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  1. #21
    Community Moderator Al_The_Man's Avatar
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    If you watch VS2008 Standard can be had on ebay for under $100.
    Marked Not for Resale, but full edition.
    Al.

    CNC, Mechatronics Integration and Custom Machine Design

    “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
    Albert E.


  2. #22
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    What does this mean

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Machine Manager CNC and Automation Framework-mm3-error-jpg  


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    Member TomKerekes's Avatar
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    Yes a number of us reported this on the Dynomotion Yahoo Group.

    Apparently Brad didn't realize his code was requiring a special OpenGL 2.0 Video card to run.

    He is working on a fix. Give him some time.

    Regards

    Regards
    TK http://dynomotion.com


  4. #24
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    Thank you.
    No hurry still tuning motors.
    Just wanted to see what it was all about.



  5. #25
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Default OpenGL issue resolved

    OK,

    Lets try this again....

    I have tested this on a netbook with basic Intel graphics and an Intel Atom processor with good results.

    The default layout was created on a machine with highres and widescreen, while the controls are self-scaling there are limits... So if you are using low resolution and/or on a 4:3 monitor you may need to stretch things around a little.

    Download here:

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/cnct...I.zip/download

    Thanks for any feedback,

    Brad Murry



  6. #26
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Default Bumpy road....

    I just refreshed the install package at sourceforge,

    I had the window as hidden for debugging puroposes in the install but now the GUI will show.


    Sorry about that....


    -Brad



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    Hey Brad!

    MM3 Installed properly and opens as it should :-) Very impressive looking interface!

    I know you have worked really hard on this, so I hate to "ask for more", but...is there any chance you could post a "getting started with MM3 guide"? Just some salient points about the various "View Items" would be great. Or, if you would prefer, I could simply post a series of questions about each "View Item" and you could respond in quoted text thus generating an impromptu FAQ Getting Started Guide....

    Thanks for sharing MM3, I look forward to figuring it out and using it!

    Fish



  8. #28
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Hello Fish,

    Thanks for giving it a shot.

    To say documentation is lacking would be an understatement for sure.

    It is a good idea to break it into the different controls, I had not considered that.

    Maybe I should try to commit to at lease one explained control per day.

    The configuration editor is likely the most important place to start, its all just pretty UI without a valid config.


    -Brad Murry



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    Hello again Brad,
    Got MM3 installed on Mill machine PC. And docked,moved, resized to get it in my 15" lcd First thing i might ask is where and how to start configuring MM3 to control machine? Go slow please

    Thanks,
    Troy



  10. #30
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Default Configuration Docs Overview, Rough Draft

    Hello,

    Machine Manager has a large and growing feature set and all is undocumented.

    I have started compiling some documentation and in time there will be a detailed manual.

    The logical place to start was the Configuration Editor and I have just completed the first version of the overview. I will eventually create tutorials for using each tab, but hopefully this will provide an OK start.



    -Brad Murry

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Machine Manager CNC and Automation Framework-configuration-editor-overview-pdf  


  11. #31
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    Default Machine Manager III Beta Update Available

    Hello,

    A new MM build is available here::

    Download Machine Manager from SourceForge.net


    There were some minor bug fixes and performance enhancements. Some of the GUI controls were updated for improved scalability and stretching. This should make it more usable on lower resolution displays.


    -Brad Murry



  12. #32
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    Thanks for the document Brad. Ill let you know how it goes.
    Troy



  13. #33
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Default Docs

    No problem, I hope it gets you, Fish and others a little further along(at least until I get more docs done).


    It is very important to remember that Machine Manager is meant to be a general purpose machine automation application/framework. The G-code interpreter is just one of the many components. What this means(especially for people using if for CNC machines) is that there may be a LOT of extra settings that are never used.

    I hope the extra settings does not scare too many people away. Unfortunately it seems that capability and complexity go hand and hand so to offer a really flexible system requires that I also offer a complex one.


    Good luck, let me know if there are any specific questions/roadblocks that I can address.

    -Brad Murry



  14. #34
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    You may also notice that there are some Dynomotion Data (Axis, Axis Group, and Interpreter) that is not mentioned in the documentation.

    I have tried to maintain the exisitng DynoMotion nomenclature so hopefully the Machine Manager version of the settings are easily recognizable from their counterparts that are found in KMotionEXE, init.c files and the existing DynoMotion documentation.

    Do let me know if any are unclear and I will be happy to clarify.

    -Brad Murry



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    Not to open another can of worms, but one thing that would be nice is if there was a install of MM3 that only has the configuring options needed to run a Basic 3 axis CNC mill.This would help to get machines up and going. And as user gets familiar with MM3 than they could add other options as needed.

    But as i said this would more than likely open up another can of worms, with updates and trouble shooting software on your end.

    Troy



  16. #36
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Default 3 axis setup

    Hello Troy,

    I did make an attempt to get it mostly working for a three axis mill/router setup.

    Are you suggesting to hide all the controls except G-Code specific ones? if so it would be pretty easy to save that screen layout and offer it as a separate download.

    I guess we would then only need the G-Code Axis Manager, the G-Code Path Viewer, the G-Code Console and the Configuration Editor.


    There will still be some very simple scripts to build in for to link the your existing C programs (for things like homing). But they are quite trivial one-liners. All axis and Interpreter initialization is handled in the Configuration Editor(no need for Init.c unless you really want to)



    -Brad Murry



  17. #37
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    No. I was talking more about all the Configuration options. Only have the ones that is needed to get axes moving. Like me for instance, iam trying to get jog action but dont know the steps to take to get MM3 configured correctly. I have only used Mach3, so i dont know how to configure MM3.

    Thanks,
    Troy



  18. #38
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    OK, I see.

    Since I cannot make special simplified interfaces, I guess that I need to put together a quick-start guide that has all steps required to setup a simple/typical 3 axis CNC machine.

    I'm on it.


    -Brad Murry



  19. #39
    Member bradodarb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sdavenport View Post
    Hi Brad,

    Many of our HMI's have an embedded cad engine, VectorDraw Drawing components 3D and 2D ActiveX CAD CAM, that I use for 3d graphics and some math. The operator will scan a barcode and the job data will be sent to the cad engine where the operator will inspect and possibly modify the lines and arcs. After he is satisfied a dxf file will be created and another utillity extracts the vector data and sends it to the Galil. All have an automation direct PLC with ethernet interface and a Galil with Ethernet interface. The PLC controls and monitors safety devices, motor starters, process variables etc.. Some of the machines run several days on a single job without stopping and when there is a problem the PC calls or emails the operator.

    After writing this and giving it more thought, I suppose MM would work although it would take a fair amount of rewriting my vb code. We have some tools like a laser etcher and stencil cutters that it would work as is on. Can MM be used without an interface? How much are you going to charge for it?

    Shannon
    That sounds right up the alley of what MM is meant to do. I have embedded the excellent Eyeshot graphics engine from devdept::

    https://www.devdept.com/products/eyeshot/gallery/

    for complex cadcam support.

    __________________________________________________ ____

    MM can certainly be used without an interface(it is designed specifically to provide application agnostic / standalone support), though you can **easily import your own interface at runtime. In fact MM does not know/care about the currently installed interface as it is also loaded at runtime

    **Has to be a WPF user control...

    __________________________________________________ ____

    I have Galil libraries already (for MM2 which I use at work for a large variety of machines) and the libraries will convert to MM3 quite easily. I would have to see how the PLCs interact(I'm assuming modbus or something)

    __________________________________________________ ____

    MM3 is beta right now and is completely free. I originally had it open-source for about 8 months but I recently locked it down due to lack of collaboration interest. Another huge motivation for locking it down is now I can incorporate commercial libraries like eyeshot for example and a few others.

    The unpublished feature set is huge and growing, as is the hours of coding so there will eventually be a cost associated and it will likely be broken down for express(CNC only), pro(everthing) and enterprise(pro + source). I don't see it completely coming out of beta for 4-6 months so it will continue to be free at least until then.

    Contributing beta testers will always be entitled to free updates, forever. When I say contributing, I mean those brave souls who are actively trying to get MM working for their applications and provide me with feedback/bug reports.


    Regards,

    Brad Murry



  20. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by bradodarb View Post
    OK, I see.

    Since I cannot make special simplified interfaces, I guess that I need to put together a quick-start guide that has all steps required to setup a simple/typical 3 axis CNC machine.

    I'm on it.


    -Brad Murry
    Hello Brad,
    Any progress? Or is this put on the back burner. ( I know, cause i have more back burners than i should.

    Thanks,
    Troy



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