Hi,
Have you looked at how axis is coded?
The whole application holds in one big python file plus a few so-called "libs"
in the lib directory. Right now, I have two problems that kind of block me
from starting out :
- What/where is the "algorithm" that converts the gCode to opengl commands?
- How are the extents computed and displayed?
Also, an initial design should be sketched out as well a user stories. Remind
that I'm an agile kind of coder, so I put emphasis on "sketched".
What are the model (business logic) needs ?
- conversion from rs274 (gcode) to a 3d object (we could use standard
formats
here, like .obj, or .stl)
- user/rights management
- stepconf-like configuration
- preprocessors for gcodes (Eric Johnson's use case)
- Complete independence from the UI
- ...
What are the (local?) UI needs ?
- Jog interface
- Home axis
- DRO
- MDI
- 3d preview of the gcode
- Tools library (?)
- Offsets library (?)
- 3d view of the work in progress
- ability to customize the layout
- etc..
What are the remote UI needs ?
- control over [insert protocol here]
- update rate of x Hz
- etc..
I could host the project on my server for initial development, along with
project management tools like trac or project wiki. Or we can setup a new
directory on main project's svn. But I think the emc project should be
packaged in multiple sub-projects (it is already kind of done, but the
structure needs improvement IMO)
I would (of course) need a lot of help. If axis original authors (Jeff Epler
and Chris Radek) could help us at least understand the codebase it could save
use a lot of time.
On May 23, 2009 08:39:08 pm Frank Tkalcevic wrote:
> My 2 cents...
>
> I'm new to emc. I chose emc for my lathe after using mach for my mill,
> mainly for the threading support, but also because it was open source.
>
> I was very impressed with the internal architecture of emc, and how easy it
> was to build and a configure a system with components, pins and links (I'm
> a programmer). I was expecting the UI to be same, being able to build the
> UI by add the visual components that I needed. Unfortunately, the emc UI
> isn't there yet.
>
> I'd love to see a mach like interface, where a complete UI can be built by
> dragging and dropping components, and linking them with script. Is this a
> lot of work? Probably, but once the framework is designed and implemented,
> anyone can add components.
>
> I also like the idea of using an emrsh like layer in the UI - I use X over
> the network, so I can code inside the house, not in my cold workshop, but
> the updates, especially the 3D, are terribly slow.
>
> At the moment I'm working on a visual pendant configuring application
> (configure any USB HID device to be a pendant in emc) so I can use my home
> made pendant, and also to learn Qt. After that I was looking at a visual
> Hal configuring application, so I can test out more of Qt's features. I'm
> definitely interested in contributing if you need help.
>
> Frank
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