Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine

Nightowl

I’m definitely going to try and help others with this in the future, as payback for all your help!

Although I feel like I’m wading through treacle, I’m learning as I go!

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

Although I feel like I’m wading through treacle, I’m learning as I go!

Don't worry, it's easy. Just take your commented resurrect.g and follow the lines. Near the beginning, you will come up with the line

M98 P"resurrect-prologue.g"

At that point, the control flow is handed over to the macro (which in turn can call other macros). After the macro (or chain of macros) is done, control goes back to the next line in resurrect.g. That's all - just one command after the other. Well, and some of the commands (the macros) contain their own list of commands … so what?

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 OK, I've done some homework myself, here's an updated version of the macro SaveSpindleSpeed.g (it has become a bit more complex, but you can just copy it):

; SaveSpindleSpeed.g
; Macro to store the actual spindle speed (RPM) at the time this is called
; To restore the saved datum, call the macro "RestoreSpindleSpeed.g".
; Before it activates the spindle, RestoreSpindleSpeed.g asks whether to continue with the print or not.
; If not, the process can be stopped with these two lines in resurrect-prologue.g:
;
;	if {global.abort_process == true}
;		abort									;;; please not that this line must be indented
;
; Requires RRF 3.4 and a CNC configuration with valid spindles[0] entry in the object model


var fName = "RestoreSpindleSpeed.g"

echo >{var.fName} "; "^var.fName
echo >>{var.fName} "; Spindle speed saved from running """^{job.file.fileName}^""" CNC file"
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} "; set up the global variable abort_process so we can abort further execution of resurrect.g:"
echo >>{var.fName} "if {!exists(global.abort_process)}"
echo >>{var.fName} "    global abort_process = true"
echo >>{var.fName} "else"
echo >>{var.fName} "    set global.abort_process = true"
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} "; now comes the dialog:"
echo >>{var.fName} "M291 S3 R""Resurrect:"" P""Continue with <"^{job.file.fileName}^">?"""
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} "; we will only arrive here if the dialog was closed with OK:"
echo >>{var.fName} "global abort_process = false"
echo >>{var.fName} "M3 S"^{spindles[0].active}
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} ";EOF"

This will generate the macro RestoreSpindleSpeed.g as before, but I've added a dialog to it which asks whether you want to continue (of course, before the spindle is turned on).

In order for all this to work, you will have to modify your resurrect-prologue.g like this:

; resurrect-prologue.g

M98 P"RestoreSpindleSpeed.g"
if {global.abort_process == true}
		abort
; abort terminates this and all other macros in the call chain, so 'rien ne va plus'

; Continuation has been approved, so here we go:"
;
; Here, please home your axes
;
; at the end of this, control goes back to resurrect.g

As long as you didn't modify your resurrect-prologue.g in the meantime, you can simply replace its contents with a copy from the black box above.

Then, you should add your homing commands - I've commented where to put them.

Hope this helps…

Nightowl

This is brilliant, thank you @infiniteloop

I'll check it out tomorrow morning (it's a bit too late here to wake the neighbours!) and let you know how I get on.

I really can't tell you how much I appreciate your help.

Thanks again, my friend

infiniteloop

@nightowl999

This is brilliant

No, it’s attentive reading. The technique for the dialog is tricky, so it helped that I remembered the thread "Echo commands…", where @mikeabuilder explained the technique in detail - BTW, it was your thread, and he addressed his "trick" to you. So you could have written the code as well. At least, you were told how to do it…

In fact, a good programmer spends at least 95% of his time on reading, 100% on meditation and the remaining 5% on coding, tests and debugging - at most…

[Edit] Oh, I forgot: When we finally fall asleep (which is rare), we dream of an algorithm to calculate a 'something' of which we only know the result: 42

Nightowl

@infiniteloop said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

No, it’s attentive reading.

I beg to differ. What you have done for me is brilliant, even if it's simple to you!

Anyway, on with the experiment...

Nightowl

@infiniteloop
There seems to be an error in the resurrect-prologue.g file, because when I use M916 in the MDI, I get the following:

Error: in file macro line 3 column 26: meta command: unknown variable 'abort_process'

I've indented the line below, as instructed, so perhaps there's a typo. I'll investigate.

I'm also getting:

Warning: Macro file 0:/sys/workzero.g not found

...but I'm not sure what caused that!

infiniteloop

@Nightowl999 Who the hell is "MDI"?

The complaint about a missing abort_process indicates that RestoreSpindleSpeed.g is either not run before - it should be called from line 3 of resurrect-prologue.g, please compare your prologue with the sample I posted yesterday…

… or, if RestoreSpindleSpeed.g has been called before, that macro does not reflect my recent modification of SaveSpindleSpeed.g: my latest version (refer to the yesterday post) generates a RestoreSpindleSpeed.g that initialises the global variable abort_process.

The warning "Macro file 0:/sys/workzero.g not found" is unrelated - I have no knowledge of a macro carrying that name, so I can't help you with that.

Nightowl

@infiniteloop

Yes, it's called from that file:

; resurrect-prologue.g
M98 P"RestoreSpindleSpeed.g"
if global.abort_process == true
	abort
; abort terminates this and all other macros in the cal chain, so 'rien ne va plus'
; Continuation has been approved, so here we go:"
M98 P"homeall.g"	; homes all axes before restarting the job
{1}

And all I did with the updated RestoreSpindleSpeed.g was copy and paste...

A thought: Should the variable be declared in config.g, or is it a system variable?

PS I tried without the curly brackets, but it made no difference, so I put them back

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

Yes, it's called from that file

Fine. Then please replace the contents of SaveSpindleSpeed.g with this here, as I've found an (unrelated) bug.

; SaveSpindleSpeed.g
; Macro to store the actual spindle speed (RPM) at the time this is called
; To restore the saved datum, call the macro "RestoreSpindleSpeed.g".
; Before it activates the spindle, RestoreSpindleSpeed.g asks whether to continue with the print or not.
; If not, the process can be stopped with these two lines in resurrect-prologue.g:
;
;	if {global.abort_process == true}
;		abort									;;; please not that this line must be indented
;
; Requires RRF 3.4 and a CNC configuration with valid spindles[0] entry in the object model


var fName = "RestoreSpindleSpeed.g"

echo >{var.fName} "; "^var.fName
echo >>{var.fName} "; Spindle speed saved from running """^{job.file.fileName}^""" CNC file"
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} "; set up the global variable abort_process so we can abort further execution of resurrect.g:"
echo >>{var.fName} "if {!exists(global.abort_process)}"
echo >>{var.fName} "    global abort_process = true"
echo >>{var.fName} "else"
echo >>{var.fName} "    set global.abort_process = true"
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} "; now comes the dialog:"
echo >>{var.fName} "M291 S3 R""Resurrect:"" P""Continue with <"^{job.file.fileName}^">?"""
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} "; we will only arrive here if the dialog was closed with OK:"
echo >>{var.fName} "set global.abort_process = false"
echo >>{var.fName} "M3 S"^{spindles[0].active}
echo >>{var.fName} ""
echo >>{var.fName} ";EOF"

Then, please simulate a power outage - this step is needed to generate the proper RestoreSpindleSpeed.g macro.

Nightowl

@infiniteloop No, sorry. I get exactly the same error

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

No, sorry. I get exactly the same error

OK, let's see … Could you please compare your RestoreSpindleSpeed.g with this here:

; RestoreSpindleSpeed.g
; Spindle speed saved from running "null" CNC file

; set up the global variable abort_process so we can abort further execution of resurrect.g:
if {!exists(global.abort_process)}
    global abort_process = true
else
    set global.abort_process = true

; now comes the dialog:
M291 S3 R"Resurrect:" P"Continue with <null>?"

; we will only arrive here if the dialog was closed with OK:
set global.abort_process = false
M3 S0

;EOF

I generated this without a job running, that's why the CNC file name is "null", and without a spindle, M3 will always be told a speed of 0 RPM.

Nightowl

@infiniteloop Erm, my file looks like this...

; RestoreSpindleSpeed.g
; Spindle speed saved from running "0:/gcodes/Calibration Toolpath.gcode" CNC file

; set up the global variable abort_process so we can abort further execution of resurrect.g:
if {!exists(global.abort_process)}

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

I just noted a difference between your resurrect-prologue.g and the template I sent you - here's my version:

if {global.abort_process == true}

and here's your corresponding line:

if global.abort_process == true

You see the difference?

Nightowl

@infiniteloop I do, yes. I tried it at that, but changed it back to using the squiggly brackets, as it made no difference.

They're currently in place, as per your version.

; resurrect-prologue.g
M98 P"RestoreSpindleSpeed.g"
if {global.abort_process == true}
	abort
; abort terminates this and all other macros in the call chain, so 'rien ne va plus'
; Continuation has been approved, so here we go:"
M98 P"homeall.g"	; homes all axes before restarting the job
{1}

I don't know why there are two {1} showing at the end of the file, though. There's only 1 in the actual file!

Where is the global.abort_process declared, or is it a ssytem variable?

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

Erm, my file looks like this...

That's a radically abbreviated version…

Either, your SaveSpindleSpeed.g has been truncated so that it just generates 4 lines of output, or we see the result of too little power left after pulling the plug.

[Edit] First, please check your copy of SaveSpindleSpeed.g carefully against the posted version. If both are equal, call SaveSpindleSpeed.g from the console:

throws it an error?
looks the resulting RestoreSpindleSpeed.g like the one I posted above?

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

I don't know why there are two {1} showing at the end of the file

I'm not quite sure, either, but I think they indicate empty lines.

Nightowl

@infiniteloop said in Power failure and resurrection on a CNC machine:

but I think they indicate empty lines.

Maybe you're right about the powerloss, then, or (sorry for asking again) the global.abort_process variable hasn't been declared?

infiniteloop

@nightowl999 I've added some hints to my post above. Please try them …

Nightowl

@infiniteloop It says ~~the file's not found, but it's deffo there in my \sys folder!~~

Error: in file macro line 28 column 26: meta command: control character in string

OK, there was a " missing on the last line...