Introduction

This repository contains code for controlling a miniaturized AFSD machine and is used by the Yu group at Virginia Tech.

Communication with the machine is achieved using FluidNC, and future modifications to the firmware or code inputs can be helped by looking through FluidNC’s documentation.

Installation

pip install -U mini_afsd

pip install https://github.com/RyTheGuy355/MiniAFSDCode/zipball/main

Quick Start

For default usage, mini_afsd can be ran from the a terminal (the command line if Python was install universally, from an Anaconda terminal if Python was installed with Anaconda, or from the WinPython Command Prompt if Python was installed using WinPython) using:

python -m mini_afsd

To list out the various options when using mini_afsd from the terminal, simply do:

python -m mini_afsd -h

Alternatively, mini_afsd can be used from a Python file by doing the following:

from mini_afsd import Controller

Controller().run()

Configuring LabJack

For determining proper addresses to connections on the LabJack, use the Kipling software included with LJM to find the pin addresses within the “Register Matrix” section.

Sending Commands to FluidNC

Commands sent from the GUI to FluidNC for control of the mill can be split into 2 categories:

1. G-Code (and subsequent M-Codes, etc.): These are prefixed by “G”, “M”, etc., and follow their standard usage. See http://wiki.fluidnc.com/en/features/supported_gcodes for the G-Codes supported by FluiNC.

2. Codes to FluiNC or Grbl. These can include things liking homing (“$H”), status query (“?”), or soft reset (“0x18” == “CTRL+X”). When adding new commands under this category, it is recommended to add a comment as to what these commands are doing since it is not immediately clear and makes maintenance difficult. A full listing of commands can be found at http://wiki.fluidnc.com/en/features/commands_and_settings.

Log Files

While the program is running, it is set up to automatically log messages sent and received from the mill for later reference/debugging. In addition, if data collection was turned on and the data was not subsequently saved, the data is automatically saved in order to prevent losing data.

The folder where these logs and data files are saved can be found by running the following within a Python file:

from mini_afsd.controller import get_save_location

print(get_save_location())

On Windows, this folder location likely corresponds to the local AppData folder, ie. %localappdata%/mini_afsd.

License

mini_afsd is all rights reserved. For more information, refer to the license.

Author

• Ryan Gottwald