Acorn Board

All things related to the Centroid Acorn CNC Controller

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usinart
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:06 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
Allin1DC CNC Controller: No
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: none
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No

Acorn Board

Post by usinart »

My Laser compagy want to know on what kind of system\base is built the acorn system .
as show on the picture the software want to indentify the system base.
Attachments
light.PNG
Richards
Posts: 692
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Location: South Jordan, UT

Re: Acorn Board

Post by Richards »

The Acorn board comes with its own software. You use the Acorn as the central component in a DIY controller. You use a dedicated ethernet port with a dedicated IP address on your computer to connect to the Acorn board at its IP address. You can write your own G-code programs or use Centroid's user-friendly program to generate G-code. For complex projects, you would probably use 3rd-party software to design your parts and then have the 3rd-party software generate G-code. Be aware of the line limits for the basic software that is included with the Acorn. You may need to purchase the Professional license to extend the Acorn's capabilities. That license is inexpensive compared to other manufacturers.
-Mike Richards
martyscncgarage
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Re: Acorn Board

Post by martyscncgarage »

None are listed.
It interprets G Code.

Marty
Reminder, for support please follow this post: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=383
We can't "SEE" what you see...
Mesa, AZ
Sword
Posts: 652
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Re: Acorn Board

Post by Sword »

Usinaet,

Until LightBurn and/or Centroid make a few changes that allow us to easier use the output from LB on the Acorn controller, the best solution I have found so far is to choose "Marlin" for your device and then use "Save Gcode" to save your file. After saving it, open it in NotePad++ and manually make the needed edits with Find/Replace. I have made a macro in NotePad++ that will automatically make the needed edits and save the file. After that, just load the file in CNC12 and run it.

Once you have "Marlin" set as your device, be sure to go to device settings and configure any needed settings and in the G-code tab, add your desired user start/end scripts. Doing this will allow for the least amount of post editing in NotePad++.

The problem with using any of the GRBL configs is that GRBL controllers automatically set 0% power when a G0 command is encountered and therefore GRBL output doesn't set S0 before any rapid moves. This keeps the laser at the last set power level when traveling to the next start position thus engraving lines all over your project. This situation makes it much more difficult to edit the saved GRBL code, where Marlin code isn't that way.

Hope this helps and I might add some screenshots or a video to this post later. I can also add a simple user start/end script for LB.

Scott
Scott
usinart
Posts: 78
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Re: Acorn Board

Post by usinart »

Hi Scott
glade to hear from someone that have experience at using laser . Yes a copy of your script would be very helpful . If is not to much to asking a copy of your macro that you use in notepad would help me very much !
As a new use of laser I had to learn the LB too . As a long user of LB do you know a tutorial that give an over view of the product , I don't want to becaume a pro just using it properlly .
Thanks
Alain
Sword
Posts: 652
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:04 pm
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Re: Acorn Board

Post by Sword »

Alain,

Here are some screen shots and the scripts that I use for a Marlin device. You will likely need to modify them for your needs. As far as the NotePad++ macro, it might be best to record your own because it was recorded for my needs. Keep in mind that a macro needs to be recorded with keyboard commands and not mouse clicks.

The user start script is this...

Code: Select all

M200 "***THIS IS A LASER FILE***\nHEIGHT SET AND SAFETY GLASSES ON?!?\nCYCLE START to continue...\nCYCLE CANCEL to get out of here!"

M224 #101 "Do you want PWM VM? (Y or N)"
  IF #101 == y THEN G37 ON   ; Turn on velocity based PWM modulation
  IF #101 == n THEN G37 OFF  ; Turn off velocity based PWM modulation

G17 G20 G90 ; Plane selection XY, units inches, absolute positioning
G64 OFF     ; Turn off smoothing
M7          ; Exhaust fan on
M37 S0      ; Laser enabled and set to 0% power
G4 P2
G0 X0 Y0 Z1
G0 Z0

N100
The user end script...

Code: Select all

M25  ; Move to Z home
G0 X0.000000 Y0.000000

G37 OFF ; Turn off velocity based PWM modulation
M38     ; Cool down and disable laser
M9      ; Exhaust fan off

N1000
In LB, I put a leading and trailing space in the start/end scripts with the enter key. Attached are a couple of screen shots of the device settings and start/end scripts.
For the macro, you can try coping the shortcuts.xml file to your C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++ directory to see how it shows up in the macro menu, but it's not easily edited for any changes. That's why it would be best for you to record and save your own macro. Basically, this is what mine does...

Ctrl + H (opens find/replace)
F0 (enters F0 in find)
Alt + A (replaces all F0 with blank)
Alt + F (highlights find what)
M9 (enters F0 in find)
Enter (finds first M9)
Alt + R (two times to delete the first two M9's and leave the last for my exhaust fan)
Alt + F (highlights find what)
M106 (enters M106 in find)
Alt + A (replaces all M106 with blank)
Esc
Ctrl + S (saves the file and done)

You may need to do a delete for anything that is in the replace field when you record. Just a bit of trial and error to get it to work the way you want.

A few good video tutorial collections...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-TdV9 ... MZztA6eZsQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3-k4 ... d_g/videos
https://www.youtube.com/c/HouseOfLasers/videos

Scott
Attachments
shortcuts.xml
(4.18 KiB) Downloaded 98 times
Marlin Device Settings.jpg
User Start_End Script.jpg
Scott
usinart
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:06 pm
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Re: Acorn Board

Post by usinart »

Hello Scott,
Many thanks for the macro. To tell the truth I don't know what to do with it because I haven't used it often.
If I understand correctly I keep it as a canvas and I put the body of the program between the start and the end and I rename everything to have a program. Does her look like her?
With Cnc12 what kind of setup have you done so that the laser responds to the command from lightburn.
One more thank you
Alain
usinart
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:06 pm
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CPU10 or CPU7: No

Re: Acorn Board

Post by usinart »

Hello Scott, I tried the macro and and with acorn I had problem as F0 was sending error message . What else should be use ?
I would post the g-code tomorrow for evaluation of you .
Thanks
Sword
Posts: 652
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:04 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
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AcornSix CNC Controller: No
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CNC Control System Serial Number: none
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
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CPU10 or CPU7: No
Location: Thorp WI

Re: Acorn Board

Post by Sword »

My macro above finds and deletes all F0's and replaces them with nothing.
Scott
usinart
Posts: 78
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:06 pm
Acorn CNC Controller: Yes
Allin1DC CNC Controller: No
Oak CNC controller: No
CNC Control System Serial Number: none
DC3IOB: No
CNC12: Yes
CNC11: No
CPU10 or CPU7: No

Re: Acorn Board

Post by usinart »

How do you manage the move between letter in text .
Attachments
IMG_2224.JPG
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