[Tbkahuna]

I just stumbled on PathPilot Hub. It is a virtual PathPilot instance that allows you to test PathPilot files as well as to build conversational programs. This is really great!

I had not seen this before and did not get any results from a search. Does anyone know when it came out? Does anyone else use it?

[old-cnc-geek]

It basically eliminates the need to mess around with VirtualBox or other virtualizing solutions and trying to keep all that updated. Using a browser to https://hub.pathpilot.com is so much easier.

[kstrauss]

Perhaps I'm missing something but how do I use PathPilot Hub to test changes to the Python modules of PathPilot? If I could dispense with VirtualBox that would be great.

[ally-g]

I just use my windows box with a stand alone install of windows on one ssd and pathpilot running in simulation mode on another.If my experimenting stuffs things up it is relatively simple to reimage the pathpilot ssd and start anew.I can write and test code,updates etc before using them on my machine.

[kstrauss]

I've done similar. I have a machine talking to a 7i92 for away-from-machine testing. But I was questioning whether there was a way to use the PP Hub for similar things.

[ally-g]

Yes I was just saying that I am not using virtualBox but whether it is easier or not I have no idea as I have never used virtualBox and I suspect you will not be able to tinker under the hood on PP Hub

[kstrauss]

It was definitely my impression that PP Hub would only boot an official version of PP. Actually, the last time I checked it booted an older version rather than the current version. I was hopeful that I had missed something about an ability to boot a modified version. I apologize for any confusion.

[rdsi]

If all you use VB for is PP then perhaps PP hub is the way to go. Currently I have 16 different OS's I run in VB so it's no big thing.

One of the limitation using the simulator is that you cannot use any of the probing functions to develop whatever. I solved that problem by making a PCNC simulator that is connected to a computer running PP. The simulator is a single board computer wired to a MESA card using the standard Tormach pinout. In my case I'm using a 7I92H MESA card so I just need a LAN connection to the computer running PP.



So PP boots up as expected and you can do anything that you can do on a real machine. The simulator is controlled via a USB connection to either the computer running PP or on another machine. The simulator control window has all the functions to emulate a real machine plus it allows you to setup trip points for the probing functions.



It's pretty interesting to see what PP does in terms of counts. I guess all this goes away with servos - oh well, it has helped me with my system.

So for the cost of a MESA card, a Teensy 3.5 USB Development Board and some cables I have a PCNC simulator!

[mountaindew]

If all you use VB for is PP then perhaps PP hub is the way to go. Currently I have 16 different OS's I run in VB so it's no big thing.

One of the limitation using the simulator is that you cannot use any of the probing functions to develop whatever. I solved that problem by making a PCNC simulator that is connected to a computer running PP. The simulator is a single board computer wired to a MESA card using the standard Tormach pinout. In my case I'm using a 7I92H MESA card so I just need a LAN connection to the computer running PP.



So PP boots up as expected and you can do anything that you can do on a real machine. The simulator is controlled via a USB connection to either the computer running PP or on another machine. The simulator control window has all the functions to emulate a real machine plus it allows you to setup trip points for the probing functions.



It's pretty interesting to see what PP does in terms of counts. I guess all this goes away with servos - oh well, it has helped me with my system.

So for the cost of a MESA card, a Teensy 3.5 USB Development Board and some cables I have a PCNC simulator!

Pretty clever!

[Fenichel]

Is there a way to upload subroutine files into the HUB simulator? The acceptable file extensions do not include .ngc, but that's easy to deal with by temporarily renaming the subroutine file to .nc and then renaming the uploaded version back to .ngc . The real problem is that the uploaded files all appear in the Virtual PathPilot Files directory, and there doesn't seem to be a way to move any of them over to the subroutines directory.

I thought I might be able to edit a subroutine file and then use File As to get it over to the subroutines directory, but the only directories visible from the editor are Virtual PathPilot Files and its subdirectories. I can create a subdirectory of Virtual PathPilot Files called subroutines and save into that, but files there are not found when the simulator is looking for subroutines.

[old-cnc-geek]

Select the file(s) you want to copy over to the subroutines folder. Use the 'hamburger' menu button (3 horizontal lines) just left of the New Folder button and choose Copy. Then navigate over to the subroutines folder. Then select Paste from the same menu.

[Fenichel]

Thanks. That's just what I wanted. It makes PP's File tab almost usable.