Issues:
1.) Lens calibration - software crashes and closes on the first step, so I can never get calibrated. This has worked previously (previous version of Lightburn), so I still have that calibration and decided to go onto the camera calibration assuming it uses the previous lens calibration - I think it does as the image produced in the overlay is excellent with no distortion.
2.) Camera calibration - setting the controller to Machine Zero Origin always results in an “oversize” issue or a machine crash. If I go back to my origin as “previous position” it will print the test image, and I can go through the calibration process - but the result is inaccurate. It is off by about 2 inches in X and Y.
For the lens calibration, if you have a honeycomb bed make sure that it’s covered. The software gets confused by all the extra “circles”.
I believe the mode you want is “Soft Origin”, meaning that the software places the job as it appears in the workspace. I’ve been harassing Trocen to add the ability to set this in software, and/or let me read the current mode.
Protocol is one thing - reprogramming the FPGA with new controls would be a whole different beast, and they are generally very hard to get code out of. I might try to create my own controller at some point, but it’d be new.
Detailed conversations have been had about this. The Ruida has an Altera FPGA and a TI DSP in it. They didn’t do that just because it was the nice thing to do.
It runs a screen/ keypad, does network and USB communication, has industrial features, and is really fast. This is a high bar to overcome.
That said, if you have feedback on what you’d like in a higher end/ more industrial laser controller, I am taking notes…
Thanks - but “soft origin” doesn’t make it work either.
Is this possible: Print the calibration image using any origin mode. Then set the machine to “Machine origin”, reboot the laser, restart Lightburn to allow it to communicate after the laser reboot, and then go through the calibration process?
It’s not, unfortunately - the calibration marks have to go to exactly the right / known locations on the laser bed in order to do the math properly. I need to know “this point in the camera view corresponds to this exact location in the laser area” and without absolute positioning you can’t get that.
I’ve been thinking of having an option for Trocen controllers to leave the laser in “User origin” mode (key origin), but then having LightBurn jog to the correct position, set the origin, and run the job that way, but I’m still undecided.