MachineApp Path Following - User Guide

Overview

The following is a comprehensive user guide for the configuration and operation of the Path Following MachineApplication.

In this guide, you will learn how to:

• Define your Path Following Machine based on your MachineLogic configuration
• Upload a GCode File
• Arrange your GCode file(s) within your workspace
• Create a new Path Following Application and augment it with custom behavior
• Run your Path Following Application

Prerequisites

●      You have configured your machine in the MachineLogic “Configuration” page, e.g.:

●      Afterward, navigate to the “Manual Control” tab on the top bar to ensure that your actuators are behaving as expected.
●      When everything looks correct,  select the MachineApps tab on the top bar to begin the Path Following configuration process.

Available MachineApps Page

When you first enter into the “MachineApps” tab, you will be shown a list of the available MachineApps. Select Start on the “Path Following” option:


You will then be brought to the first step: Machine Parameters.

Machine Parameters

In the Machine Parameters view, you will map your MachineLogic configuration onto your Path Following MachineApp. The reason for this step is as follows:

You will upload  files that define some 2D or 3D path. Within a  file, you will find commands like G0 X100 Y200 Z300. This tells the Path Following Machine to move to point (100, 200, 300). Unfortunately, we cannot predict which of your actuators corresponds to X, Y, and Z, so we need you to provide us with this information. We will also ask you to provide the dimensions of your workspace.

When you first arrive in the Machine Parameters view, you will be greeted by an empty configuration. To begin your Machine Parameters, select Create a machine parameter in the center of the page.

A modal window will appear where you will see three inputs. In this step, map the actuators from the MachineLogic configuration to the axes defined by your .

For each letter in your  file (X, Y, and Z), you will map a single actuator from your MachineLogic configuration. You must map a minimum of 1 actuator and a maximum of 3. If you are only doing 2D path following, you would map only X and Y, leaving Z as “Not Present”. In our example, we will map all 3 axes:

Once satisfied with your selection, select Jog axes to test that you’ve mapped the correct actuators to the correct X, Y, and Z axes.
 
When satisfied, close the Jog Axes modal if it is still open and select Next in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

In the following step, you will define your Workspace Dimensions. The “workspace” is defined as the maximum travel distance along each axis.

TIP: A great way to find this value is to go to the Manual Control tab. For each axis, send the axis to home and then to end. Record the current position of the axis. That value should be entered in this screen.