Weird Laser Mode

FelixH

So @pauledd how do you focus your laser now?

I need to do some engravings today and I haven‘t used the laser since I updated the RRF to 3.3, so I fear I will have some troubles there.

I understand the safety issue behind, but I used to use the laser at 1% power to align it with my work and also focus. I don‘t understand how I am supposed to do it now if the laser can only be ON while moving…

Phaedrux

@felixh said in Weird Laser Mode:

I don‘t understand how I am supposed to do it now if the laser can only be ON while moving…

I'm not sure either, but maybe a work around could be to start a move with the laser on with a very very slow feed rate so that it barely actually moves?

FelixH

@phaedrux following the original poster's suggestion, I prepared two macros for that:

FOCUS LASER ON

M106 P2 S255  ; turn on laser's 12v PSU


M451   ; disable Laser Mode

M950 F3 C"nil"     

M950 F3 C"!exp.heater3" Q1000   ; assign laser pin to a free fan Numbe

M106 P3 S0.001 ; enable laser with 1% power 


; do the focusing stuff

FOCUS LASER OFF

M106 P3 S0 ; disable laser


M950 F3 C"nil" ; free heater3 again for use in laser mode

M106 P2 S0  ; turn on laser's 12v PSU

it works ok. My problem is now that I have to do the focusing BEFORE switching to Laser mode with:

M452 C"!exp.heater3" S1 F200

If I have done something in laser mode and I have to refocus or pinpoint another work origin, even if I switch to CNC mode it throws an error telling me that the pin "exp.heather3" is occupied (or assigned, I don't remember). So, how do "unassign" the pin when I switch from Laser mode to CNC mode?

Sincerely I can understand the safety concerns behind not being able to use M3 while not moving, but at the end of the day, if I have a laser I have to be able to set it onto the correct origin and also focus it. Even I am not able to do that with a M3 command, I have been able to do find a workaround.
I think this is an issue it should be addressed. It makes working with a laser cumbersome and overly complicated if you are not use to tinker with the RRF3 environment. Maybe a solution would be limit the power output of the M3 command to 1% when stationary? Just an idea...

FelixH

well, just as usual after I posted something I myself come up with an improvement...

I changed the macros as follows:

Laser focus ON

M106 P2 S255  ; turn on laser's 12v PSU

 
M453   ; Enable CNC Mode

M950 P0 C"!exp.heater3" Q1000   ; assign laser pin to a pin number

M42 P0 S0.01  ; set 1% PWM on GPIO port 0


; do the focusing stuff

Laser Focus OFF

M42 P0 S0 ; disable laser

M950 P0 C"nil" ; free heater3 again for use in laser mode

M106 P2 S0  ; turn on laser's 12v PSU

And I changed my "switch to CNC macro to:

M5 
M106 P2 S0  ; turn off 12v PSU
M452 C"nil" ; free "exp.heater3" pin
M453 ; Put the machine into CNC Mode

M550 P"WorkBee CNC Machine" ; Set machine name

in which I added the M452 C"nil" line.

This seems to work, although when I go back to CNC mode the console throws a red warning:

Error: DueX fan or GPIO pins may not be used to control lasers

but well, it looks like I will have to live with it. On a positive side, I think that the M42 command lets me control the power of the laser somehow better. Yesterday I used it "the old way" with a Fan port and even a M106 P3 S0.001 would start burning the plywood after a couple of seconds.

Phaedrux

@felixh said in Weird Laser Mode:

So, how do "unassign" the pin when I switch from Laser mode to CNC mode?

M452 C"nil" should free the pin.

Which I see you found already.

@felixh said in Weird Laser Mode:

Sincerely I can understand the safety concerns behind not being able to use M3 while not moving

I'm not sure on that either. @dc42 could say more?

o_lampe

@felixh
I guess you get this error message, because RRF doesn't register the C"nil" part.
It just recognizes you are using M452 in CNC mode... @dc42 I guess, this could be sorted out?

Felix, would it be possible to go through a real tool change? Then you could free the laser pin in tfree.g* while you are still in laser mode.

FelixH

@o_lampe

Felix, would it be possible to go through a real tool change? Then you could free the laser pin in tfree.g* while you are still in laser mode.

I will try it when I get back home, yeah. Thanks!

o_lampe

@felixh
I figured out a simpler method to fire the laser without moving.
No need for CNC mode switches and re-assigning pins:

G1 E10 F60 Snnn   ; requires a virtual extruder in config and M302 P1 to allow cold extrusion

With this simple line your laser will fire up for 10sec. Tested with RRF3.3

FelixH

@o_lampe sounds great and simple, but am I right to think you are working with a 3D printer setup?

o_lampe

@felixh
The controller was in 'Laser mode' when I tested it, but there was also an extruder tool config. It's not necessary to have a stepper or thermistor connected, just a virtual config.