Finally got all the pieces together and trying to go through an initial setup.
I have downloaded the latest firmware from the GitHub. When I upload that firmware I got the loading bar getting to 19 seconds and then it says I’m disconnected. I’m not sure if the firmware has actually been loaded and the loading bar was just inaccurate. I was able to load the other two files.
The hamburger in the top right says fluid nc fw 0.87 - I suppose this is the firmware version? Which would suggest that it actually has not loaded?
I believe there is some kind of error because when I go through the calibration process I keep on getting error. 3. In the log it will not save the extend distance in the setup config.
Maybe this is a problem because my yaml file is the new one and my firmware is the old one?
This sounds to me like an issue with updating the firmware from a version before 1.0 to after 1.0. Because of some big changes we made there, that update has to be done over a USB cable.
I followed the steps in the video. When I run the full install.bat. I get some very quick error messages in the CMD that say that it could not connect to a device because it found zero serial ports.
The error asked for development tools. Behind that error screen there was a pop-up that asked if I wanted to install python development tools. It is 16gb… I am working through this.
Python is installed, the Mac installer worked. It could be a symptom that that Windows computer was about 10 years old and not very supported through Windows anymore.
16 GB install for python but I believe it worked as now I’m able to save to the yaml file without any error in the belts are extending. I will now continue the calibration process!
It finally finished… Or at least a popup came up and said it had finished. The numbers were still calculating in the console even after the popup…
Didn’t feel right to me so I am redoing it.
I also came across this post - which detailed that the the Tr and Tl belts need to be tight before calibration - I don’t think mine were so I am redoing it.
Hopefully this time on a faster machine. Is there a rough overview of what I can do to increase accuracy while calibrating? Tightening specific belts? Is the fitness number supposed to be getting higher? What is an acceptable value?
Just means it’s better if you pull the M4 “down” against the TR & TL belts before starting config. Terminology is to keep it the same for vertical or horizontal modes. T stans for Top B for Bottom, TR=Top Right which makes more sense when mode is vertical.
I’ve now been able to complete two calibration cycles without an error.
How?
Before clicking on Calibrate I selected Apply Tension. In @bar’s video he describes the process to calibrate a horizontal bed. Doing exactly what he describes (repeatedly) I was never able to complete a calibration cycle. However, when I click Apply Tension after Extend All and before Calibrate, I was able to calibrate.
Perhaps it’s an important difference between 1.05 and 1.06?
I got my first projecct done - it turned out just OK. I still need to sand it finish it etc. but I am worried about the accuracy of the machine. I see a lot of projects on here where people use finger / box joints so I think I should be able to get bettery accuracy.
I am cutting with a 4.1 kit, horizontally on concrete with anchors. I have laid the ply on top of 4 foam exercise style mats (it is not bolted down / secured).
I took some measurements of the pieces cut out and they are all within 1 milimeter of the actual dimension. They are just not very consistent. The circles were especially dissapointing as they were all elliptical along the same direction (hopefully this can be fixed).
The circles were eliptical - and about 1.5mm longer in the Y direction (about 1 oclock direction).
There are a couple of things that you can do to improve the accuracy. Running the calibration process again can help. It will use the first time through the calibration process as a starting point and refine it further.
There’s still a good amount of work going on to improve the calibration process, that seems like a common issue.
There are settings in the latest firmware which will let you scale your input shape in X and Y by some percentage which can be used to compensate for some distortion, but I would try running the calibration process again first because correcting for the distortion later is not as good as eliminating it in the first place.
It is a fishing pole holder - so I can tote around all 7 fishing poles and take turns with my kids detangling them while they foul up the next one
I agree I think I will continue with some recalibration tactics before I start messing with xy scaling. I just read through this post, and figured out that I need be more intentional about the height of the belt loop around my anchor on the stud that goes into the concrete - at this point I have just been letting it sit where it sits… So now I think I will build various length spacers so that they all sit at the same height as the height as the arm exits on the maslow (is that the correct way to do it? or should they all be the same height and the machine self corrects for the different arm heights?).
I did see a fair amount of wobble as the maslow cut the small circular pieces. It seems like changing direction causes a bit of tilt as it gets pulled from the top and torques around the base.
It has got me thinking about maybe making a big aluminum plate to sit over the plastic bottom and maybe try to nail the fit on the linear rods to make it more rigid. It would lose some z height but might be worth it if it is heavier and stiffer…
I agree I think I will continue with some recalibration tactics before I start
messing with xy scaling. I just read through this
post,
and figured out that I need be more intentional about the height of the belt
loop around my anchor on the stud that goes into the concrete - at this point
I have just been letting it sit where it sits… So now I think I will build
various length spacers so that they all sit at the same height as the height
as the arm exits on the maslow (is that the correct way to do it? or should
they all be the same height and the machine self corrects for the different
arm heights?).
if you tell the machine the correct offset from the anchor to the arm, the
machine calculates the correction, but it is better if there is less offset to
correct for.
I did see a fair amount of wobble as the maslow cut the small circular pieces.
It seems like changing direction causes a bit of tilt as it gets pulled from
the top and torques around the base.
It has got me thinking about maybe making a big aluminum plate to sit over the
plastic bottom and maybe try to nail the fit on the linear rods to make it
more rigid. It would lose some z height but might be worth it if it is
heavier and stiffer…
you can also make the bottom of the sled slipperier (wax or slippery tape,
teflon of UHMW plastic)
