DIY- CNC Embroidery Machine

[benjon]

you dont understand i refered to this:http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showpo...8&postcount=62
My ask was is somebody know a program that can do this kind of embroidery,and to work with home made embroidry like factorargento had one
(btw my sewing machine is....yes of course singer ..same model like factor argento had}

[blackbeard52]

For creating code, start with a image file and strip it to the colors you want for a given item. Force it to black (for fill) and white (for background). Run and Image to Gcode software (included with EMC other versions should be available as well). If you need additional colors or need to add thread (some known point) invoke a toolchange to swap bobbins.

Why not use Z values to run the needle motor speed. This way as you approach the edges, smaller Z's slow the "spindle".

As far as I know there is no conversion programs to read data created from embroidery programs like the ones you mentioned.... they are usually propriety to the machine... however the designs are just bmp or jpeg pictures and can be stipped down like described above

Bob

[BMG]

As for code, I am suggesting using Gcode and standard programs such as EMC or Mach or similar programs to execute the work.

Stitches after all are simply vectors.

The question is whether along a given vector will you continuously stitch or only stitch at the ends. That would be the hard part.

As for color changes, treat them as you would a tool change.

[lmlamb]

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that my cnc quilting machine project is now finished. I have completed testing and if it were not for the fact that the control board presented me with some very expensive smoke, I would not be writing this message. Anyway, I have another control board on order now and should have it in about two weeks or so. The quilter is extremely accurate and is fully programmable with DXF drawings. My only problem is that I have to edit the files to remove the lead in/out lines. If anyone has any recommendations on software to do that I would be eternally grateful. Khalid, I have found that using the stitch regulator with a relay attached to the spindle on/off function works great for the "hole". When the spindle is on, the needle runs and sews, when it is off, the needle goes to the neutral "up" position. I think I will be using that as a way to control the lead in/out stitches as well. I will have some photos and a movie when I get the new board installed. See you all next time.

Larry

[Switcher]

lmlamb,

Sounds great, can't wait to see what you built (photos & video)!

Any chance of you posting a machine build log, step by step?

[lmlamb]

Switcher,

I'll have a log of the build completed in a couple of weeks. For the time being, here a few photos of the construction with a bit of narrative.

The system is run using a small form factor HP desktop computer with windows XP pro, 1 Gigabytes of memory, and an 80 GB hard drive. The system speed is in excess of 2.16 gHz and fairly screams.

I am using Mach 3 v3.41 for the control software.

I hope you enjoy these preliminary photos.

[blackbeard52]

I must have issed the narrative and photos...

Bob

[lmlamb]

Sorry Bob, some how the photos didn't up load the right way. I'll try it again later. I am at work right now.

Larry

[bearwen]

lmlab,
I would like to see your build log and the photos and video as I have just ran across this post and this is interesting to me. I have built a few CNC machines and currentlly I am getting parts to build 2 new machines of good size (4'X4' and 4'X8') one for myself and one for my Uncle. Once I finish these builds I am thinking the mother-in-law (got lucky I like my in laws) would really enjoy a cnc quilter (plus i will keep my spot as favorite son in law)haha but really please put the info up for us to see especially your build log so i can figure out how to do this. I have a pretty good idea how I think it can be done but always nice to see what others have done that worked.

[lmlamb]

Bearwen,

Sorry about the delay getting back to you. You can find some of the photos I made of the quilter project, as well as a description of the project at the following location: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/...controller.jpg

I am still waiting for the new controller board to arrive. When it is here I'll complete the project and get back on track.

[lmlamb]

Sorry guys,

I guess I had a senior moment when I did my previous post. Sent you the wrong link.

Here is the correct link: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showg...er/153629/sl/l

[lmlamb]

Hey all,

I promised a Build Log for my CNC Quilter project, so here it is.

In March of 09, after reading a post on cnczone.com, I became interested in building a CNC Quilter after reading some posts by other members of this site.

My wife is the lucky owner of a Grace quilting table with a Husqvarna Viking Sewing/quilting machine. The table is 112 inches long and 24 inches wide. The sewing machine carriage is 24 inches long and approximately 12 inches wide, with 4 metal wheels with needle bearings mounted on each end to traverse the X axis (long) of the table. Also, there are two optical sensing wheels mounted in the same fasion, one on the Y axis of the carriage and one on the X axis. These optical sensors are tied to the stitch regulator which is further connected to the sewing machine via a option port on the end of the machine next to the power switch and cord. The stitch regulator is controlled by a simple handheld on/off switch which is activated prior to sewing. NOTE: This switch is to be later replaced with a solid state relay controlled by the controller board mist/flood control using the M8 and M9 command.

Since the majority of the build is complete with the purchase of the quilting machine, the only design work is in designing and building the mounts for the motors, traction cables and cable mounts. Locating the correct pulleys for the motors proved to be a challenge. However, I found that CONRAD electronics here in Germany had the necessary pulleys in stock for a very reasonable price.

The actual assembly of the parts for the table was very straight forward. After purchasing a 24 inch by 3 inch piece of 1/8 inch thick aluminum bar, I cut out 4 2.5 inch by 5/8 inch brackets to mount the cable. The cable brackets were mounted on a convenient screw at each end of the x axis of the table and also on the ends of the Y axis of the carriage. (See photos at link: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showg...er/153629/sl/l).

Using small cable clamps I mounted the cable by placing a small turnbuckle at one end of the cable on the table X axis and one on the Y axis of the carriage.

The mounts for the motors are made of the same aluminum bar, and are mounted on 3/4 inch standoffs to eliminate the possible rubbing of the pulley against the table. The cable is wrapped 3 times on the X axis pulley and one time on the Y axis pulley. The mounts for the motors are are drilled and tapped to accept metal screws to complete the mounting of the motors and the final construction of the mount. (see photos at the above link)

Electronics:

The controller is a Rockcliff 4 axis controller with a 12 volt 1 amp "brick" power supply. Here it must be noted that any power supply capable of providing the required voltage necessary to power the board and motors can be used (I experimented with a PC power supply that worked very well). I just happened to have two NEMA 17 .8 degree motors that run on 12 volts 1 amp. I tuned the board to supply just under 1 amp to each of the motors, and pulled an extra 12 volt line from the power connection to power a cooling fan. The board is mounted in a custom cut plastic hobby box with a 3.5 mm receptacle for the power plug. The wiring for the motors consists of small guage speaker wire of low resistance, which is twisted to give a non-mechanicle grounding effect to provide spurious noise filtering. Each motor wire is over 18 feet in length and has a carbon-torroid filter at each end as well. The motor wiring is connected to two RJ-11 connectors on the carriage and two on the electronics box to facilitate plugging in the cable and/or removal of the motors or controller board without disturbing the wiring. (See photos)

Software:

The software that is being used to control the whole assembly is Mach3 with a variety of other software to create gcode and dxf files. At this point, I must say that Mach3 is a very good system for this project, especially if I could find someone with the ability to design screens that would compliment this project and make it easier to operate by my wife. I am not that adept at making screens or I would do it myself. Also, I think that if I could find someone with a CNC milling machine or router/plasma cutter, I would be able to design better more attractive mounts for the motors/axis/cables. I think that if the motor mounts were made of a thicker aluminum bar, say 1/4 inch, the whole system would be stronger and could handle a larger more powerful motor set.

Finally, the parts list:

2-NEMA17 stepper motors (Lin Engineering) $7.00 for both.
1-plastic hobby box (Arcade electronics) $4.00
1-1/8 inch thick by 2.5 inch by 24 inch aluminum bar. Any major hardware store chain $10.00
Assorted metal screws (on hand)
1 spool of 35 lb polyurethane coated stainless steel fishing wire (Bass Pro-Shops) $24.00
adequate length of wiring (speaker wire on hand)
4 packs of SnakeSkin wire covering (Arcade Electronics) $12.00
1-Rockcliff 4 axis controller board. (Rockcliff Machine Inc) $148.00
1 Mach3 controller software package. (freeware download until purchased)
Necessary tools and equipment.

The total cost of this project including the mailing fees is just under $300.00. Total build time involved, including waiting for parts is just about 9 months.

Now, that beats the devil out of buying an expensive system that would require a technician to set up and probably would break down 20 or 30 times before the wife really learns how to use it.

I have enjoyed this project immensely and am available to lend advises to anyone who asks.

Thanks for the support guys, you are awesome.

Larry

[lmlamb]

BenJon,

There are a number of software packages around that are designed for embroidery work, and as a matter of fact, Singer uses one called embird embroidery digitizing software. Do a search on embroidery digitizing software and you will find there is an abundance out there on the web.

[Khalid]

Larry good work, but i see automatic stitch controller at the back of your machine... This is what we want to design and put the cost to lower side... the Cruise controller comes into range of 500 US dollar+Shipping... If you have atutomatic stitch regulator installed with some encoders at X and Y, then CNCieng the setup is peace of cake..

What we want to do here to make that stitch regulator our selves with some innovative way to put the cost down and make the whole setup available as an open source open hardware basis..

Thanks and Best Regards

[lmlamb]

Larry good work, but i see automatic stitch controller at the back of your machine... This is what we want to design and put the cost to lower side... the Cruise controller comes into range of 500 US dollar+Shipping... If you have atutomatic stitch regulator installed with some encoders at X and Y, then CNCieng the setup is peace of cake..

What we want to do here to make that stitch regulator our selves with some innovative way to put the cost down and make the whole setup available as an open source open hardware basis..

Thanks and Best Regards

Khalid,

You are right about the cruise controller. I don't have a clue who makes the device. it was purchased with the sewing machine, and again your are right, the cost was about $500. I can tell you this, it operates at 5 volts DC, and is plugged into an option port on the back of the sewing machine. I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to disassemble the case and see what the circuitry consists of. The controller has a pot that causes the stitch to lengthen or shorten, and it receives it's movement signals from two optical tracking wheels, one on the X axis and one on the Y axis. These ride on the track that the carriage is on in both axis. I think that developing a cruise controller of the same design would not be the best way to go as it is patented. I have another cruise controller, the original one that came with the sewing machine, that we might be able to examine for clues. My wife will probably allow me to look into that one and not the one on the machine. Have to keep her happy about this, you know! I'll get some pictures of the original controller and post them on the zone. Plus a shot of the option port and the optical encoders as well. I really think that the cruise controller can be manufactured for a considerably less cost than what I paid.

Take a look at the site later on this evening (Germany time), I should have the photos up by then.

All the best to you and your family,

[Khalid]

Thanks Larry..You can contact me engr_khalid_khattak (@) yahoo.com for further work on stitch regulator.

Now what i am trying to do right now, that i will use Arduino to control the stitches... Following is my reply to the fellow members at Arduino Forum and following is my thread
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/...1260432183/0#3
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Hi Pauland Raygun..Thanks for your effective insight on the stitch regulator thing... Its good to know the whole thing is possible with Arduino with little difficulty and motivation from you... NRaygun, Its not difficult for me to move the machine on the carriage...These type of machine are not that heavy..I have built my CNC machine and the Y-axis Gantry is 3 times heavier than that sewing machine, and the Y-axis Gantry is moved with 200 Oz-in Nema 23 Stepper Motor at 70 inch/minute (I have not used Arduino on my CNC).. However Arduino can do much more than that..
Now as i earlier said that my interest is only to get feedback from the carriage by the help of encoder and then make a SKETCH in the Arduino to control the DC Motor on the sewing machine..



For more insight you can see following of my thread at CNCzone
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57404

Now I can divide the Project in Following to be easily understand by all of You

1- I will make a X/Y carriage similar to the picture in following Link with MDF and cut by my home made CNC Machine (Drawings are in progress in CAD software)


2- In the picture you see the machine is carried by two carriages X/Y.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...7&d=1231560857...
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...0&d=1231561331...


3- For creating the ART i can use any CAM software ( I have Vectric Vcarve Pro) to produce Gcode that will be run by Mach3 Machine controller software. I will create the Gcode by using PROFILE CUT Option in the CAM software on any design vectors.

4- Currently i can send the Gcode to Mach3 and drive the machine but i am stuck into the stitch regulator thing... This is what i need to control with Arduino.
Some of my initial experimentation to get an idea for mounting the sewing machine on my Home made DIY and some of the results.. I have drawn PENTAGON.. but the stitches worse

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...8&d=1231515169...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...9&d=1231515169...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...2&d=1231515169...
5- What am I thinking is to put the rotary encoder on the carriage slides so that when the carriage moves the rotary encoder also rotate like a wheel... Now i will have two rotary encoder one on X-carriage and One on Y-carriage... What i understand so far about the above professional cruise controller is that it compares the output of both encoders and generate the signal which ever is move fast....This higher encoder rotation will be the input to the Arduino...


6- Now I have two options:
A) To use the same DC Motor on the sewing machine and PWM and convert the output to that DC Motor as a Voltage..as Raygun suggested... For me, i so far understand that the Machine Paddle control the Voltages given to the Machine Motor to move fast or slow... When you press the paddle harder the machine run fast and vice versa..

B) I can install a seperate DC Motor to give the input of encoder and that DC motor rotate the machine wheel to regulate equal length stitch..

7-Now to experiment, we can see How many rotation of sewing machine Wheel require to One needle IN and Out (One stitch)..From their we can get the idea of How many rotation of encoder will be require to rotate the wheel to get the ONE stitch..This programming can be done in Arduino..



So now I will use the stepper motor to drive the machine with Mach3 and a stepper controller...On this motion of carriage i will give instruction to sewing machine wheel motor to regulate the stitch and for this i will use Arduino and Two Encoders..


Sorry for my bad english... and Please tell me is it possible in arduino sketch????
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks and Best Regards

[Khalid]

To check wether the cruise controller can run on all machine..i correspond with the sale personnel and got following reply...

Hello,
Unfortunately it is not compatible with all machines. There is a list on
www.quilterscruisecontrol.com on the main page on the bottom left. The
QCC is not compatible with the Singer 4220.
Thanks,
Callie

I have few options to make the cruise controller for all types of machine that having AC driven motor...

Regards

[Khalid]

Okay.. One more thought, let we install the two knobes on the X/Y carriages..As you all know the PWM stuff , you rotate a knobe and motor run in direction following the knob movement..

Now consider you scalled both knobes for X and Y carriages Length..For example The X knob if in the middle of small X-carriage will output the same value as if Y-knob is middle in the Y-carriage length..

We can add gears to take the knob one full rotation through out the length of carriages and scal them equally..

Now when knob moves they will give us some signals and we can then take the hyp. of triangle and then can manage to program the arduino to control a mechanism that will press the speed control pad up or down.

Any thoughts??

[Khalid]

I have made some pseudo code to control this cruise controller with Arduino Microcontroller (Its Low cost alternative)..

Last night i studied some more and made a simple pseudocode...

Consider we have two potentiometer at both carriage X and Y.
consider both Pots divided into 0~5V ( corresponding PWM 0~255) we can map..

To get the value of Hyp. of triangle the pseudocode..


//Initialization of variables

hyp=0
Old_PWM_A=0
New_PWM_A=0
Old_PWM_B=0
New_PWM_B=0
Constant_RPM_Wheel= 5 //lets suppose this is initial rough value
//This value will later fine tuned, but for the time now consider the //sewing machine Paddle is pressed at this when 'hyp=0' or there is //no movement in carriage.

/* When the Machine carriage will start movement (manual or Computer controlled) we will convert the Previous New_PWM values into Old_PWM values */

New_PWM_A= Some value we will get when Pot. change value
Old_PWM_A= previously stored New_PWM_value at A
New_PWM_B=Some value we will get when Pot. change value
Old_PWM_B= previously stored New_PWM_value at B

Now calculating the value of 'hyp' variable and put some DELAY
hyp= SQRT(Sqr(New_PWM_A-Old_PWM_A)+sqr(New_PWM_B-Old_PWM_B))

This hyp value will be scaled or Mapped
If this hyp!=0 then we can run another DC motor that will press the paddle foot with simple mechanism.

[Khalid]

Now I have Two Ideas to control this stitch regulator type of thing... Later we will add some Photo-transistor and Photo-Eye Lamp to check whether thread is broken or Not,...and its in my mind and easy if we regulate the stitch

I have Kept Three Options and may be these options Grows..Because once started I never ever want any failure and loss of my hard-earned budgeted amount

OPTION-1: CONTROLLING THE WHOLE MACHINE WITH MACH3
For this I have Two scenario
a) Stitch control with the help of Mach3 and VFD
b) Stitch Control with the help of especiall Gcode and encoder at Wheel

OPTION-2:
Using Arduino, to contol the stitch length whereas the rest of the machine controlled by Mach3


For OPTION-1:
I attacked both the options, Using VFD and the especiall Gcode... For Encoder I recently purchased with dirt price Inkjet printer from which i will use Rotary Encoder.... I am planning to Place the rotary encoder on Flywheel so that i get One pulse/Revolution or say 1stitch per revolution... This will then be used to control the X/Y carriage with a MacroPump on which i already have some study and seems Plausable to me..As we know that the normal Sewing Machine having a Foot Paddle, You press hard and they run fast... By CNC'ing we can make use of this foot paddle.. Just think, You are giving command to a Mechanism via Mach3 to press the foot paddle hard/Light... This command will come from Mach3 in the Form of SSO as i earlier mentioned...

The Option b) is little more interesting... I will happy if someone a programmer can join us in that... Listen carefully and study each word.. We have to make a Postprocessor for a normal Gcode for this.. It will be a simple programm in any Language, for me i will use Visual Basic... However i have no time to make this right now, i need volunteer...

Normally the Gcode for a profile pass is like
G01 X0 Y0
G01 X1 Y3
G01 X12 Y4
--
--

We require a simple program that will take that GCode, Parse it and add a Z command in it... the idea

Hypotenuse= SQRT(dx^2+ dy^2) where in above Gcode dx=X1-X0 and dy =Y3-Y0
We will then divide this hypotenuse by ONE stitch Length, lets say Length of stitch=2mm

Now the code will be like that

G01 X0 Y0
G01 X1 Y3 Z2 ( Z=1.58 so i will round it to 2)---> It will make 2 stitches in this line
G01 X12 Y4 Z6 ( Z=5.52 so i will round it to 6)--> It will make 6 stitchs in this line
--
--
--


Any Comments?

PS:
I am attaching a simplified Post processor that will post always in G01, will post both X and Y coordinates (it will help us parsing and calculating the final toolpath), Removed FeedRate and Spindle speed for time now..
This postprocessor can be used in both Vectric and Artcam or any other CAM software and will be used for 2D Profiling option because I truncated all the Z-moves