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Probing with MKS DLC32 Controller?

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by dJOS_500, Jul 16, 2022.

  1. dJOS_500

    dJOS_500 Journeyman
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    G'day all, I found OBC today and immediately fell in love with it - I'd previously been using Candle and UGS with my little cobbled together CNC machine. Im running an MKS DLC32 v2.1 control board (powered by an ESP32) and the one thing I cant get working with OBC is probing.

    I've got a basic probe I made with a bit of PCB off-cut and it works the same way as a standard touch-plate. However, when I try to use it (or touch directly onto Aluminium stock), Probing just smacks straight into the probe or stock and tries to keep going. My probing methods work fine in UGS/Candle.

    I do have 5v, Sig & GND pins on the DLC32 but Im only using 2 wires atm

    Any ideas on what im doing wrong?
     
    #1 dJOS_500, Jul 16, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2022
  2. dJOS_500

    dJOS_500 Journeyman
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    Hmm, I tried again and was able to get it working after entering the thickness of my probe.

    I’m wondering if my previous attempt with aluminum stock failed as OBC doesn’t like setting the thickness to zero?
     
  3. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    CONTROL does nothing. It sends a G38.2 command that tells the Firmware on the board to run a probe. The board handles it all on its own and reports back when its done. The host is never involved in the actual probing

    If it fails to stop it means your controller never saw / ignored the signal going low (EMI possibly)
     
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  4. dJOS_500

    dJOS_500 Journeyman
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    Cheers, I may screwed up somewhere.

    Btw, any chance of getting heightmap functionality added to Control? It’s the one thing that forces me to keep Candle installed on my CNC laptop (for making PCB prototypes).
     
  5. Peter Van Der Walt

    Peter Van Der Walt OpenBuilds Team
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    There is a fork out there with probing. See To be tested at some point, sounds like an awesome feature by petervanderwalt · Pull Request #110 · OpenBuilds/OpenBuilds-CONTROL that we do intent merging some day (but as its not mergeable it'll take some work) . Hasn't been a high priority as there are good ways of mounting thin stock on a surfaced bed that does not need extra compensation in software
     
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  6. dJOS_500

    dJOS_500 Journeyman
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    Cheers.

    That is true for very basic circuit designs, but when you Have mostly SMD designs with tight tolerances, you need a heightmap to produce a functional part.
     
  7. David the swarfer

    David the swarfer OpenBuilds Team
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    note that aluminum oxide is not conductive
    So, it is quite easy to fail to probe the surface of aluminum, and if it is anodized (which creates a thick oxide layer) then it is even worse.
     
  8. dJOS_500

    dJOS_500 Journeyman
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    That's a good point, this was a cheap 3D printer bed that I was experimenting on. I normally use 5052 for making things and that conducts quite well.
     

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