although the quality of the Geetech manufactured board is quite poor. I designed RAMPS-FD, but was never consulted about manufacturing!
An alternative is official Due plus RADDS which is nicely made but more expensive and less widely available.
I will have a play with the Liteplacer software and Due version of g2 at the weekend.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
I am very interested on this subject as well. Did you had time to make that test ?bobc wrote:I will have a play with the Liteplacer software and Due version of g2 at the weekend.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
Greetings,
I also like to see the liteplacer software work with G2 hardware. It is hard to get the tinyG.
I also like to see the liteplacer software work with G2 hardware. It is hard to get the tinyG.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
I had a bad cold, so progress was paused for a bit. I now have all the parts together and will look at it this week.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
God bless you. I would have made you a lemon and orange juice if I was near you!bobc wrote:I had a bad cold, so progress was paused for a bit. I now have all the parts together and will look at it this week.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
How very kind of you! Sounds very nice. Hopefully that is the last of seasonal bugs for me, roll on summerMTX wrote:God bless you. I would have made you a lemon and orange juice if I was near you!bobc wrote:I had a bad cold, so progress was paused for a bit. I now have all the parts together and will look at it this week.
Looking forward to hear from you.
I have managed the first hurdle, which is to install Atmel Studio, build g2 and download to a Due. That seems to work, there are some loose ends which hopefully are not important.
Next steps are to create a settings file for RAMPS-FD, then hook up Liteplacer s/w.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
Please note that the software is getting active development, so build your stuff so, that updates to the LitePlacer core system are easy or automatic to include. Git is your friend.
Re: Use GRBL instead of TinyG
Any updates?Next steps are to create a settings file for RAMPS-FD, then hook up Liteplacer s/w.