#grblCommander

Synopsis

A handy tool for playing around with your grbl-controlled CNC.

Currently compatible with grbl v1.1

Allows:

• Manually moving X/Y/Z axis at configurable steps
  • Now also using a joystick!
• Directly going to table corners / individual axis limits
• Automatic Z probing
• G54..G59 coordinate system management (x/y/z zero reset)
• Sending raw g-code commands
• Running custom macros, stored in separate files in a folder tree
• Running custom tests (read: configurable/programmable g-code)

Custom tests are currently stored on src/test.py:

• Table position scan
  • Moves the spindle around a 3x3 grid representing the coordinates:
    • [UL] [UC] [UR]
    • [CL] [CC] [CR]
    • [DL] [DC] [DR]
• Base levelling holes
  • Drills a series of holes targeted @ Z0 to manually level a wasteboard by sanding
• Zig-zag pattern
  • A couple tests to calculate feed and speed
  • Based on this article
• DUMMY
  • A test meant to be used as a sandbox

PLEASE read the test code thoroughly before executing ANY of the tests

Setup

• Make sure you have Python3 installed
• Make sure you have dependencies installed
  • TO-DO: Add details about 3rd party library setup
• Clone this repo or download and extract the .ZIP file in a local folder

Settings

grblcommander comes with some default settings that might not suit your needs.

• Serial port/machine/joystick configuration and some other general settings are stored in a configuration file.
• Some configurable features are stored as macros:
  • Startup sequence : GCode commands to execute at grblCommander startup
    • If you work in inches or in relative mode, make sure you check this out!
  • Machine Long Status : Extra commands used to gather machine status in its long version

To change the configuration file:

• Copy src/cfg/default.py as src/cfg/user.py
• Check the following sections in the new file for settings that might need to be changed:
  • [Serial configuration]
  • [Machine configuration]
  • [Joystick configuration]
• Feel free to experiment with the rest of settings!

To change the macros used in grblCommander:

• Copy the macro files in src/macro/def to src/macro/u/def (create folder)
• Edit the new macro files
• Edit src/cfg/user.py to:
  • Set the new macro names to be used
  • Put def. in th macro blackList so it's not loaded anymore

    'macro': {
      'startup': 'u.def.start',
      'machineLongStatus': 'u.def.mls',
      ...
      'blackList': [ 'def.' ],

Usage

Run python3 main.py or ./main.py on the project folder and follow instructions.

TO-DO: Provide more details about usage