Equipment/VinylCutterOld: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 11:06, 21 August 2010

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Muz

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 [[File:Roland (Large).jpg|thumb|right]]
 ==Status==
-I have had a certain amount of success running the cutter with a serial connection from Inkscape under Linux.  More messing around is needed.--[[User:Artag|Artag]] 13:32, 19 August 2010 (UTC)
+* I have had a certain amount of success running the cutter with a serial connection from Inkscape under Linux.  More messing around is needed.--[[User:Artag|Artag]] 13:32, 19 August 2010 (UTC)
+* I have gotten the cutter to reliably cut reasonably complex shapes (see image to the right). See http://github.com/muz/Ruby-PNC950. Looks like the serial port needed negotiating correctly.--[[User:Muz|Muz]] 20 August 2010.
 ==Model==
 * Roland CAMM-1 PNC-950. [http://www.signcutpro.com/files/man/roland/pnc950.pdf PDF manual], [http://support.rolanddga.com/Docs/Documents/departments/Product%20Management/Product%20Information/Specialty%20Products/PNC950_FAQ.pdf FAQ].
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 ==Instructions==
 ====Quick setup guide====
-* Set inkscape to hpgl output
+* Set inkscape to HPGL output. File > Save As > HPGL format.
-* draw figure and print to a file
+* Draw your figure.
-* set serial port to 9600 8n1, crtscts.
+* Connect the cutter via USB to Lovelace. This is done with a serial port converter from 25-pins -> 9-pins -> USB.
-* connect blue cable (a 9-pin gender-changer is needed at the PC end)
+* Load vinyl, making sure that it is flush with the left edge and has some slack for being pulled to and fro.
-* load vinyl, switch cutter on. cutter should park at right hand side
+* Turn on the cutter, the cutter head should fly to the right edge.
-* press Setup, cutter parks at left. Move cutter if necessary with cursor buttons, press Origin Set to mark lower right corner of drawing
+* Press Setup, cutter parks at left.
-* cat the inkscape output file to the serial port
+* Move cutter if necessary with cursor buttons, press Origin Set to mark lower right corner of drawing
+* Run '~/serialshite.rb <HPGL filename>' from a Terminal.
 It should be possible to enable the serial port as a printer and print direct to it, but I found this produced cutter errors (flashing power light) and no cut.
-The following file was generated by inkscape for a star shape. This almost works : the first leg is replaced by a poorly cut arc. May imply a need for some sort of initialisation data.
+The following file was generated by inkskape for a star shape. This works.
   IN;
@@ Line 36: / Line 38: @@
   PD3999,6429;
   PD3999,6429;
+====Creating Images for Cutting====
+'''Converting an existing SVG'''
+For some reason, Inkscape doesn't like going straight from SVG to HPGL. This can be fixed by:
+* Open up the SVG file
+* File > Save As > select the DXF file format.
+* Open the DXF
+* File > Save As > HPGL
+'''Creating your own image in Inkscape'''
+Inkscape seems to play nicely if you just create a new image and lay down some paths or polygons of your own. You can save this data for the cutter by just going to File > Save As > HPGL
+'''Avoiding overloading the cutter with TOO MUCH DATA'''
+The cutter doesn't seem to happy when it recieves a large set of instructions in one fell swoop. As such, it is highly recommended that you format your HPGL files nicely.
+* vim yourhpglfile.hpgl
+* <Esc>
+* :% s/;/;<C-x><C-m>/g
+* <Return>
+* :wq
+This will place each command on its own line, and in the case of more complex drawing patterns, avoid having the cutter throw a hissy fit and get confused.
 ==Tips==
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 ==Consumables==
 There is a [[Pledges/Vinyl|pledge]] running for the purchase of more vinyl.
-==Example code==
- require "rubygems"
- require "serialport"
- if (!ARGV[0])
- 	puts "Yo dawg, I need a file."
- 	exit
- end
- plotter = SerialPort.new("/dev/ttyUSB2")
- plotter.baud=(9600)
- plotter.flow_control=(SerialPort::HARD)
- plotter.rts=(1)
- plotter.data_bits=(8)
- plotter.stop_bits=(1)
- begin
-         File.open(ARGV[0], "r") do |inFile|
-                 while (line = inFile.gets)
-                         puts line
-                         plotter.write(line)
-                         # sleep(1)
-                 end
-         end
- rescue
-         puts "Failed to open #{ARGV[0]}"
-         exit
- end