Messages

6061

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Load Point Clouds into AutoCAD

« on: February 09, 2007, 08:16:09 PM »

I'm writing an AutoCAD macro to import point clouds, due to popular demand on the yahoo group. From what I gather, there are 2 types of point clouds created by mach3. One from the digitize wizard, and one from the digitize plugin.

After a few hours of re-learning how to write macros , I  can now load the point cloud into AutoCAD. And then I have a slight dilemma.

The digitize plugin outputs a file of points in rows. This is very easy to work with, and I should have a macro to output 3D faces tonight or in the morning.

The plugin, however, is a bit trickier. It probes in a spiral pattern. I don't know if the spiral is always uniform, and the same direction. If it is, I think that I can figue out a way to create the faces. If it's not uniform, then I'm not so sure. I'd appreciate some sample files created with the plugin if anyone has any.

Just to make sure I was reading the points correctly, I drew a 3D polyline through the points. Here's a screen shot of the prop that Art scanned. 23,335 points.

6062

General Mach Discussion / Re: Waterjet/lookahead/accelerate-slowdown

« on: February 09, 2007, 03:06:42 PM »

If by curve you mean G2/G3, then just change the feedrate on those lines of code.

6063

General Mach Discussion / Re: Help Please with lazy Cam/auto Cad

« on: February 08, 2007, 10:47:32 PM »

Try saving as V12 .dxf

6064

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Most simple Gcode with arc problem.

« on: February 05, 2007, 12:01:26 PM »

You're specifying the center of the arc to be 90,54. An arc with that center can't pass thru both 30,20 and 300,200. I don't think it will work in absolute IJ either.

6065

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Cutter comp Problem

« on: February 02, 2007, 06:01:14 PM »

Check out the G-codes in the manual. G12 in Mach3 is just a circle.

6066

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 Cutter comp Problem

« on: February 02, 2007, 08:19:50 AM »

G12 should only have

G12 I.375 F12

No K, Q, or D
And you can't use compensation with G12, I don't believe.

And if you want to use G41/G42, you'll need a lead-in move inside your bore and need to use G2/G3.

6067

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: Can't open dxf files...

« on: January 29, 2007, 09:33:13 PM »

Make sure you save as V12 .dxf

6068

Third party software and hardware support forums. / Re: Mach3 plus xylotex wiring

« on: January 27, 2007, 03:44:45 PM »

Wire each Home switch individually to it's own pin. Then wire the opposite end limits in series and connect them to a 4th pin. Then, in Mach3, you tell it to use the home switches as limits.

6069

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Blender 3D and Mach3

« on: January 27, 2007, 03:38:23 PM »

I wouldn't be surprised in the least that Blender is the root of my problems. Yet, If I open that same DXF in any CAD program, I see the full dimensions that I expect to see.

Are you sure the file uploaded correctly? The file you posted won't open in AutoCAD or Rhino, and the file appears to not contain anything as Graham said.

6070

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Blender 3D and Mach3

« on: January 26, 2007, 12:07:18 PM »

To use .dxf's in MeshCAM, the .dxf must consist of 3D face entities only. With MeshCAM, .stl is a better choice to use.

You want to cut the profile of a 3D object? You'll need to spend some money for that. Much simpler to draw the profile in a 2D CAD app and use LazyCAM or SheetCAM.