I'm currently building a small 2'x3' gantry machine with a z axis that has a plasma torch, and an air micro grinder and touch probe that retract independently using pneumatics. There is also a laser cross projector for material alignment. Each of these has some x,y,z offset associated.
This is a prototype for a medium size (around 4'x8') machine which will also have a tool changer and much larger spindle. I will probably make the plasma torch retractable instead of the spindle on that one since it is smaller.
The goal is to do plasma cutting, engraving, drilling, and tapping in one machine, although the first prototype will only do center marking instead of drilling and tapping.
I've used EMC2 for simple 3 axis desktop mills, but haven't done anything this complicated with it before.
Ideally I'd like to switch between heads and handle their coordinate offsets with a single command. One idea would be to treat the plasma, touch probe, and laser as special tools which can be selected along with the actual tools that go in the spindle with M6. Alternatively, I could use M1xx codes to set plasma, touch, laser, or spindle modes.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about what works well in terms of EMC2 configuration for this.