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Suggestions for improving (the already awesome) CONTROL software

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Duncan Meyer, Dec 3, 2020.

  1. Duncan Meyer

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    Hi,
    I think I've mentioned this before, but just in case it was missed:
    Is there a way for the CONTROL software to monitor the length of jobs? I charge by the minute on my Workbee 1515, and don't always remember to shut off the manual timer at the end of a job. It would be VERY useful for CONTROL to do this (from job start to job end).

    Regards,
    Duncan
     
  2. Giarc

    Giarc OpenBuilds Team
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    This probably won't help you (especially if you do not use Vectric products), but I am impressed by how close the time estimate is for a job in Vcarve. Compared to other simulators I have tried it has been pretty accurate. Are you good with Arduino programming? You could do a timer sketch using the relay as a "button" on a separate arduino and monitor how long the button was pressed. I am a luddite though. I just use the time my CAM software says it will take and then go check on the machine when it gets close to that time. :) In this case 6 minutes and 4 seconds.
    upload_2020-12-3_19-52-13.png
     
    sharmstr likes this.
  3. Duncan Meyer

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    Thanks mate. But I'm not into programming anything. My days of fiddling with code are long past. However, I'm more interested in an "elapsed time" readout, to log the actual time taken by a job, so that I can on-charge this to my customers.

    Regards,
    Duncan
     
    Giarc likes this.
  4. JustinTime

    JustinTime Veteran
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    Could you not use one of the options to turn on the spindle, or the pump or whatever, to turn on and off a timer?
     
  5. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    I can see the value in helping you with Billing, so consider it on the Todo for an upcoming release :)
    In particular, because you bill honestly (; and not just suck a "time" out of your thumb like some others (; to load the bill with
     
  6. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    Implemented in an upcoming release
    upload_2020-12-4_21-2-46.png
     
  7. Duncan Meyer

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    Hi Peter,
    That's brilliant. Thank you. Eagerly awaiting the upcoming release. I'll beta test it for you if you wish.

    Duncan
     
    Peter Van Der Walt likes this.
  8. HarveyMatyas

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    Has this been implemented? When I ran a test job, I did not get something like above? Do I need to update the software or turn a feature on?
    Thank you.
     
  9. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    It was at the time, but was since replaced by the Job Log (Find it under Wizards and Tools menu) - slightly better as it also lists historical jobs if you forgot to write down at the end of a job.

    upload_2022-7-26_21-59-17.png
     
  10. HarveyMatyas

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    Thank you, I'm still feeling my way around things. I hope you don't mind my questions.
     
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