Laserengrave plugin rapid plunges in Z

[CharlieRam]

Hi, Ive been using UCCNC with an AXBB-E successfully for over a year and thought I would buy a laser to fit to my Router. I have set it up on pin17 and it works as expected using M10 Q values although anything below 160 doesn't activate the laser so I use 160 to 255.
My issue comes with the laser engrave plugin, if I start a job and try to stop it midway using cycle stop it turns off the laser but I see very unusual behaviour! It either continues the movement and every subsequent press of NC stop just seems to momentarily pause movement and it just carries on until I hit reset. The bigger issue is sometimes when I hit cycle stop and it does stop the tool path it tries to plunge the z axis straight down, I have tried setting z zero well clear of the work piece but it continues to do the same. Also I tried increasing the feedrate in the plugin to see what results I get and the first thing it did was rapid to my X limits? it's a little confusing because I can't see where it gets these values from. It would be nice if we could use the feedrate overide on the rapid paths too. I know it shouldn't be possible with the actual laser engraving but the rapids would be useful. I hope someone can help with this.

Cheers,

Charlie

[cncdrive]

The laser plugin is not moving the Z axis at all, so I don't really know what you experiencing.

[CharlieRam]

Hmm...it definitely drives down in Z after a cycle stop...mi will take a video and post it here

[formantjim]

I too use a laser on my CNC machine with UCCNC and the laser engrave works flawlessly and there is no gcode sending the z axis down. Also the control of the power of the laser is 0 to 255 that too works perfectly. I would look at the diagnostics and watch for the output pin of the z axis being operated. I think you may have some pins connected to something that shouldn't be. Just my two cents.

[CharlieRam]

I decided to install the latest test version and redid the setup rather than copy it over and it now doesn't plunge down but.....if you have your feed rate set at zero when you hit cycle stop it turns the laser off but continues the tool path...try it and see

[CharlieRam]

I would look at the diagnostics and watch for the output pin of the z axis being operated. I think you may have some pins connected to something that shouldn't be. Just my two cents.

As a side note, I did check the pin mapping plugin and nothing else was mapped to the Z-axis outputs or the laser outputs, I did copy the .PRO file after the last official UCCNC update so maybe it was a setting in the old profile config.

Cheers,

Charlie

[CharlieRam]

I have managed to get the plugin to work now, The laser module was faulty and this was why it only worked when almost maxed out on power.

There is still an issue with the plugin though and this happens with both the old install and the latest beta install with totally fresh settings. I'm not sure if it's intended or is indeed a bug....

I have potentiometers connected to the AXBB-E for spindle and feedrate override, the starting position of the feedrate override determines the speed of the whole laser engraving sequence, so if I start at 10% and then realise and put it at 100% it is already too late and the plugin will continue at 10% until the very end. I would think the feedrate override would be better suited to overriding the rapid moves only.

I also still have the issue with interupting the Laserengrave plugin using cycle stop, It turns off the laser as expected but the toolpath continues until I hit E-Stop, Reset or I let it complete the toolpath. Has anyone else tried this?

Thanks,

Charlie

[CharlieRam]

So after a little more testing I am able to replicate the bugs repeatedly.

1. If feedrate override is set to zero when cyclestart is pressed, the laser activates but there is no movement of the axis so the laser burns in one spot.

2. If the feedrate override is turned down to zero during a laserengrave and then cyclestop is pressed, the laser turns off but the machine continues moving through the workpiece path.

These issues are only evident if the feedrate is set to zero, I have always been taught to feed off before a cycle start and so that is why I noticed the issue.

Cheers,

Charlie