LitePlacer.com forums

Build date 5/28/2018

Download link: https://www.liteplacer.com/Downloads/Li ... 5_2018.exe

New Features, Significant Changes

* Two fiducials works with some assumptions (thanks to Oskar Weigl)
* Set machine coordinates button
* Vigorous homing: Makes a few full speed machine movements before setting zero

Bug Fixes

* mouse click on camera image works as expected with show pixels off
* µ character now works in CAD data
* camera active label was sometimes incorrect
* log is less noisy

Notes:

If you are updating from a version earlier than May 2017, you must run a settings transfer program before updating to this release. (You do get a warning message on startup about this). First download and install the settings transfer program: http://www.liteplacer.com/Downloads/Lit ... 7_2017.exe. It will install just like the regular LitePlacer, and will be named as liteplacer.exe (it needs to look like a normal LitePlacer program to the system to gain access to old format program settings). Run it once. The program reads the old format settings, writes a new settings file and exits. Then, install the actual release.

I'm getting back to developing the software, and I have also hired external help to implement features that have been to long on my todo-list. There will be more of these in the hopefully rather near future. This is a smallish release to address issues that some customers have. I'm also adding a feature that is potentially useful for others, but crucial for one customer's rather specific application. So, some comments on the new features:

Oskar Weigl from ODrive (https://odriverobotics.com/) added a two fiducial transform. Thank you very much! For a two fiducials to work, some assumptions need to be made; with modern PCB manufacturing techniques, these are likely to be valid.

There is now a button to set machine coordinates. This works much like the big "Go" button: You set your desired absolute coordinates in the boxes; clicking the button sets the machine coordinates to those numbers. It is a no-brainer to figure out this feature will soon obey the absolute/relative selection and to be able to do this automatically during the placement (set machine coordinates to a known reference point). I don't have these in this release, as I want the last feature out today.

I have a couple of support cases that I have been unable to solve, where the machine movements are not as repeatable as expected. While working on these, I tried to figure out if speed settings have anything to do with these. Doing that, I crashed my machine (again). I don't see any damage; in other words, I don't really know what happened; maybe I stretched a belt? Anyway, I started to see similar issues that the customers describe. While I still don't know the root cause, at least I had something to work on - and a problem I needed to solve for myself also! I found out that doing homing with slow speed resulted to the machine slipping coordinates later. Even if I don't have a real solution, I implemented a workaround; it is not elegant, but my machine is again repeatable to better than 0.05mm (I need to have slack compensation enabled):

There is now an option for "Vigorous homing". With this option enabled, the machine will home normally. Then, it will make a several full speed moves and homes again. The full speed moves apparently make the machine even out whatever tensions there might be, or shaking any looseness to set to the normal use position.

CAUTION: The moves use the area from origin to 250mm X and Y direction. You should not have features on this area that could hit the nozzle on full up position (you should not have those anywhere anyway, imo). Also, as always with a moving machine, keep hands and heads away.