Invitation to share your conditional GCode scripts

dc42 · 9 Mar 2020, 17:46

We're looking for interesting ways to use the conditional GCode facility of RRF 3.01, both to look for possible enhancements to this feature and to highlight its benefits. So, if you are using conditional GCode on your printer, please share those scripts here if you are willing.

If you are using RRF 3.01beta but you haven't yet used conditional GCode, here are a few application ideas to get you going:

Leadscrew bed levelling or delta printer calibration until deviation is below a certain amount
Homing the printer in certain contexts if and only if it hasn't been homed already
Taking some action (e.g. extruding) only if the extruder is hot enough
Repeated probing with the probe points approached from different directions, to detect backlash in the mechanics (especially useful for delta printers)
Adjusting the behaviour of the pause.g and resume.g file depending on whether a tool is selected, and which one
Doing different things depending on whether a switch is closed or not at the time
Lifting the head a few mm depending on whether or not the Z axis is already close to maximum
Changing the coordinates that pause.g moves to depending on the existing XYZ coordinates

Please provide your own application ideas too!

Post your examples and ideas as their own thread in the GCode Meta Commands sub-forum.

Relevant documentation:
https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/RepRapFirmware_3_overview
https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/GCode_Meta_Commands
https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/Object_Model_of_RepRapFirmware
https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/Gcode#Section_M409_Query_object_model

chas2706 · 7 Feb 2020, 14:12

@dc42 Is there a time frame when the DSF will be updated so us Duet3 + SBC users can take advantage?

deckingman · 7 Feb 2020, 14:50

I'm rather hoping that one or more of the clever people on these forums will come up with a simplified user guide for those of us who are academically challenged, when it comes to understanding such things as what an object model is. A simple list of the values that I can use would be great.

Right now I'm recovering from surgery so am even more challenged than normal. Two things that I'd like to do but that I haven't yet looked at would be firstly to set the operation and standby temperatures for tools but only if they exist. Currently I have several configuration files for different multi-input hot ends with different numbers of tools defined. I use pre and post print macros which are called from my slicer start and end gcode but if I pick the wrong macro, it could attempt to set the temperature for a non-existent tool and throw an error. So a simple loop for say 20 tools containing "if tool n exists, set it's active and standby temperatures to xxx, yyy" else skip" would be great. Is this doable? Even better would be to have "and if filamentType = pla, set temps to xxx else if filament = PET-G set temps to yyy etc". But I've no idea if this is doable.

Another use would be to run a purge macro on tool change but only if a certain tool hasn't been used for nnn amount of time. The usage case is that PLA will hydrolyse when held at print temperature for an extended period of time. So when using a mixing hot end, it can be be necessary to purge an unused but heated filament depending on how long it has been unused for. If the filament was last used say 20 minutes ago or less, then the purge is unnecessary and wasteful in time as well as filament. Again, no idea if this is possible.

chas2706 · 7 Feb 2020, 17:50

I would use this in my start.g and some other macro's to check if machine has been homed:

M291P"Checking for homed axis!" T3
if !move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed
G28
// rest of start code

and this for my leadscrew levelling:

; If the printer hasn't been homed, home it
if !move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed
G28

while true
if iterations = 5
abort "Too many auto calibration attempts"

G30 P0 X10 Y63 Z-99999 ; probe near a leadscrew
if result != 0
continue

G30 P1 X290 Y63 Z-99999 ; probe near a leadscrew
if result != 0
continue

G30 P2 X150 Y290 Z-99999 S3 ; probe near a leadscrew and calibrate 3 motors
echo result
if result != 0
continue

if move.calibrationDeviation.deviation <= 0.03
break

echo "Repeating calibration, Deviation is " ^ move.calibrationDeviation.deviation ^ "mm"

echo "Auto calibration successful. Deviation = " ^ move.calibrationDeviation.deviation ^ "mm"

G28 Z ; re-home z axis in case it has shifted

But I can't use either because they don't work with Duet3 + SBC!

SpoonUnit · 2 Apr 2020, 08:56

I'm using the following in pause.g

; eject
if state.currentTool=3
	M98 P"eject-hemera.g"
else
	M98 P"eject.g"

and correspondingly in resume.g

;prime nozzle
if state.currentTool=3
	M98 P"prime-hemera.g"
else
	M98 P"prime.g"

I'd really like to be able to only run G29 if that last G29 was run some length of time ago. At present, it runs every print, but could be handy to only run it if that last homing process ran over an hour ago (or some configurable time period).

OwenD · 2 Apr 2020, 09:21

Perhaps a forum section dedicated to this might be in order?

This is my stop.g which uses several of the examples listed.
Essentially the only thing in my slicer end code is M0 to call stop.g

Some of the popups aren't necessary, but provide feedback.

; stop.g
; called when M0 (Stop) is run (e.g. when a print from SD card is cancelled)
;
; generated by RepRapFirmware Configuration Tool v2.1.4 on Sat Jan 04 2020 09:46:45 GMT+1000 (Australian Eastern Standard Time)

; 
if {state.currentTool!=-1} ; check if any tools are active
	G91 ; relative positioning
;check if any tools have heaters which are above cold extrude value
	if #tools[state.currentTool].heaters > 0 & heat.heaters[tools[state.currentTool].heaters[0]].current > heat.coldRetractTemperature
		G1 E-2 F300 ; retract the filament a bit before lifting the nozzle to release some of the pressure
		M291 P"Retracted 2mm" R"Retracting" S0 T5
		G4 S5 ; wait for popup
	else
		M291 P{"Not retracted...  Heater off or below extrude temp  " ^ heat.heaters[1].current ^ " : " ^ heat.coldRetractTemperature ^ "."} R"Retract" S0 T5
		G4 S5 ; wait for popup
else
	M291 P"No active tool" R"Check tools" S0 T2

if {!move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed} ; check if the machine is homed
	M291 P"Insufficient axis homed.  Cannot raise or park" R"Parking" S0 T5
else
	G90 ; absolute positioning
	if {(move.axes[2].machinePosition) < (move.axes[2].max - 10)} ; check if there's sufficient space to raise head
		M291 P{"Raising head to...  " ^ move.axes[2].machinePosition+5}  R"Raising head" S0 T5
		G1 Z+5 F9000 ; move Z up a bit
	else
		M291 P{"Cannot raise head- insufficient space  " ^ move.axes[2].machinePosition ^ " : " ^ (move.axes[2].max - 10) ^ "."} R"Raising head" S0 T5
		G4 S5 ; wait for popup to display
	G1 X10 Y150 ; parks X head pushes bed out to front so you can pull part
	M400 ; wait for current moves to finish

if {state.currentTool!=-1}
	G10 S0 R0 ; Set active and standby temps to zero
	T-1 P0 ; if any tools selected, deselect all
else
	T0 ; Select a tool
	G10 S0 R0 ; Set active and standby temps to zero to ensure nothing is on standby
	T-1 P0; deselect all tools
M140 S0 ; heated bed heater off 
M106 P0 S0 ; part fan off
M84 ; steppers off
G90 ; absolute positioning

M98 P"0:/macros/songs/itchyscratchy.g" ; play finish tune

OwenD · 2 Apr 2020, 09:49

Is there any documentation being prepared that explains the intent of the various object model items and when they would return a value?
The closest I've found is the machine section of the API, but there's a lot of info in there that most don't need.
For example when working with probe deviation, at what point should we use move.calibration.initial.deviation vs move.calibration.final.deviation?

dc42 · 4 Feb 2020, 10:39

We plan to document the object model when it has settled down, after the RRF 3.01 release.

move.calibration.initialDeviation is the deviation reported by probing. finalDeviation is the expected deviation after the firmware had made the corrections. Both are set to zero if no auto calibration/true bed levelling has been done

EducatingSavvas · 5 Apr 2020, 08:12

@dc42

Hi, I've had a couple ideas which I think might only be achieved with conditional g-code.

Save waste-board location along z axis to be used when setting work-coordinate Z0 location during known stationary probe. This would be a useful for CNC router machines.
Work out vector angle from x and y axis coordinates to control 5th axis motor. This could be toggled on/off in the web interface, and useful in implementing a tangential knife cutter or large scale concrete extrusion.
Using switch state to control warning light system on 3D printer or CNC machine. Un-homed could be yellow, cutting or extruding will show red, and idle could be a white light.
Safety enclosure door behaviour during different machine states. More specific for CNC but if cutting, pause job and display message 'enclosure has been opened,' if not cutting ignore switch state.

I'm not sure what is possible yet as I've only just updated to RRF3.01 RC6 but these are the type of behaviours I am interested in. Cheers.

OwenD · 10 Apr 2020, 05:14

I did this one for calibrating the trigger height on a BL Touch
I tried a bunch of ways to store a fake variable, but nothing was easy enough to make this useful for a newbie, so for now you have to average the results.

I'm not 100% sure homing first is the best way on a brand new machine, but it can be commented out or made conditional with another M291.

;Calibrate BL Touch trigger height

; When we get variables we can define one here
; Uncomment when ready to use
; var RunningTotal=0
; var average=0



; If the printer hasn't been homed, home it
if !move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed
  G28
  
M564 S0 H0 ; Allow movement beyond limits

if move.axes[2].machinePosition < 6 ; make sure we have probe clearance
	G1 Z6
M280 P0 S160 I1 ; reset BL Touch
G4 S0.5
M98 P"0:/sys/retractprobe.g" ; Ensure probe is retracted & reset
G4 S0.5
M290 R0 S0 ; clear any baby stepping
M561 ; clear any bed transform
; Jog head to position
M291 P"Jog nozzle to touch bed" R"Set nozzle to zero" S3 Z1
G92 Z0
M291 P"Press OK to begin" R"Ready?" S3; 
; carry out 10 probes
while iterations <= 9
	G1 Z6
	M400
	if sensors.probes[0].value[0]=1000 ; if probe is in error state
		echo "Probe in error state- resetting"
		M280 P0 S160 I1 ; reset BL Touch
		G4 S0.5
		M98 P"0:/sys/retractprobe.g" ; Ensure probe is retracted & reset
		G4 S0.5
	G30 S-1
	M400
	; Uncomment when variables allowed
	; RunningTotal=RunningTotal + move.axes[2].machinePosition
	;average=RunningTotal/(iterations+1)
	G4 S0.5

; Until variables come use this
M291 P"Check console for results and enter average value in G31 Z parameter of config.g"  R"Finished" S3 

;When variables come uncomment this
;G31 Z{average}
;M291 P"Trigger height set to : " ^ sensors.probes[0].triggerHeight ^ " Press OK to save to config, cancel to use until restart" R"Finished" S2 
;M500


M564 S0 H1 ; Reset limits

mwwhited · 24 Apr 2020, 18:02

I was looking for a Thermostatic Fan trigger and was pointed to a post about daemon.g. Based RRF3.1-RC9 + SBC I now have my fan control for my power tied in.

This conditional logic is really powerful.. thanks for all the hard work.

daemon.g

M98 P"0:/macros/Special Scripts/Check Power Supply"

G4 S10 ; wait 10 seconds

Special Scripts/Check Power Supply

if fans[3].actualValue > 0.0 && sensors.analog[3].lastReading < 25
    ;echo "fan running and temp less than 25c... stop fan"
    M106 P3 S0.0
elif fans[3].actualValue < 0.5 && sensors.analog[3].lastReading > 35
    ;echo "fan stopped and temp greater than 35c... start fan"
    M106 P3 S1.0

OwenD · 28 Apr 2020, 11:43

Another example using daemon.g

I'm in the process of adding some extra safety checks.
This will check the heater temps when idle and initiate action such as shutting off all power, activating an alarm (probably requires a latching relay)
As RRF checks this when printing there's no need to run this section of the code unless idle.

; daemon.g
; check temps every 10 seconds when not printing (i.e. Idle) and shut down if exceed max temps.  RRF checks when printing, but not when idle.
; not all commands are required.  e.g. shutting off power by dropping a relay negates need for M112, M81 - un-comment or adjust as required for your configuration
; assumes that the thermistor for each heater is monitor # zero as there is no way to do nested loops using "iterations" as identifier in both loops until variables are available in the object model
; no checking done for null values! - 

if state.status="idle"
	while iterations < #heat.heaters ; 
		;if heat.heaters[iterations].current > heat.heaters[iterations].monitors[0].limit ; un-comment when ready to go live
		if heat.heaters[iterations].current > 50 ; uncomment for testing, comment out when going live
			M291 P"Heater over max temp" R"Temp Error!" S1 T0 ; Display message for testing
			;M112 ; Do emergency stop
			;M81  ; Turn PS_ON (ATX) off
			;M42 P5 S1 ; Set GPIO 5 (output) high to activate alarm relay. GPIO pin must be configured using M950
			;M42 P6 S0 ; Set GPIO 6 (output) low to cut power. GPIO pin must be configured using M950

;if sensors.gpIn[6].value=1 ; check state of connected smoke detector - GPIO pin must be configured using M950
	;M291 P"Smoke detector active!" R"I'm on fire!" S1 T0 ; Display Nikki Lauder message for testing
	;M112 ; Do emergency stop
	;M81  ; Turn PS_ON (ATX) off
	;M42 P5 S1 ; Set GPIO 5 (output) high to activate alarm relay
	;M42 P6 S0 ; Set GPIO 6 (output) low to cut power	
		
G4 S10 ; wait 10 seconds before next check	(adjust S parameter as you see fit)

PaulHew · 28 Apr 2020, 13:11

@OwenD Please can I make a suggestion, at the beginning, issue a

M290 R0 S0

to reset baby stepping before you try to start performing jogging Z and trigger heights.

Just this minute made that mistake!

Paul

OwenD · 28 Apr 2020, 20:08

@PaulHew said in Invitation to share your conditional GCode scripts:

@OwenD Please can I make a suggestion, at the beginning, issue a
M290 R0 S0
to reset baby stepping before you try to start performing jogging Z and trigger heights.

Just this minute made that mistake!

Paul

Good idea!
So let it be written...

OwenD · 1 May 2020, 23:44

Code to check if all axes are homed and optionally home them, or cancel macro.
It iterates across ALL axes making it more portable code (for those with >3 axis)
This saves manually listing them in an if || (or) statement such as

if !move.axes[0].homed || !move.axes[1].homed || !move.axes[2].homed

I imagine this would be useful for tool changing printers where you might be doing something that may or may not require homing.
For the rest of us, I'd just run G28 if any are not homed.

;first check if any axes are not homed and optionally home them 
while iterations < #move.axes
	if !move.axes[iterations].homed ; check if each axis is homed
		M291 P{"Axis " ^ move.axes[iterations].letter ^ " is not homed.  Home now?"} R"Axis un-homed" S3 ; continue or abort?
		M98 P{"0:/sys/home" ^ (move.axes[iterations].letter) ^ ".g"} ; home axis if answer is OK - G28 doesn't accept object variable so run macro
		
; rest of code here

fšk · 23 May 2020, 09:58

Here is what I use to choose machine type at startup depending on what tool is connected.
I include a resistor connected to the sensor pin inside the tool connector. This gives a fixed temperature reading and lets the machine choose its type depending on what is connected at startup.

M308 S23 P"e2temp" Y"thermistor" T100000 B3950 A"ModeSelector"   ;setup a thermistor input as config selection sensor 


;wait for the sensor to start returning meaningful values (don't know if there is a better approach for this) 
while sensors.analog[23].lastReading==0||sensors.analog[23].lastReading==2000
  echo

;print the value detected (useful when adding a new mode)
;M117 ModeSelector value:{sensors.analog[23].lastReading}

;depending on sensor reading choose a system folder
if sensors.analog[23].lastReading==-273.1
  M117 No Attachment Detected.
elif sensors.analog[23].lastReading<155
  M117 Going to be a CNC.
  M505 P"CNC"
else 
  M117 Going to be a 3D printer.
  M505 P"Printer"

;load config.g from the chosen system folder
M98 P"config.g"

mwwhited · 23 May 2020, 10:23

That’s pretty cool. I’m considering my using a serial line with some tiny85 chips that I have laying around to do the same thing. For now I write out a script that I try to call from config.g that just sets up the last executed tool script.

Setup 3 to 1

M28 "0:/sys/lasttool.g"
M98 P"0:/macros/Config Scripts/Setup 3 to 1 Hotend"
M29

I have a script that uses conditional code to clear out tools, fans, and heaters as well as de-energizing my relays (stepper bank switch).

Change Toolhead

;echo "check temperature"
while iterations < #sensors.analog
	if sensors.analog[iterations] != null && sensors.analog[iterations].lastReading > 32 && sensors.analog[iterations].name != "PS"
		if sensors.analog[iterations].name != "Bed"
			abort "Must wait for tool head to cool down!!!"

;echo "set relays"
M18 E ; Turn off Steppers for extruders
G4 P100
M42 P0 S0 ; Ensure relay 0 is off
M42 P1 S0 ; Ensure relay 1 is off
M42 P2 S0 ; Ensure relay 2 is off
G4 P100

;echo "remove all tools"
while iterations < #tools
	;echo "Removing Tool ", tools[iterations].name, "T", iterations
	M563 P{iterations} D-1 H-1

;echo "disable heaters"
while iterations < #heat.heaters
	if heat.bedHeaters[0] != iterations
		;echo "Removing Temp Sensor and heater", sensors.analog[heat.heaters[iterations].sensor].name, "T", heat.heaters[iterations].sensor, "H", iterations
		M308 S{heat.heaters[iterations].sensor} P"nil" Y"nil"
		M950 H{iterations} C"nil"

;echo "remove fans"
while iterations < #fans
	if fans[iterations] != null && fans[iterations ].name != "Power Supply"
		;echo "Removing Fan", fans[iterations].name, "F", iterations
		M950 F{iterations} C"nil"

M30 "0:/sys/lasttool.g"

fma · 23 May 2020, 10:50

Once reading I²C bus is implemented (it is maybe already done in current release, I didn't check yet), using a I²C EEPROM can be a way to identify a device; this is often used in consumer products (Gopro does or did that for their accessories).

A Former User · 23 May 2020, 10:56

@fma said in Invitation to share your conditional GCode scripts:

Once reading I²C bus is implemented (it is maybe already done in current release, I didn't check yet), using a I²C EEPROM can be a way to identify a device; this is often used in consumer products (Gopro does or did that for their accessories).

It also opens the possibility to store calibration data etc in the tool independent of the machine, ref IEEE1451-ish. Although Duet3d avoided using I2C for their fillament sensor (unlike Prusa) as the bus isn't intended for long runs. Maybe we'll see 1-wire or something in the future?

fma · 23 May 2020, 11:03

Well, the filement sensor needs continuous readings, which is not the case for calibration or so.