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Author Topic: One More All-In-One Milling Screen  (Read 18783 times)

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One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« on: February 27, 2009, 10:58:18 AM »
I'm making myself an all-in-one milling screenset, containing *all* the functionality I ever use in one screen.  The first very crude first "Mach-Up" of my screen is below.  Keep in mind, this is a quick mock-up, to get a feel for the functionality, and see how things fit, using existing graphics.  The real graphics will be completely different (and hopefully more pleasing...).  Where you see a colored ring around a button, that ring is an LED that lights up behind the button when the corresponding function is active, much like the yellow blinking ring around the Spindle CW button on the standard screen set.  The over-ride controls are sliders only right now.  That seems good enough to me.  The graphic in the lower left works like the one on the offsets screen, and invokes macros that, for me, will perform all the edge-finding and tool-touch-off functions through macros.

The functions included are:

Axis Information:
X/Y/Z DROs w/Red/Green Ref'd LEDs
X/Y/Z Zero
RefAll Home
X/Y/Z GoTo Zero
X/Y GoTo Zero
User/Machine Coordinate Select w/LED

Program Control:
Open G-Code
Close G-Code
Edit G-Code
Set Next Line
Stop
FeedHold
CycleStart
Rewind
Single Block
4 TBDs
Elapsed Time

Touch-Off Controls: (all handled through macros, via graphic buttons)
Edge-Find X+
Edge-Find X-
Edge-Find Y+
Edge-Find Y-
Tool Touch-Off

Spindle/Coolant Controls:
Spindle command (S-Word) DRO
Spindle Speed Over-ride DRO
Actual Spindle Speed DRO
Spindle OVR slider w/OVR LED
Spindle CW On/Off
Spindle CCW On/Off
Flood On/Off
Mist On/Off

Feedrate Controls:
Feedrate command (F-word) DRO
Feedrate OVR DRO
Actual Feedrate DRO
Feedrate OVR slider w/OVR LED
Feedrate OVR Reset

Toolchange Controls:
Tool Number DRO
Big-A$$ Blinking Toolchange LED
Set Toolchange Position
GoTo Toolchange Position

Other:
Reset
MDI (lower left of screen)
Status (lower right of screen)
Modes (not in there yet)
Config? (not in there yet)

So, what have I missed?  Any comments on the functionality, layout, sizing, etc?

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2009, 11:35:39 AM »
Here's another version, re-arranged some, with a 4th axis.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2009, 11:38:53 AM »
Oh, forgot to mention: clicking the center of the circle on the touch-off graphic does auto-center finding on holes and paockets.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2009, 03:18:27 PM »
This is sooooooo buggy!!!  I created two buttons, assigned to OEM codes 113 and 114.  I created two LEDs, assigned to OEM codes 12 and 13.  Clicking EITHER button turns on BOTH LEDs!!  What is going on here??

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.

Offline ger21

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Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2009, 05:52:31 PM »
Double check the codes, and check how your output pins are assigned. My "buttons" are the LEDS, with transparent buttons on top of them. They both work fine for me.

If you copy and paste buttons, you have to be careful. When making changes in the button dialog, I've noticed that if you change too many things at once, that all the changes don't take place. So I make my location changes and click OK, then go back and make the OEM Code changes.

It's possible that the OEM codes stayed the same when you thought you changed them.
Gerry

2010 Screenset
http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

JointCAM Dovetail and Box Joint software
http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html
Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2009, 06:29:27 PM »
Double check the codes, and check how your output pins are assigned. My "buttons" are the LEDS, with transparent buttons on top of them. They both work fine for me.

If you copy and paste buttons, you have to be careful. When making changes in the button dialog, I've noticed that if you change too many things at once, that all the changes don't take place. So I make my location changes and click OK, then go back and make the OEM Code changes.

It's possible that the OEM codes stayed the same when you thought you changed them.

Gerry,

I have absolutely seen the problem of changes not "taking", more than once.  But, in this case, the correct codes are absolutely there, but it still behaves irrationally.  It's incredible - I setup a button or LED identically to the way it's setup in 1024.set, and it behaves differently!  And it's baffling the odd assortment of buttons/LEDs etc. available.  When there are similar functions, there are not necessarily similar buttons or LEDs available.  And it seems in many case when there are, one of them simply doesn't work.  I found this writing macros as well - There are two LEDs that, supposedly, indicated G90 or G91 in effect.  But, in reality, only one of them actually works - the other is ALWAYS zero.  There just seems to be an awful lot of stuff that simply doesn't work, and that makes the job very frustrating.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2009, 06:57:25 PM »
Good Grief!  This is the most bug-ridden, indeterminate application I've ever used!  It keeps disappearing my button scripts!  I write them, exit Mach, re-start Mach, and they're there.  I exit again, re-start, and they're gone!  What the hell is going on??  *WHEN* do the scripts actually get saved?  It appears to be a totally random event at this point.

Regards,
Ray L.

Regards,
Ray L.

Offline ger21

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Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2009, 06:58:06 PM »
There are two LEDs that, supposedly, indicated G90 or G91 in effect.  But, in reality, only one of them actually works - the other is ALWAYS zero. 

Are you using 48 and 49? They work fine for me.

I must be pretty lucky, or your unlucky, because I haven't seen too many problems at all. :)

If you 'd like, I'll check it out and see if I can see what's wrong for ya.
Gerry

2010 Screenset
http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

JointCAM Dovetail and Box Joint software
http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html

Offline ger21

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Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2009, 07:00:40 PM »
I just use Operator>Edit button script, and do a File>Save in the script editor.

I think doing a View>Save Current Layout will save the whole screenset.
Gerry

2010 Screenset
http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

JointCAM Dovetail and Box Joint software
http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html
Re: One More All-In-One Milling Screen
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2009, 09:01:35 PM »
There are two LEDs that, supposedly, indicated G90 or G91 in effect.  But, in reality, only one of them actually works - the other is ALWAYS zero. 

Are you using 48 and 49? They work fine for me.

I must be pretty lucky, or your unlucky, because I haven't seen too many problems at all. :)

If you 'd like, I'll check it out and see if I can see what's wrong for ya.

The problem is, there are non-obvious dependencies.  Earlier, I was trying to get the Flood/Mist buttons and LEDs to work.  No matter what I did, clicking either button would turn on BOTH LEDs, even though everything was setup correctly.  The problem turned out to be that I didn't the pins properly assigned!  I assigned the pins, and suddenly the buttons and LED now work.

I still have no idea what's going on with the scripts.  I edit them, get them working, and then sometime later they simply disappear.  It's very frustrating.  The whole process seems REALLY fiddly and error prone.  Scream crashes at least 10 times a day as well.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.