Student project - Unity3D CNC software

Hi all!

I'm Max, a student from the Netherlands and asked to develop a software application in Unity3d ( originally a game engine), to create an application for a EdingCNC controller.

Currently the application is capable of
- converting text ( all standard windows fonts) and SVG to G-code.
- Controlling the EdingCNC chip in realtime
- Move the head of the machine in real time based on any calculation or input ( in Unity3D).

I'm looking for some input on what would be great to include although the project might end up being opensourced so anyone can use it for knowledge or develop on it.
Ofcourse I would like to include more types of controllers, but don't have any others than EdingCNC so if someone wants to invest some time in this project I'm happy to share it and ofcourse create the connection to the chip.

Thank you for your time :)

Quote:

---

I'm looking for some input on what would be great to include

---

Nesting ?
https://github.com/Jack000/SVGnest
also
https://github.com/Jack000/Deepnest

The ability to choose different acceleration profiles, like S-curve, and to set different acceleration parameters for regular moves and for rapids.

Touch probe edge and center finding.

OR,

Does the EdingCNC controller need to be used for routers, etc, traditional X,Y,Z machines? Or can it be used to control whatever?

Think out of the box, there are so many CNC router, lathe, plasma, etc, control options, perhaps make something that is geared towards something different and can accept different kinds of inputs and outputs that are normally handled by PLC's. Perhaps the ability to control multiple VFD's at once driving AC induction motors and take inputs from things like laser distance measuring sensors.

Perhaps a traction and suspension control system for a robot rover where each of the 4 wheels is being driven by an electric motor.

Thrust vectoring for an RC airplane.

Precise temperature control of something that is being heated and cooled at the same time.

Something to do with one of the new 3d printing strategies like "look ahead" or "non-planar" printing.

Astronomy telescope tracking.

Etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cyclestart

Nesting ?
https://github.com/Jack000/SVGnest
also
https://github.com/Jack000/Deepnest

---

Looks interesting, I would have not come up with something like this as it might not fit for the client I created it for, but I'm totally open to expanding the softwarepackage to become a multitool :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NIC 77

The ability to choose different acceleration profiles, like S-curve, and to set different acceleration parameters for regular moves and for rapids.

Touch probe edge and center finding.

OR,

Does the EdingCNC controller need to be used for routers, etc, traditional X,Y,Z machines? Or can it be used to control whatever?

Think out of the box, there are so many CNC router, lathe, plasma, etc, control options, perhaps make something that is geared towards something different and can accept different kinds of inputs and outputs that are normally handled by PLC's. Perhaps the ability to control multiple VFD's at once driving AC induction motors and take inputs from things like laser distance measuring sensors.

Perhaps a traction and suspension control system for a robot rover where each of the 4 wheels is being driven by an electric motor.

Thrust vectoring for an RC airplane.

Precise temperature control of something that is being heated and cooled at the same time.

Something to do with one of the new 3d printing strategies like "look ahead" or "non-planar" printing.

Astronomy telescope tracking.

Etc.

---

The EdingCNC can control any motor I believe, as my client isn't really using it for milling. It can handle up to 6 axis ( so I believe 6 motors ) and some of the chips have PWM / HighLow outputs and input as well.

Currently the client is using it as a X-Y router , but the work table is aprox. 5 by 10 meters.

My student-project is focussed on making a tool for the client to prototype (with the EdingCNC controller and the massive machine), but I figure it might be interesting to grow the project and share it so people can use it as a starting point or customize to fit their own needs.
Before I can achieve that I'd love to get a wide variety of "necessary" tools and functionalities.

I believe that one of the strong points of my project is the possibility to combine the functionalities that Unity offers can be easily combined or translated to 'real' movement. Like the physics engine .
For example the fact that if you make a ball bounce in the software, the tool could copy the movement exactly.. Or ( it would be dreaming as it'll take a while to develop) combining the water physics to create an unique 'splash' model and translate that to a 3D-printer.

Again I'm open for any tips or ideas as I'd love to see it grow into a real (opensource/free) project, just need to build it out a little more and (alot) of cleaning before I'm confident enough to open it up


Thank you both for your time to answer :)

hy mmalherbe, pls, would you post a video with what you have done so far ? kindly :)

Hi,

Apologies for the delay as I had to do some more tweaking before I could get videos made.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deadlykitten

hy mmalherbe, pls, would you post a video with what you have done so far ? kindly :)

---

https://youtu.be/HidKtRNmp8M - Sending the GCode lines (per line) directly to EdingCNC. I did notice the movement didn't go through correctly ( as the movement in the EdingCNC Software displays different than the one created). But this way it is possible to change anything in realtime due to the fact that each command gets send 1 by 1.

https://youtu.be/UiZY9IicvBM - The Gcode file gets loaded into EdingCNC and starts the job, this way it follows the Gcode perfectly but it does make it impossible to control the EdingCNC chip in realtime ( due to the time it takes for the programs to communicate. It's a short time, but it can be long enough to not give the perfect result).

This looks amazing! Please let me know when you allow others to test, or where can I see / get it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JeremyWoodWorks

This looks amazing! Please let me know when you allow others to test, or where can I see / get it?

---

Hi JeremyWoodWorks!

You can download it freely from github ! : https://github.com/mmalherbe/massiveCNC

If you like it, please star or fork it. I'd love to make it grow together


If anyone has any recommendations or suggestions on what to add or change, let me know!

Some subjects in college are very difficult for me. That’s how I met the specialists https://www.academicghostwriter.org/...-ghostwriting/ who are always ready to help me and come to my aid in writing my papers. I will be glad if this information helps you too.