Hello Guest it is March 28, 2024, 02:13:56 PM

Author Topic: Line following (tracing)  (Read 2975 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Pedio

*
  •  200 200
    • View Profile
Line following (tracing)
« on: July 04, 2015, 12:11:00 PM »
I am sure I am not the first one to think of this so I am not sure if this belongs on the Mach4 board or a general CNC board; however, with the flexibility of Mach4 it is more likely achievable than previously. Please forgive me if someone else has solved this problem in a non Mach4 manner - I have found I am ignorant in so many things having to do with CNC! The more I learn the more it appears I don't know.

Here is the question
Is there any way to use line tracing hardware as a 'modified' probe?

Problem I am trying to solve

I have a large gantery style CNC table and often we take paper patterns off of real world items. I put the paper patterns on the table and jog to different locations to get the X,Y coordinate. I then write these down and enter them into my CAD program (Vcarve pro seems to be the easiest). I would like to put the template on the table as a line drawing and tell the 'modified' probe to follow the line. We have tried taking a picture of the line drawing and then trace it in Vcarve pro but we lose the aspect ratio. We spend as much time trying to tweak the image as it would have taken us to do the manual probe.

Any thoughts?

Offline BR549

*
  •  6,965 6,965
    • View Profile
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2015, 12:44:34 PM »
Yes it can be done automatically or manually. In auto mode you need a plugin to interface the Camera Scanner (like Scan Anything) to M4. In manual mode you need a Wizard like CopyCatM4 to do the the line,arc,circle,drill point acquisition. Then you can auto convert to either a Gcode or a DXF file
IT can be done in many different ways.

(;-)TP
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2015, 10:02:49 AM »
Couldn't you just trace the outline and export the DRO values in a comma separated value spreadsheet format? Then import them into CAD to replicate the outline? WTF it's 8 am on Sunday and I am thinking already, arrghhhh...(but I secretly love this sh!t)

Offline dude1

*
  •  1,253 1,253
    • View Profile
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2015, 10:19:24 AM »
there are a lot of ways to do it trace is as accurate as the person doing it, a camera can be zoomed right into the line and used to find center of holes it`s all down to the budget there are a number of free one`s out there
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2015, 10:34:50 AM »
It's all about the Benjamin's!  >:D

(Benjamin Franklin is the president on our hundred dollar bill...in case you Kiwi's didn't know.) :)
...but yet the US dollar is the world's reserve currency...[enter conspiracy theory now]

what do you want to be when you grow up? ...I was always asked. Rockstar! Plastic Surgeon! a Pimp! a General! ...a CNC machinist / programmer said no one --Ever!
« Last Edit: July 05, 2015, 10:40:25 AM by Screwie Louie »

Offline BR549

*
  •  6,965 6,965
    • View Profile
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2015, 12:57:42 PM »
It can be cheap (free ) to do and it has already been done. Wizards exist (CopyCatM4) and Screen pages have been created to do that. The auto version where the Video scanner drives Mach4 is being worked on as we speak.

(;-) TP
« Last Edit: July 05, 2015, 12:59:32 PM by BR549 »

Offline dude1

*
  •  1,253 1,253
    • View Profile
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2015, 03:14:56 PM »
that`s good to know BR549

Offline Pedio

*
  •  200 200
    • View Profile
Re: Line following (tracing)
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2015, 03:29:21 PM »
I was thinking something like this https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12097 with some of these installed https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11769. It looks like most people use 3 sensors. I was thinking more of 6 in cascading sets of two. I would weight the two farthest away from the control point the lowest, the ones next closest in the middle, and the ones by the board the highest. This would give me a little look ahead sensing. Now just to find time...


Here is a whole page of FUN!!!! https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/242.