Hi! Great job Rick!

Im getting an error running from source on processing 2.2.1

https://github.com/RickMcConney/PenPlotter/issues/1

Thanks a lot!
Patricio

With the latest version of controlP5 works fine. Thanks.

And well... i ve been investigating this... and...
I edited configuration.h in repetier to enable a Full graphic smart controller and sd card features.

Everything seems to be ok, the PenPlotter starts to move... but... there is an issue (I'm not sure), with homing... or the scale of the objects... very strange behaviour.... (see pictures)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mypi8jow4ke19mm/AACdAKVjb8sxSRDt0SfQNblua?dl=0

It would be a great feature to print directly from a SD card without a pc!!!

Thank you!!!

Patricio

I have just posted a new version v0.6 of the Pen Plotter.
https://github.com/RickMcConney/PenPlotter/releases

The new version is a significant rewrite. I have refactored the code into a cleaner class structure.

The restructuring now allows for all image treatments (with the exception of the diamond pixel, as it uses non standard gcodes) to be exported into gcode files.

I have also added a square pixel and stipple treatment that uses only standard gcodes. The stipple treatment is taken from the stipple gen program. The stipple code has a new dependency on the toxi library. I have included it in the libraries.zip file of the release.

Here is a screen shot of the stipple treatment.

I Agree with Kongorilla. You are a master!

1) Before you write to you, I studied the behaviour of the controller, and I realized that, so I tried adding the code you mention directly to the file, without success. I will continue trying. Print from SD card is a great feature, I use it in all my 3d prints. Faster and secure, without hardware attached.

Im using http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRapDiscount_Full_Graphic_Smart_Controller

Just set #define FEATURE_CONTROLLER from 0 to 11

and in our case: #define UI_LANGUAGE 0 (english)

Home it manually, plug the SD, press the encoder and you are now drawing!

There would be another option: use only a SD breakout like this:
http://www.polargraph.co.uk/2012/02/state-of-the-art-tangle/

And then just "print from card" from a button in the controller.

2) To avoid your EEPROM issue, I suggest to change to 0 this
#define EEPROM_MODE 0

In your version 0.5 is set to 1.

3) There is a feature to consider: change the start and finish point degre of the servo arm. I changed them hacking your code at:

void sendPenUp()
{
send("G4 P250\n");
// send("M340 P3 S2350\n");
send("M340 P3 S1300\n"); // my servo value
send("G4 P250\n");
showPenDown();
}

and the same for sendPenDown() with its specific value.

Thank you very much!!!
Patricio

The difference most likely is due to the pen up down commands. I use a dwell and servo commands when talking directly but I change this to Z motion commands when exporting to gcode. This was done to support other cnc machines that do not have sevo motors. I guess I should add an option in the properties file to control this. I can also add an option to set the servo values that you had to change. Here is a quick workaround until I get a chance to fix it.

Change the sendPenUp and down functions in the Export file to send the same codes as the sendPenUp and down commands in the comm file and this should fix your problem.

Eg change this in Export.pde
public void sendPenUp() {
send("G0 Z"+cncSafeHeight+"\n");
}

public void sendPenDown() {
send("G0 Z0\n");
}

To This

public void sendPenUp() {
send("G4 P250\n");
send("M340 P3 S2350\n");
send("G4 P250\n");
}

public void sendPenDown() {
send("G4 P250\n");
send("M340 P3 S1500\n");
send("G4 P250\n");
}

Glad to here its working for you.

PS. I just realized another difference. I change the origin of the exported commands so that the home position is 0,0 instead of its large value of say 400,400. So this will move your print. So you will need to remove all the -homeY and -homeX from the send calls. I will add an option in to fix this.

I have upload a new version to github that should fix your issues. You now have servo.dwell, servo.upValue and servo.downValue in the properties file that you can adjust your servo settings.

I have added a file type in the export dialog. You can now choose between cnc and pen plotter. The cnc will change the servo motions to z motions and move the origin to 0, 0. The pen plotter option will keep all the commands unchanged and add the machine spec commands to the top of the file. So this should be the one you want if you run it from the SD card. The default is pen plotter format.

One side effect is that if you try to reimport a pen plotter file it will now be offset from the origin by the machines home positions. So if you plan to export and reimport use the cnc version instead.

I now also send the extra gcodes you mention to the arduino it should not hurt to set the units and mode to absolute.

Another idea: It's always good practice to insert a comment header at the beginning of the gcode to remind you settings, position, etc!

Thanks a lot. I will try it soon.
What version of repetier are you using for this project? 0.91 or 0.92?

Thanks!!!!
Patricio

Edited: 0.91 sorry