Hello Guest it is March 29, 2024, 05:54:09 AM

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - dotScott

Pages: 1 2 3 »
1
Sorry for the lack of response as I didn't realize this had received any attention.  I would love to finish this screen for Mach4 but my machine is finally back up and running after a slight disaster required me to rewire much of my machine.  After that expense, and Christmas coming up, there just isn't the money available to purchase the new software.  Now if someone wanted to buy me a copy for Christmas.... ;-)

I'll see what I can do after the holiday season.

2
Well after a long hiatus and some crappy weather here in the North East, I've had the itch to finish development of this screen.  Does anyone know if there is a beta of Mach4 available?  I'd rather not put all the work into getting this running and not have it be compatible.  From the sounds of it, there won't be an upgrade path due to the level of change to the core code and framework which tells me that screens won't translate either.

3
Thank you very much!  That did the trick.  Not sure how it got switched but working now.

Thanks again!

4
General Mach Discussion / External E-Stop Requested without and changes
« on: January 01, 2014, 11:42:54 AM »
My machine has been running flawlessly for years until this morning.  I had left the machine on overnight and when I went to jog it, the interface (computer) was frozen.  I did a hard reboot of the PC and when it came back on, I pressed the reset button as normal but it keeps flashing External E-Stop request.  I tested my E-Stop switch and it is fine.  I flipped the low setting in config and this allowed me to get rid of the error.  When I try to reference all home, the DRO readings change like it's moving but no movement on the AC servos.  The spindle start and stops with no problem.  No LEDs on the diagnostics screen other than the emergency LED.  Again, this has been running flawlessly for years run up until this morning and nothing has changed.   I'm at a loss with this issue.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

5
Works in progress / Re: Flash RU Screen
« on: August 03, 2012, 03:33:07 PM »
PM was sent.  Never head back.  I would like the FLA, thank you!

6
screens so far.  needs a lot of work

7
You are correct, it's difficult to share this type of work.  It's similar to working on another person's painting.  Different styles and visions.  One of the biggest issues I face personally is my lack of experience with mills in general.  I have almost 30 years of experience in programming and graphics production but the lack of practical experience in running a mill are hindering me from producing logical layouts of controls.  I struggle with that more than anything.  I've found myself spending countless hours rearranging the layout, trying to guess how I will use the end product while including the features that are required for the  population of more experienced users.  The main reason I haven't devoted a lot of time to the development of this interface is that I have just completed my machine.  I've learned a lot in the past 8 months and now that my machine (link) is actually capable of production, I have been familiarizing myself with the general operation and use of the tool. 

I could simply update the graphics on MachBlue or MachStdMill but because touchscreen controls require more real estate for fat fingers than mouse controls, it's not possible to include all the features that are currently displayed.  I could use advise in what controls and features people find most important on each page.  An example in my original design is the consistent placement of common controls and DROs.  I like the thought of the pages that contain operational controls maintain functions such as Cycle Start, Stop, E-Stop, feed hold et cetera in the same location.  I don't want to have to hunt for the controls on each page.  Same goes for the position DROs.  I want to look up and see those in the same spot regardless of what function page is loaded.  Does this make sense to you more experienced users?  What other functionality would be useful that is not currently provided?  This is the type of help I could use.

8
Thank you for the compliment.  I too wish to see more progress on this screen but I can only commit so much time to it.  I think my approach going forward will be to complete the original design under v3 and use the iPad influenced version for the future release of Mach.  I'll try to post some updates in the next few days.  

I agree, Mach is a great program but simply lacks a polished GUI to really make it shine.  The MachStdMill interface is better than previous versions and hopefully will get polished up before the release.

I really wish I could devote more time to this project but my available time doesn't look like it's going to increase any time soon.  There have been only a few people that have either commented or presented criticism on the designs so it's difficult to get too excited when I have a feeling that only myself and a handful of people will benefit from all the hours invested.  If I knew there was some real interest in it I would probably find the time.  

9
looks interesting  touchscreen only reset button dangerous
Color scheme and layout are excellent  try complete
The reset button is simply a software version.  I have 3 hard E-Stops around my machine.  I would hope that people would have more than 1 soft E-Stop.

Regarding the plasma, I don't have any experience with plasma cutters and therefore don't know the requirements.  I am still learning my mill  ;-)

I will continue to work on the latest screenset (as time permits) as it seems to be easier to read and understand versus the previous design.

10
Obviously not done yet but the basic design elements are there.  Let me know what you think.

Pages: 1 2 3 »