New Roughing Code is Working
I spent most of today on a plane so I had time to get the new roughing code working pretty well. Below is a screen shot of the new roughing code in a usable state:
It worked so well, given that it’s new code, that the first thing I did when I checked into the hotel was to backup the code online to make sure I won’t loose it. Once I came up with a strategy for how to implement it the code came together more quickly than I could have hoped.
The new code has eliminated all air cutting that existed before and replaced it with a zig-zag pocket algorithm that is much more efficient. The outlines of the pockets and islands are cut prior to the fill area and are always ordered to climb cut for consistency. This code can be ported to the waterline machining after it’s been tested more since the ability to define the cutting direction of a waterline pass has been a frequent request.
I’ve got a little more code to write to ensure that all of the internals setting remain consistent no matter what settings are chosen by the user but it’s nearly there. I would expect a release within a week or so.
I’ve got some additional ideas about how to make it better but I’m going to keep those to myself and see what everyone thinks first.
Also, as I’ve been reviewing the UI for the roughing section I’ve realized that I probably shouldn’t have put a spindle direction option there. The vast majority of people use right-hand tools so there’s no need to clutter the page with a rarely-used option. It will likely be removed in the next release.
Roughing Progress
Just to prove that I’m making progress on the roughing algorithm-
I had planned to do something more like an offset pocket algorithm but as I’ve been using different commercial programs that have a similar routine I’ve seen how many problems even the big CAM vendors have. Why they allow such a critical part of their program to go out flawed is beyond me. Since you can generally go back and fix the output by changing the outline or stepover it probably isn’t a big limiter for the more advanced users that they target. Since MeshCAM is a tool targeted to intermediate users I need it to be more reliable.
The above shot shows progress but it’s probably only about 10% of the overall work. I mainly wanted to test the approach I had to make sure it’s valid. So far so good.
Build 5694 Released
Build 5694 has been released to http://www.grzsoftware.com/v2dl.php . There are a number of fixes including many for the 4–axis jobs.
- Added option to change image file in image size dialog.
- Fixed Black is Z-/Black is Z+ option in image size dialog.
- Cannot execute a command if another is already running. (Jeff D.)
- Fixed bug where first move in a 4-axis program had a feedrate of 0.0.
- Each index of the 4th axis now generates a comment for those who’d like to search and replace to generate a machine pause instead of an ‘A’ move.
- No longer Work-in-Progress. Since V2 is never likely to be stamped “Done” I’m going to just go by build numbers.
- Fixed a big bug where the first index in a 4-axis program would be written after every rotation.
- Added 4th axis option to output each setup as a separate file.
- Added option to center geometry along axis-of-rotation for 4-axis jobs.
- New rendering code to draw a 4-axis job.
- Changes to the Retract Height command to make them logical for a 4-axis job.
- Fixed bug is “Draw Full Program Zero” option.
- Fixed “What are borders?” help link in 2-side stock dialog.
- Run Script command will now set the working directory to the script directory.
As always, let me know what you find.
Internet Explorer 6 comment posting problem fixed
There was a problem on the new site here where IE6 didn’t show a “Submit” button when you were ready to post a comment. I found the code, CSS again, and removed it so the problem seems fixed. Sorry to those who tried to comment but couldn’t.
Blog Wonkiness
I was told by a user that this new page rendered wrong in their browser. I hadn’t had any problems on Firefox2 and IE7 but when I loaded an old VMWare image with IE6 I was able to get the page to sow in IE6 in a readable way. I haven’t had time to track down the offending CSS problem but I at least found a way to get the page to display.
If you come to the website and it looks wrong then email me– you may have a browser that I forgot to test it on.
4-Axis Retracts
In the course of witing fixing some 4–axis bugs I had a chance to redo some old code and remove a bunch of unused files. Removing code is one of my favorite activities.
I also had to redo the Retract Height command since many options are not relevant for a 4–axis setup (Program Zero + Dist and Geometry Max + Dist). Since the stock is spinning around the axis it can potentially collide with the tool anywhere the cylinder formed by the spinning stock. Since it will be easy for users to forget this I’m just going to have the option to put the retract height above that cylinder.
4th Axis update
I’ve spent the last two days fixing some 4–axis problems:
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Added 4th axis option to output each setup as a separate file.
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Added option to center geometry along axis-of-rotation for 4-axis jobs.
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New rendering code to draw a 4-axis job
The new rendering code is shown below. A chuck is drawn in grey with each machining angle represented by a yellow line. The chuck is dynamically sized to show the bounding cylinder of the stock. I threw in a red line to show the x-axis which is the center of rotation. It’s not as clear as it could be so I expect to try some other ideas in the next few days. Comments are welcome.
No more Work-in-Progress
The next release of MeshCAM will drop the “Work-in-Progress” label and become MeshCAM 2 Build XXXX. I don’t think V2 will ever be labeled “Done” until I move up to MeshCAM 3 because I’m about to make a big change that will hurt the stability. The current MeshCAM codebase is pretty stable and all of the changes for the next few months should not risk a drop in stability.
MeshCAM will probably move to version 3 with the new roughing algorithm since that’s a big big change. It will be a free upgrade to all.
In the mean time I’ve been fixing some 4th axis bugs that cause Mach3 to lockup. I’m going to try to get all of the known 4th axis problems done ASAP with release within a week.
Short-term priorities
Since there’s been a number of discussions lately about when the most important new features are to various people I thought I’d list what the official priority is:
- Fix bugs in Art that would delay it’s release.
- Fix bugs in 4th axis code that would delay marking it done-for-now.
- Continue working on new roughing algorithm.
I still have the background work being done on Zmap-free toolpaths but I think a bigger gain will be realized by working on the roughing code.
New Blog Page
I got tired of the old software I had for the news page so I upgraded to a more current package. The old pages are still available at http://www.grzsoftware.com/news.php . I hope to post more frequently now since the software is much easier to use.
The look of the page is a little off right now but I hope to fix that over time. I prefer to work on MeshCAM rather than the web site so I’ll put it off for now.