Open PNP installation and setup problem

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bobgee...@gmail.com

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Feb 18, 2017, 11:43:38 AM2/18/17
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Hello everyone.

I have recently finished my mechanical build and just got all the wiring finished.

Today I downloaded openpnp and am following the instructions here as a guide:

https://github.com/openpnp/openpnp-openbuilds/wiki/Build-Instructions

So, I ran the installer for the latest stable 64 bit version (windows).

I started openpnp to create the config files.

I copied the machine.xml file from the download link (as per step 3 in openpnp configuration instructions in link above).

If I try to start openpnp now I get the following error:



See the full machine.xml:




Anyone now what the problem is here?

Also, next step is to set this config for my controller. I will use smoothieboard so I will set port-name="com8" as that is the port for my smoothie. Anyone know what baud I want?

Many thanks!




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Jason von Nieda

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Feb 18, 2017, 12:06:50 PM2/18/17
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Howdy,

That config has gotten out of date with all the recent changes. I'll add a reminder to myself to update it.

In the mean time, just remove the <job-planner> and <job-processor> lines from your machine.xml and you should be good to go. 

Baud should be 115200. Note that you can do that from the GUI. 

As a side note: Since the OpenBuilds machine was designed a lot has changed in OpenPnP. I no longer recommend using the OpenBuilds driver, but instead suggest using the GcodeDriver. My suggestion would be to go through the Setup and Calibration guide and configure the machine from scratch: https://github.com/openpnp/openpnp/wiki/Setup-and-Calibration

Once you remove the two lines I mentioned the config should work fine, so it's okay if you don't want to do this right away, but in the long run it will be worth it since all future development is happening in the GcodeDriver and it will give you much more flexibility.

As I said above, I'll release a new machine.xml for that machine that includes GcodeDriver and all the currently recommended settings. You could use that as a starting point, but I personally think it's worth going through the guide as it will teach you a lot about the software and how it interacts with your machine.

Jason


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bobgee...@gmail.com

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Feb 18, 2017, 3:28:15 PM2/18/17
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Jason,

Thanks very much for the quick reply, and for writing all this amazing software in the first place of course!

If I take the option of going through the full guide, do I still use your smoothie config file from the old instructions?

Thanks again

Jason von Nieda

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Feb 18, 2017, 7:14:19 PM2/18/17
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You would start with a fresh config. Just delete (or back up) machine.xml and OpenPnP will create a basic config as a starting point.

Jason


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bobgee...@gmail.com

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Feb 19, 2017, 12:33:24 AM2/19/17
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Jason,

Thanks, I have deleted the folder and restarted openpnp to create a full suite of files.

My question was more about the config file for the smoothieboard itself, i.e. the file you put on the sdcard. Do I still use the same file from your openbuild instructions?

Many thanks


Jason von Nieda

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Feb 19, 2017, 9:52:40 AM2/19/17
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Oh yes, sorry, the config.txt has not changed.

Jason


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bobgee...@gmail.com

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Feb 20, 2017, 5:46:44 AM2/20/17
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Jason,

Thanks for confirming.

My wiring is a bit different to yours so I will have to modify the config on the smoothie a little.

In order to explain my differences I have knocked up some sketches.

I would appreciate if you, or others could give me some indicators if what I have done is correct.

I will start with your wiring diagram:



You use 4 solenoids in your machine, however I use the robotdigg solenoids in the arrangement below:



I also have my endstops (mix of opto and mechanical) arranged as follows:



Everything on my machine is 12V apart from the LEDs for the up and down vision, they are 24V and I have a separate PSU for them.

My current wiring looks like this:



For completeness and to aid the config discussion below, here is a reference pin map of the smoothieboard:



Ok, so looking at your config file (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openpnp/openpnp-openbuilds/develop/Smoothie/config) in sections:


Motors

Your motor wiring is the same as mine so don't need to mess with that, But I am curious, why do you invert some dir pins but not all?



The E1 dir pin is not inverted but all others are, is this correct? Oh wait, as I write this I think I realise. You have inverted this pin for motors which spin the wrong way, rather than re-wire the connectors correct?

Endstops

Looks like you have your Y endstop on the max but mine is on min. So, I do the following (and use a different header on the smoothieboard):

Change this (yours):



with this:



That seems simple enough. Do I need to do anything else? I note you have inverted the Z-min pin but not others. Is this correct for my setup?
I use cheap aliexpress opto endstops on X and Y, and use a decent mechanical switch on the Z, wiring shown in the slide further up the page.

I could just do a lot of trial and error, but I am very paranoid about driving my machine with the wrong setup. I am paranoid that if I get the endstops wrong and I drive it to home, it crashes and destroys some part of my machine. I was heavily reliant on good will of people overseas to send me bespoke laser cut parts and if I break one of those in this way, it will be difficult for me to source a replacement.


Vacuum and Solenoids

You have five blocks of lines here, one for each solenoid and one for the vac. I have two solenoids and one vac.

Do I simply put my S1 and S2 in place of your S1 and S3 (i.e. run without your S2 and S4), and change the pins to match my wiring?

Mine now looks like this:



LED Lighting

Your wiring has only one LED lighting switch and one block of lines as follows:


I have two sets of LEDs, one for up and one for down camera. Can openpnp control each separately, if so, do I make another block like above and put different M??? commands in place? If so, are these M??? commands configurable in openpnp or do they have to match with expected norms in the openpnp software.
In the first instance, I am looking for an easy life as I find my way around the system so, should I just wire them up to the same mosfet for now?

Also, you have "pwm" for the output type. I am using Peter Betz's LED rings, any idea if pwm is appropriate for them?

I currently have the following, in anticipation that I can configure oponpnp to switch each light separately and I can give my own M??? commands:



Well, that is a mammoth post. I didn't intend to make it so large and my intention isn't to draw you away from more important things. I have tried to be as explicit as possible to a) make it easier for you to respond, and b) show anyone else out there who is setting up for the first time how I am doing it.

Many thanks to all who contribute to this!



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Arthur Wolf

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Feb 20, 2017, 8:48:10 AM2/20/17
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That's really nice.

Smoothie has step-by-step guides for 3D printers, CNC mills and laser cutters, I'd love it if somebody took this information/diagrams and made a pnp guide from them.

It's easier than one would expect : we use an "include" system so that the guides actually share most of their content, so you would only actually need to write the pnp-specific parts of the guide, and all the rest would just be included.

I think it'd be cool because then this information would be available online.

If somebody wants to do this, and/or needs any help please don't hesitate to contact me.

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Jason von Nieda

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Feb 21, 2017, 11:16:33 AM2/21/17
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Howdy,

This is a lot to digest and I haven't had a chance yet to go through, but I do intend to and I will get back to you in the next couple days.

Jason


On Mon, Feb 20, 2017 at 4:46 AM <bobgee...@gmail.com> wrote:
Jason,

Thanks for confirming.

My wiring is a bit different to yours so I will have to modify the config on the smoothie a little.

In order to explain my differences I have knocked up some sketches.

I would appreciate if you, or others could give me some indicators if what I have done is correct.

I will start with your wiring diagram:

Auto Generated Inline Image 1


You use 4 solenoids in your machine, however I use the robotdigg solenoids in the arrangement below:

Auto Generated Inline Image 2


I also have my endstops (mix of opto and mechanical) arranged as follows:

Auto Generated Inline Image 3


Everything on my machine is 12V apart from the LEDs for the up and down vision, they are 24V and I have a separate PSU for them.

My current wiring looks like this:

Auto Generated Inline Image 4


For completeness and to aid the config discussion below, here is a reference pin map of the smoothieboard:

Auto Generated Inline Image 5


Ok, so looking at your config file (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openpnp/openpnp-openbuilds/develop/Smoothie/config) in sections:


Motors

Your motor wiring is the same as mine so don't need to mess with that, But I am curious, why do you invert some dir pins but not all?

Auto Generated Inline Image 6


The E1 dir pin is not inverted but all others are, is this correct? Oh wait, as I write this I think I realise. You have inverted this pin for motors which spin the wrong way, rather than re-wire the connectors correct?

Endstops

Looks like you have your Y endstop on the max but mine is on min. So, I do the following (and use a different header on the smoothieboard):

Change this (yours):

Auto Generated Inline Image 7

with this:

Auto Generated Inline Image 8


That seems simple enough. Do I need to do anything else? I note you have inverted the Z-min pin but not others. Is this correct for my setup?
I use cheap aliexpress opto endstops on X and Y, and use a decent mechanical switch on the Z, wiring shown in the slide further up the page.

I could just do a lot of trial and error, but I am very paranoid about driving my machine with the wrong setup. I am paranoid that if I get the endstops wrong and I drive it to home, it crashes and destroys some part of my machine. I was heavily reliant on good will of people overseas to send me bespoke laser cut parts and if I break one of those in this way, it will be difficult for me to source a replacement.


Vacuum and Solenoids

You have five blocks of lines here, one for each solenoid and one for the vac. I have two solenoids and one vac.

Do I simply put my S1 and S2 in place of your S1 and S3 (i.e. run without your S2 and S4), and change the pins to match my wiring?

Mine now looks like this:

Auto Generated Inline Image 9

LED Lighting

Your wiring has only one LED lighting switch and one block of lines as follows:

Auto Generated Inline Image 10

I have two sets of LEDs, one for up and one for down camera. Can openpnp control each separately, if so, do I make another block like above and put different M??? commands in place? If so, are these M??? commands configurable in openpnp or do they have to match with expected norms in the openpnp software.
In the first instance, I am looking for an easy life as I find my way around the system so, should I just wire them up to the same mosfet for now?

Also, you have "pwm" for the output type. I am using Peter Betz's LED rings, any idea if pwm is appropriate for them?

I currently have the following, in anticipation that I can configure oponpnp to switch each light separately and I can give my own M??? commands:

Auto Generated Inline Image 11


Well, that is a mammoth post. I didn't intend to make it so large and my intention isn't to draw you away from more important things. I have tried to be as explicit as possible to a) make it easier for you to respond, and b) show anyone else out there who is setting up for the first time how I am doing it.

Many thanks to all who contribute to this!

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Jason von Nieda

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Feb 27, 2017, 1:07:02 PM2/27/17
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Answers inline:

On Tue, Feb 21, 2017 at 10:16 AM Jason von Nieda <ja...@vonnieda.org> wrote:
Howdy,

This is a lot to digest and I haven't had a chance yet to go through, but I do intend to and I will get back to you in the next couple days.

Jason


On Mon, Feb 20, 2017 at 4:46 AM <bobgee...@gmail.com> wrote:
Jason,

Thanks for confirming.

My wiring is a bit different to yours so I will have to modify the config on the smoothie a little.

In order to explain my differences I have knocked up some sketches.

I would appreciate if you, or others could give me some indicators if what I have done is correct.

I will start with your wiring diagram:

Auto Generated Inline Image 1


You use 4 solenoids in your machine, however I use the robotdigg solenoids in the arrangement below:

Auto Generated Inline Image 2


I also have my endstops (mix of opto and mechanical) arranged as follows:

Auto Generated Inline Image 3


Everything on my machine is 12V apart from the LEDs for the up and down vision, they are 24V and I have a separate PSU for them.

My current wiring looks like this:

Auto Generated Inline Image 4


For completeness and to aid the config discussion below, here is a reference pin map of the smoothieboard:

Auto Generated Inline Image 5


Ok, so looking at your config file (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openpnp/openpnp-openbuilds/develop/Smoothie/config) in sections:


Motors

Your motor wiring is the same as mine so don't need to mess with that, But I am curious, why do you invert some dir pins but not all?

These were cases where I wired the motors backwards and it was just easier to swap the pin direction than switch the wires.
 

Auto Generated Inline Image 6


The E1 dir pin is not inverted but all others are, is this correct? Oh wait, as I write this I think I realise. You have inverted this pin for motors which spin the wrong way, rather than re-wire the connectors correct?

Oh, yes :) See above.
 

Endstops

Looks like you have your Y endstop on the max but mine is on min. So, I do the following (and use a different header on the smoothieboard):

Change this (yours):

Auto Generated Inline Image 7

with this:

Auto Generated Inline Image 8


That seems simple enough. Do I need to do anything else?

Looks good to me.
 
I note you have inverted the Z-min pin but not others. Is this correct for my setup?
I use cheap aliexpress opto endstops on X and Y, and use a decent mechanical switch on the Z, wiring shown in the slide further up the page.

I think I had Z inverted because I wired it wrong. I don't actually remember. I no longer use a Z limit switch because the springs return the head to stable when the steppers are turned off. So I just turn the steppers off for a moment to "home".
 

I could just do a lot of trial and error, but I am very paranoid about driving my machine with the wrong setup. I am paranoid that if I get the endstops wrong and I drive it to home, it crashes and destroys some part of my machine. I was heavily reliant on good will of people overseas to send me bespoke laser cut parts and if I break one of those in this way, it will be difficult for me to source a replacement.


Some things you can do to alleviate this:

1. Turn the current down on the motors to just enough to move them. Then if you hit a hard limit they will stall instead of breaking things.
2. Use a very low feed speed when testing. It will give you time to hit the power switch if something is going wrong.
 

Vacuum and Solenoids

You have five blocks of lines here, one for each solenoid and one for the vac. I have two solenoids and one vac.

Do I simply put my S1 and S2 in place of your S1 and S3 (i.e. run without your S2 and S4), and change the pins to match my wiring?

Mine now looks like this:

Auto Generated Inline Image 9


Yes, looks good. You effectively have "built in" exhaust on those valves, so need for the additional exhaust stuff.

LED Lighting

Your wiring has only one LED lighting switch and one block of lines as follows:

Auto Generated Inline Image 10

I have two sets of LEDs, one for up and one for down camera. Can openpnp control each separately, if so, do I make another block like above and put different M??? commands in place? If so, are these M??? commands configurable in openpnp or do they have to match with expected norms in the openpnp software.
In the first instance, I am looking for an easy life as I find my way around the system so, should I just wire them up to the same mosfet for now?


OpenPnP can control them separately. The M codes are totally configurable. So, yes, use another unique set of M codes and then you will configure these as actuators in OpenPnP using https://github.com/openpnp/openpnp/wiki/Camera-Lighting-Control.
 
Also, you have "pwm" for the output type. I am using Peter Betz's LED rings, any idea if pwm is appropriate for them?

I currently only use either full on or full off for the values, so it doesn't matter which you use. I'm not sure if PWM will work for Peter's rings, but I would assume so. If you are worried, just use "digital" for now.
 

I currently have the following, in anticipation that I can configure oponpnp to switch each light separately and I can give my own M??? commands:

Auto Generated Inline Image 11

 
Looks good, or can switch to digital as mentioned above.
 

Well, that is a mammoth post. I didn't intend to make it so large and my intention isn't to draw you away from more important things. I have tried to be as explicit as possible to a) make it easier for you to respond, and b) show anyone else out there who is setting up for the first time how I am doing it.


Yep, that was a biggie, but well written and easy to respond to. Thank you for including as much reference information as you did.

One final note: Before you start to configure OpenPnP, I highly recommend that you test eery single function in an external program terminal or something like Printrun/Pronterface. You should do this to get comfortable with sending the G/M codes you'll use and it will give you a chance to create a reference or cheat sheet for your machine. You'll use those codes when you are ready to set up your GcodeDriver.

Jason

Daniel

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Mar 4, 2017, 6:02:33 AM3/4/17
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Hello Bob,

Your pictures are nice and explanatory. Did you draw them ? Since I didn't found  them on line.
I am very interested since I am about to start again my zeva and this time I will use a smoothie compatible board that I have made.

Kind regards,
DAniel

Daniel

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Mar 4, 2017, 6:07:59 AM3/4/17
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Also I have seen recently on this group a picture having another 2 enstops switches probably called Z1 MAx and Z2 Max.
There are any references on using those ?
DAniel

bobgee...@gmail.com

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Mar 19, 2017, 5:14:08 PM3/19/17
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Jason,

Thanks so much for the detailed response, really appreciate it.

I have been quiet for a couple of weeks but have made some progress (not as much as I would have hoped though, but much of that is due to limited time).

I haven't really started playing with the Gcode yet, but I intend to soon.

I have calibrated the X and Y and have played about with the camers a bit. I will post some questions about this elsewhere.

I haven't set up my end stops in software yet as I haven't figured out how to do this yet, again I might post elsewhere or try a little further by myself first.

Daniel,

The pics were my own, took a while to do but worth it becuase it is easier than explaining in words.

I don't quite get how the single endstop switch on the Z works, i.e. is it a max on one and min on other etc, also, when you send it to home, it would need to know which side it already is right? Oh wait, it would need to know if the switch is active or not, then go the other way? What I mean is, since the swithc is in the middle, when one head is low it is open and when the other head is low, it is closed. But is not an "end"-stop becuase it isn't at the end of the motor travel. Don't know how this is configured in the software (an offset perhaps).

If you are using the same head as me (you cut my parts so it is quite likely) and if you are using smoothie, could you share how you handle the Z-axis endstop?

Anyways, it looks like you got your answer in another post about the two swithces?

Well guys, thanks for everything. I will be posting loads of questions soon, I'll bet your really looking forward to that ;-)

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