[btingle]

I like this project because the Vpanel download is a bitch and a half to find, and this is a nice open source alternative. But it was missing some crucial features, so I have implemented them here.

The jogging works like vpanel- a single press moves it by the pulse amount (options being 5mm, 1mm, 0.1mm, 0.01mm, like vpanel) with the 5mm pulse amount correspond to max feed when held down, and corresponding decreases in feed with decreasing pulse size. The old mode can be toggled back by pressing "J" in case the new jogging behavior is too spooky.

The "b" key now initiates the Z-probe cycle (with a "y" confirmation dialogue), have confirmed this to be working correctly.
I thought at first the "move-to" feature was only working in the machine coordinate system, but further investigation revealed it just straight up didn't do anything- so I had it fixed. Have tested that it works now.

So, to summarize:

Jogging
z-probing
fixed move-to

Cheers!

[shuckc]

HI @btingle thanks for this. I have soldered up a replacement cable for my Z-height probe so should be able to verify it works.

I have not yet tried to decode the stored Z-height sensor height (14mm?) I will try to get that figured out in the preferences dialog code.

[btingle]

HI @btingle thanks for this. I have soldered up a replacement cable for my Z-height probe so should be able to verify it works.

I have not yet tried to decode the stored Z-height sensor height (14mm?) I will try to get that figured out in the preferences dialog code.

Mine is 15.1mm high. Calipers work well enough here :)

Edit: oh I see- you need to store this value (whatever it is measured as) in the machine's configuration so it knows how to set zero... Did not implement that yet!

[shuckc]

The way the existing move command work is:

• Press [C] to choose coordinate space (other than MCS). This updates the position displays to be relative to that coordinate system's origin.
• Jog to a foreign location using arrow keys so X/Y/Z/A is showing a non-zero value.
• Press [M] to open move dialog, then select axis, then enter.

The machine sets those axis back to zero in the selected coordinate system.
If you are already at the origin, then sure those moves do nothing.

What is your model/firmware version shown on first connect?

[btingle]

The way the existing move command work is:

• Press [C] to choose coordinate space (other than MCS). This updates the position displays to be relative to that coordinate system's origin.
• Jog to a foreign location using arrow keys so X/Y/Z/A is showing a non-zero value.
• Press [M] to open move dialog, then select axis, then enter.

The machine sets those axis back to zero in the selected coordinate system. If you are already at the origin, then sure those moves do nothing.

What is your model/firmware version shown on first connect?

I was attempting to follow that procedure- but no matter which coordinate system I selected or what coordinates I set move-to wouldn’t do anything. So I had my chatgippity intercept move-tos from the actual vpanel application to understand how to fix.

don’t know the model/firmware- probably mismatched from yours. Will check next time I’m at the machine.

[btingle]

16:10:36.938 INFO rollingmill.usb: MDX-40A link bus=1 addr=2 serial='A' interface=0
16:10:36.941 INFO rollingmill.usb: GET_DEVICE_ID: ·6MFG:Roland;CMD:RML-1;MDL:MDX-40A;DES:Roland MDX-40A;
16:10:36.948 INFO rollingmill.machine: Machine endian confirmed (sig=0x1234)
16:10:36.952 INFO rollingmill.machine: Firmware ID: V170;B210

Here is the device ID/firmware.

[shuckc]

Looks like you are on a newer firmware 1.7, mine is 1.5:

16:50:21.926  INFO     rollingmill.usb: MDX-40A link bus=1 addr=4 serial='A' interface=0
16:50:21.926  INFO     rollingmill.usb: GET_DEVICE_ID: ·6MFG:Roland;CMD:RML-1;MDL:MDX-40A;DES:Roland MDX-40A;
16:50:21.928  INFO     rollingmill.machine: Machine endian confirmed (sig=0x1234)
16:50:21.935  INFO     rollingmill.machine: Firmware ID: V150;B210
16:50:21.936  INFO     rollingmill.machine: Axis scaling: X=100.000% Y=100.000% Z=100.000% A=100.000%
16:50:21.937  INFO     rollingmill.machine: Rotary angle correction: P1(X=50.000 Y=0.000 Z=0.000) P2(X=250.000 Y=0.000 Z=0.000) mm

I wonder if Gcode/RML/Auto mode makes a difference, and/or the workspaces being used. I will have a play around with the Z0 sensor code and see how it works.

[shuckc]

@btingle PR #8 took your Z-origin sensor probe work and gave it a bit of polish, added ability to read/set the probe height (mine measures 15.030mm). I've verified in hardware that this round trips, and the offset works for the Gcode workspaces too, nice way to set the machine.

Meanwhile I have merged code to re/write the 'machine config' ie. NC mode, RML-1 mode or Auto, plus the NC settings under the n keypress, and report the settings in the startup log messages.

The jogging changes are a bit tricky as I sometimes use the mill for manual cutting work, where I slow the feed right down to cutting speed, start the spindle with s, <, >, and just eyeball the slot or whatever using 50mm, 10mm, 1mm increments until it's cut, lower Z and cut back the other way -- to save writing G code. This is a bit too tricky to do with the feed rate combined with the jog step, as it can't cut the longer moves at higher speed.

I've still got no clue why the 'Move To' dialog doesn't work for you, I will do a bit more testing. Thanks for your kind words.