pcb2gcode-devel — PCB to Gcode - Developers

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] status update...

[Bernhard K. <ber...@gm...>]

Hi, so i spent the last couple of hours creating the patches of the stuff i
changed the last week.

It seems that i made some minor mistakes in using git: some changes i wanted
to have in one patch are only in the next one.
Still, if applied in chronological order, things should be alright.

Hope you like it, the patches are based on todays git version...
greetings,
 bernhard





On Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 1:36 PM, Bernhard Kubicek <
ber...@gm...> wrote:

> I have made a small patch. On this machine, i am not able to actually test
> the patch, so these are rather small changes..
>
> Implemented:
> * improved color choosing. It's quite unnecessary, as there is little
> change for conflicts, but now there is no chance that stupid colors like
> black/white are picked.
> * I was trying to understand the underlying workflow in surface.*, and made
> some comments.
> * I fear, that there is a still a problem in calculate_outline. If the
> outline is curved and only one pixel thin, like in standard eagle export, it
> does not work as expected, and the loop will not be left. For error checking
> i hence put some range checking.
>
> As mentioned this is my first patch. Ever. So please point out any
> problems..
>
> bernhard
>
>

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] status update...

[Bernhard K. <ber...@gm...>]

I have made a small patch. On this machine, i am not able to actually test
the patch, so these are rather small changes..

Implemented:
* improved color choosing. It's quite unnecessary, as there is little change
for conflicts, but now there is no chance that stupid colors like
black/white are picked.
* I was trying to understand the underlying workflow in surface.*, and made
some comments.
* I fear, that there is a still a problem in calculate_outline. If the
outline is curved and only one pixel thin, like in standard eagle export, it
does not work as expected, and the loop will not be left. For error checking
i hence put some range checking.

As mentioned this is my first patch. Ever. So please point out any
problems..

bernhard

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] status update...

[Bernhard K. <ber...@gm...>]

Hi, i just updated my git, and some features i added is already in the git.
I will merge my stuff with the current git, and then try to upload it..
sorry...


On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 10:39 AM, Bernhard Kubicek <
ber...@gm...> wrote:

> Hi Crysn!
> Hi Patric, hi everybody else!
>
> a short status update after a couple of night working on PCB2Gcode:
>
> * there is now a switch -metric. A variable double unit=1 will be
> overwritten by 1/25.4 for that, and used for lenghts. dpi and output are
> unchanged
>
> * You can specify preamble und postamble files, with individual start
> up/end commands for your mill.
>
> * path-optimisation One routine calculates the distance betwwen a punkt and
> a linie. The rastered path is an array of x-y coordinaten. For each point of
> this array x_n is is evaluated if its already on the line between
> neighboring pixels: If the point  x_n' distance to the line  x_{n-1}x_{n+1}
> is smaller than a threshold,it is deleted.This is done until there no more
> change. The deletion is done using std::list...
> First, I wanted to delete longer tracks at once, however it was slow as
> hell:
> (int from=0;from<n-2;from++)
> (int to=from+2;to<n;to++)
> (int testpoint=from+1;testpoint<to;testpoint++)
> if all testpoints obsolet->delete
>
> Result: duplicated paths are not 100% equal. The simplification depends of
> the rotational direction. But the deviations are in the range of one pixel..
>
> * The floodfill needs  "components", groups of pixels with same colors,
> based on the black/white  rendered gerber. Outlines have 1 pixel width. If
> this line is not arranged vertical/horizontal, the floodfill needs to
> respect diagonal pixels. Otherwise one outline=multiple components.
>
> * -drilmilll mills holes by using the same tool as for the outline milling.
> E.g. the depth-steps and diameter. Larger holes are done by circle
> movements..
>
> * debug-images have useful names, partially
> "callingfunction_layername.png".
>
> * metaboard2.sh is a bash script that exports the layers from a eagle brd
> file  per command line option, and calls pcb2gcode with some settings.
>
> * output gcode now uses variables for z values, emc style #1, #2,...
>
> Open problems:
> * Outline does not work for me. My testing-pcb has a large interior hole  (
> eagle puts it both in outline and drill/wtf?). In this case, the outline
> calculation is faulty or creates an endless loop. One problem was the
> nondiagonal floodfill, sadly not the only one.
>
> * I would like that the  exporter-classes return a string to the  main,
> instead of writing files by them selfs. Thereby one can create combined
> files, for drilling+milling, and drilling+milling+outline, to check the
> output in e.g. EMC.
> This is not so easy, as ngc-exporter exists only once, and i need multiple
> layers individually.
>
> * offset und mill-diameter should be differentiated, otherwise the outline
> milling is corrupted while creating large offsets.
>
> * Style... I am used to tabs and other braket rules.
>
> * I need a way of making my changes available to you. Imho a patch is not
> the best solution, and I am not confident enough with git to just upload it.
> Maybe chrysn can help me there.
>
> If somebody could solve some of these problems, it would be awesome.
>
> I would propose that chrysn and me will combine our changes, and the bring
> them back to the community.
> Otherwise, if somebody wants my current code, i can send it by mail...
> I am a bit helpless with version-management...
>
> Bernhard Kubicek
> Metalab/Vienna/Austria
> 0664 620 7748
>
>

[Pcb2gcode-devel] status update...

[Bernhard K. <ber...@gm...>]

Hi Crysn!
Hi Patric, hi everybody else!

a short status update after a couple of night working on PCB2Gcode:

* there is now a switch -metric. A variable double unit=1 will be
overwritten by 1/25.4 for that, and used for lenghts. dpi and output are
unchanged

* You can specify preamble und postamble files, with individual start up/end
commands for your mill.

* path-optimisation One routine calculates the distance betwwen a punkt and
a linie. The rastered path is an array of x-y coordinaten. For each point of
this array x_n is is evaluated if its already on the line between
neighboring pixels: If the point  x_n' distance to the line  x_{n-1}x_{n+1}
is smaller than a threshold,it is deleted.This is done until there no more
change. The deletion is done using std::list...
First, I wanted to delete longer tracks at once, however it was slow as
hell:
(int from=0;from<n-2;from++)
(int to=from+2;to<n;to++)
(int testpoint=from+1;testpoint<to;testpoint++)
if all testpoints obsolet->delete

Result: duplicated paths are not 100% equal. The simplification depends of
the rotational direction. But the deviations are in the range of one pixel..

* The floodfill needs  "components", groups of pixels with same colors,
based on the black/white  rendered gerber. Outlines have 1 pixel width. If
this line is not arranged vertical/horizontal, the floodfill needs to
respect diagonal pixels. Otherwise one outline=multiple components.

* -drilmilll mills holes by using the same tool as for the outline milling.
E.g. the depth-steps and diameter. Larger holes are done by circle
movements..

* debug-images have useful names, partially "callingfunction_layername.png".

* metaboard2.sh is a bash script that exports the layers from a eagle brd
file  per command line option, and calls pcb2gcode with some settings.

* output gcode now uses variables for z values, emc style #1, #2,...

Open problems:
* Outline does not work for me. My testing-pcb has a large interior hole  (
eagle puts it both in outline and drill/wtf?). In this case, the outline
calculation is faulty or creates an endless loop. One problem was the
nondiagonal floodfill, sadly not the only one.

* I would like that the  exporter-classes return a string to the  main,
instead of writing files by them selfs. Thereby one can create combined
files, for drilling+milling, and drilling+milling+outline, to check the
output in e.g. EMC.
This is not so easy, as ngc-exporter exists only once, and i need multiple
layers individually.

* offset und mill-diameter should be differentiated, otherwise the outline
milling is corrupted while creating large offsets.

* Style... I am used to tabs and other braket rules.

* I need a way of making my changes available to you. Imho a patch is not
the best solution, and I am not confident enough with git to just upload it.
Maybe chrysn can help me there.

If somebody could solve some of these problems, it would be awesome.

I would propose that chrysn and me will combine our changes, and the bring
them back to the community.
Otherwise, if somebody wants my current code, i can send it by mail...
I am a bit helpless with version-management...

Bernhard Kubicek
Metalab/Vienna/Austria
0664 620 7748

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] Hi

[Patrick B. <pbi...@us...>]

Hi guys,

i've finally applied chrysn's patches. Nice work!

Bernhard, I'm looking forward to seeing your changes! I like your 
parametrization idea, maybe we can use those values for interoperability 
with the height probing script from cnczone at some point.
I wanted to do the optimisation you have in mind for quite some time, 
it's great somebody finally thinks about implementing it.

-- Patrick

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] Hi

[chrysn <ch...@fs...>]

hello pcb2gcode-devel,

On Tue, Nov 09, 2010 at 12:12:35AM +0100, Bernhard Kubicek wrote:
> just to tell somebody,
> i am curently heavily working on the code. Due to some problems with
> visolate, i am moving our workflow to pcb2gcode.

there are a couple of patches pending upstream adoption in my patch
queue [1] as well. they range from "safe for immediate application" (

* [c9ad172] remove abs
* [c0913dc] radius compensation in board size
* [d96c66a] don't depend on DISPLAY

) over refactoring (

* [627eae8] colors
* [70527df] labelling for debug images

) to "real changes" (

* [6d49852] crop to outline
* [5bd5f44] configurable output file names
* [50a77e5] mirror along y axis instead of arbitrary gerber center

) that might even meed a bit of refinement (especially with cropping,
care has to be taken of the handling of line and polygon style
outlines).

these patches are part of the debian packages i'm building; they can be
found at [2].


regards
chrysn

[1] http://gitorious.net/pcb2gcode/pcb2gcode/commits/patched
[2] http://archive.amsuess.com/pool/main/p/pcb2gcode/

-- 
To use raw power is to make yourself infinitely vulnerable to greater powers.
  -- Bene Gesserit axiom

[Pcb2gcode-devel] Hi

[Bernhard K. <ber...@gm...>]

just to tell somebody,
i am curently heavily working on the code. Due to some problems with
visolate, i am moving our workflow to pcb2gcode.

I implemented a feature for drilling, so that by specifying the option
--milldrill, the mill head is used for drilling.
Holes smaller than the mill diameter are drilled by a simple in-out move,
larger holes are milled as G02 circles in the appropriate depth-steps.
Also, I will try to read the gcode pre and postamble from the settings file,
so it can be adjusted without recompiling.
For the drilling I implemented some parametrization, so that e.g. zsafe  is
defined by #50 early in the code, and people can change it in the gcode,
without multiplie replaces.. This I will also try to do for the normal
layers.
If there is time enough, I will try to change the path so that unnecessary
intermediate steps are ommited. This should dramatically reduce the file
sizes...
I will post the code, when its completly finished...

Bernhard Kubicek,
0664 620 7748
www.metalab.at

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[Patrick B. <pbi...@us...>]

Awesome :-)

Since your PCB seems to be round, you might want to cut it out using 
pcb2gcode too. There are a few notes about that on the pcb2gcode wiki in 
case you're interested.

Thanks again for your feedback, I've already fixed the parameter 
checking in the git repository.

If you need something else, ask me anytime.

--Patrick


On 10/03/2010 06:40 PM,  Michał  wrote:
> Now it's working very good :) Thank you very much :)

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[Patrick B. <pbi...@us...>]

You seem to be using pcb2gcode-1.0.0, that works for me neither.
I've released pcb2gcode-1.0.3 a few hours ago, it works with that.
Please download and install the new version and tell me whether it works.

-- Patrick


On 10/03/2010 05:57 PM,  Michał  wrote:
> It still doesn't work, maybe need more options?
>

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[M. <co...@op...>]

It still doesn't work, maybe need more options?
 
pcb...@li... napisał(a): 
 > There are a few parameters missing, try
 > 
 > pcb2gcode --back RGB_Lamp-Back.gbr  --zsafe=3 --zwork=-1 --offset=0.01 
 > --mill-feed=6.0 --mill-speed=20000 --zchange=0.8
 > 
 > then it should work.
 > I forgot to check those parameters for validity, I'll add that ASAP.
 > 
 > Thanks a lot for your feedback!
 > 
 > -- Patrick
 > 
 > 
 > On 10/03/2010 05:20 PM,  Michał  wrote:
 > > only 3 which are need to convert, maybe you will try to convert it with random value of options, maybe i write it to big.
 > >
 > > pcb2gcode --back RGB_Lamp-Back.gbr  --zsafe=3 --zwork=-1 --offset=0.01
 > >
 > > Now I only try to convert the file to lern how do it.
 > >
 > >
 > > "Patrick Birnzain"<pbi...@us...>  napisał(a):
 > >   >  Your gerber file works fine for me.
 > >   >
 > >   >  What command line options did you use?
 > >   >  I can see that I'll need to improve the parameter checking.
 > >   >
 > >   >  -- Patrick
 > >   >
 > >   >
 > >   >  On 10/03/2010 04:38 PM,  Michał  wrote:
 > >   >  >  Hi!
 > >   >  >
 > >   >  >  Thx for fast answer, now i have other error ;)
 > >   >  >
 > >   >  >  terminate called after throwing an instance of 'boost::exception_detail::clone_impl<boost::exception_detail::error_info_injector<boost::bad_any_cast>   >'
 > >   >  >     what():  boost::bad_any_cast: failed conversion using boost::any_cast
 > >   >  >
 > >   >  >  I sent you my gerber file, maybe it's bad, or i do something wrong. It,s file exported from KiCad.
 > >

-- 
Michał

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[Patrick B. <pbi...@us...>]

There are a few parameters missing, try

pcb2gcode --back RGB_Lamp-Back.gbr  --zsafe=3 --zwork=-1 --offset=0.01 
--mill-feed=6.0 --mill-speed=20000 --zchange=0.8

then it should work.
I forgot to check those parameters for validity, I'll add that ASAP.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

-- Patrick


On 10/03/2010 05:20 PM,  Michał  wrote:
> only 3 which are need to convert, maybe you will try to convert it with random value of options, maybe i write it to big.
>
> pcb2gcode --back RGB_Lamp-Back.gbr  --zsafe=3 --zwork=-1 --offset=0.01
>
> Now I only try to convert the file to lern how do it.
>
>
> "Patrick Birnzain"<pbi...@us...>  napisał(a):
>   >  Your gerber file works fine for me.
>   >
>   >  What command line options did you use?
>   >  I can see that I'll need to improve the parameter checking.
>   >
>   >  -- Patrick
>   >
>   >
>   >  On 10/03/2010 04:38 PM,  Michał  wrote:
>   >  >  Hi!
>   >  >
>   >  >  Thx for fast answer, now i have other error ;)
>   >  >
>   >  >  terminate called after throwing an instance of 'boost::exception_detail::clone_impl<boost::exception_detail::error_info_injector<boost::bad_any_cast>   >'
>   >  >     what():  boost::bad_any_cast: failed conversion using boost::any_cast
>   >  >
>   >  >  I sent you my gerber file, maybe it's bad, or i do something wrong. It,s file exported from KiCad.
>

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[Patrick B. <pbi...@us...>]

Your gerber file works fine for me.

What command line options did you use?
I can see that I'll need to improve the parameter checking.

-- Patrick


On 10/03/2010 04:38 PM,  Michał  wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Thx for fast answer, now i have other error ;)
>
> terminate called after throwing an instance of 'boost::exception_detail::clone_impl<boost::exception_detail::error_info_injector<boost::bad_any_cast>  >'
>    what():  boost::bad_any_cast: failed conversion using boost::any_cast
>
> I sent you my gerber file, maybe it's bad, or i do something wrong. It,s file exported from KiCad.

Re: [Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[Patrick B. <pbi...@us...>]

Hi!

Welcome to the pcb2gcode mailing list!

You've forgotten the second dash before "zwork", it should be --zwork 
not -zwork. Just a typo :-)
I'll try to come up with a better error message so the program doesn't 
crash when this happens.

By the way, zsafe and zwork are read as "inches above the PCB surface", 
you'll probably want something like --zsafe=0.1 --zwork=-0.008 (note the 
minus in zwork!)
There's a file called "millproject" supplied with the source code, it 
contains some conservative defaults for most parameters.

I know about the warning by configure, I don't think it'll be an issue 
unless anybody tries cross-compiling the program or something.

Thanks for your message!

-- Patrick


On 10/02/2010 07:32 PM,  Michał  wrote:
> Hi, i have a problem with running pcb2gcode. When i type
> pcb2gcode --front psgroov_USB-PCB_Edges.gbr --zsafe 3 -zwork 2 i have error
>
> i have error
> terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
>    what():  Invalid option.
>
> and during configuration
> checking for the toolset name used by Boost for g++... unknown
> configure: WARNING: could not figure out which toolset name to use for g++
>
> i use new ubuntu from linuxcnc
>
>

[Pcb2gcode-devel] problems with run

[M. <co...@op...>]

Hi, i have a problem with running pcb2gcode. When i type  
pcb2gcode --front psgroov_USB-PCB_Edges.gbr --zsafe 3 -zwork 2 i have error 

i have error
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
  what():  Invalid option.

and during configuration
checking for the toolset name used by Boost for g++... unknown
configure: WARNING: could not figure out which toolset name to use for g++

i use new ubuntu from linuxcnc


-- 
Michał

[Pcb2gcode-devel] pcb2gcode 0.4.5 crashes

[Zafi R. <zr...@gm...>]

Hello all,

I've got a fatal error: connected-component.c on the attached gbr file 
created with pcb.

Please let me know if you need more information to debug.

Regards,
Zafi.