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Author Topic: The Laser Project.  (Read 1191524 times)

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Offline wl888

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #930 on: November 06, 2015, 02:52:48 AM »
Hi All
Have been working on the control side,the aim is to operate the steppers at 24v and control thru Mach3. looking at the DRV8825 Arduino style module, needed a way to interface it with my DIY printer out board without full Arduino, tried a host of ideas, even asked the manufacturer, no luck. So...I just put 3 signal diodes inline with the Enable/Dir/Step terminals and hoped.. It worked. So if You could look at this to see if I have missed the obvious and there is risk of damage etc.
The signal diode stop a 0.4 to 0.5vdc feedback from the controller.
attached 2 pics.
thanks
Doug
Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #931 on: January 16, 2016, 09:34:36 AM »
Hi,
I have been reading the most of this long topic and things have been living during this 6 years, so what's the way to go at the moment?
I need to do vector engraving mostly but would like to experiment with grayscale as well.
Is engrave plugin modified by Tweakie still the way to go or there is something better. How should I get the modulation from Mach3?
 
I have 2w laser diode with russian analog/pwm driver (similar to Flexmod P3) and Mach3 control board with pwm output and analog 0-10V output.

Should I combine pwm S-commands and M11/M10 with opto-coupler like Tweakie did or is there out  something more advanced at the moment?
I saw Art was building nice pulse-distance control for mach4,  something similar built I have seen also for grbl and for linux cnc, but I don't have the knowledge to bring it to Mach3...
How are you engraving with your lasers at the moment (without encoders, dac, etc.)?

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #932 on: January 16, 2016, 11:19:12 AM »
Take a look at PicLaserLite http://www.picengrave.com/ it is, I think, more suited to diode laser operation than the Mach3 plugin.

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #933 on: January 16, 2016, 01:01:43 PM »
Thank's Tweakie!
I already had a look at it but noticed it was more about grbl setups. Can it be fitted to Mach3 setup?  I have laser fitted to my router and I mainly need it for vector engraving so I would rather add something to my setup than change it. I'm using Aspire for generating the gcode.

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #934 on: January 17, 2016, 01:45:43 AM »
Quote
I already had a look at it but noticed it was more about grbl setups. Can it be fitted to Mach3 setup?

I think it can (at least it did when I last used it) but you would have to check with them.

For your vector engraving why not just modify the Aspire post-processor to include the M11/M10 commands for the On/Off operation and use your control board's PWM output to control the power level.
Another possibility...
If your control board was set-up so that 100% PWM was full power and 0% was no power or Off then the M11/M10 would be unnecessary and you could control your laser just by the PWM (assuming it is capable of switching fast enough).

There is plenty of room for experimentation so perhaps just try various methods and see what suits you best.

Tweakie.
PEACE
Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #935 on: January 17, 2016, 06:51:53 AM »
Thank's Tweakie,
you mean by combining M11/M10 and pwm like you did with optocoupler?
I haven't tried just with pwm, but according to the threads I have been reading, there is too much delay  with S********* commands to switch the laser on and off....

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #936 on: January 17, 2016, 10:47:49 AM »
Quote
you mean by combining M11/M10 and pwm like you did with optocoupler?

At the moment I don't see a better way.

You are probably right about the S### delay in Mach3 although in Mach4 the S### is, if anything, too fast  :)

Tweakie.
PEACE

Offline ART

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #937 on: April 12, 2016, 12:00:19 PM »
Hi Tweaky:

  Thought you might like to see my initial testing with 3d sculpting in wood..  :)

Art

Offline ART

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #938 on: April 12, 2016, 12:01:32 PM »
ohh, thats with a 14 watt laser output at 8000mm/min, using distance step correction for acceleration and deceleration correction.

Art

Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: The Laser Project.
« Reply #939 on: April 13, 2016, 01:26:24 AM »
Excellent work Art, I look forward to seeing more of this.

The 8000 mm/min is particularly impressive, that's galvo performance.  ;)

Are you using a variable PWM (linked to axis speed) to provide the Acceleration / Deceleration changes in laser output power ?

Tweakie.
PEACE