Go to Position After Finishing Each Layer

[BuxZED 2]

Hi All,

 

Long time reader, first-time poster.

 

Is there a way I can get Cura to add few extra lines of Gcode after each layer. preferably after the z hop after the layer finish. I'm trying to trigger a microswitch  after each layer by bumping it with the printhead assembly

 

The code I require to be added is something along the lines of 

 

G1 F1350 X100 Y10 ; get the print head into a position so it doesn't approach the microswitch in a different angle every time
G1 F1350 X120 Y10 ; bump against the microswitch lever square on
G4 S03 ; wait 3 seconds with the microswitch triggered 

 

I'm using Cura V 3.3.1

 

 

Kind regards,

BuxZED

[gr5 2,167]

In a text editor it's pretty easy to add these lines with a recorded macro.  Search for "Z" go to end of line, insert gcodes.  Repeat macro for every layer.

 

The best way to do this would be a plugin.  Do you know a little python?  It's not hard to write cura plugins.

 

Are you going to take a photo on every layer completion?  To make a sped up video?

[BuxZED 2]

2 minutes ago, gr5 said:

In a text editor it's pretty easy to add these lines with a recorded macro.  Search for "Z" go to end of line, insert gcodes.  Repeat macro for every layer.

 

The best way to do this would be a plugin.  Do you know a little python?  It's not hard to write cura plugins.

 

Are you going to take a photo on every layer completion?  To make a sped up video?

6

 

 

fantastic tip. looking at the gcode in a text editor, I can easily write a Python script to spit out a new text file with the extra lines added. would be lovely to import that as a Cura plugin though

 

I have written python scripts in the past for comparing and renaming files in a folder and such. but never written a Cura plugin. is there a getting started guide anywhere? alternatively some sample code I can look at?

 

yes. on all time-lapse videos, you can see the print head wissing about. I think that looks quite distracting. if I take each picture with the printhead parked in the corner, I think it would look quite nice. it's an idea, will see how it goes ?

[gr5 2,167]

That's great that you know python as plugins are written in python.  The simpler kind of plugin is called a "post processing plugin" which works on the gcode that cura just created and does a final step.  That's what I recommend.  The existing ones can be found here:

https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/20442-post-processing-plugins

 

The code for them to see how they are written is here: plugins/PostProcessingPlugin/scripts

(what operating system do you use?  The main install folder depends on your OS and then go down from there)

 

I think maybe you can put your plugin there but it will get lost when you install a new cura so I think it's recommended to go in the user area which can be found in cura by doing "help" "show configuration folder".  You may see a plugins.json file there but I'm not sure what to do at this point.

 

@ctbeke @ahoeben - is there a post processing plugin writing guide somewhere I can link to?

 

I sat in a ctbeke course on doing this but now I don't know where the power point presentation went. ?

 

[gr5 2,167]

By the way, make sure you also do a retract.  If you keep track of the E value (extruder) you can do a retract like this:

G0 E1243.123

 

where the number after the E is the new position to move the extruder to (for UM2 the position is in cubic mm of filament but for UMO, UM3 and S5 it's in linear mm of filament).

 

And of course an un-retract when it gets back to printing again.

 

Also you don't want to pause for a few seconds because even if you only pause for 3 seconds the nozzle will leak (as pla heats up it slowly expands driving filament out) and then that little tiny "sausage" below the nozzle will hang there and when the nozzle moves back into the part it will attach to the side of the part giving you tiny strings sticking out of the print - one on each layer.  So you want to take that photo very quickly.

 

It might be best to print a tower next to the part (this feature is built into cura) and do the photo  right when it first starts to print the tower.  If the tower is near your switch (you can position the tower) then no need to write any plugin at all!  The advantage of a tower is there is very little delay from when it finishes a layer on the tower to jump over to the print - it will pick a point as close as possible to the tower to start that layer.

 

[ctbeke 133]

38 minutes ago, gr5 said:

I sat in a ctbeke course on doing this but now I don't know where the power point presentation went.

 

You can find the slides here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YY9IE8HPTmXydkej91vKg7MzaWopoPH66_UR1ev3ydc/edit?usp=sharing.

 

Another good starting point for Python plugins is https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/wiki/Plugin-Directory.

 

For post processing scripts I'm not sure where the best resources are, maybe @ghostkeeper can tell a bit about that?

[BuxZED 2]

thanks @gr5 and @ctbeke

learning a lot, and making good progress. I'll be sure to post if I run in to a roadblock

? 

[ghostkeeper 105]

There is no guide to post-processing scripts, but I've always recommended people to take a look at the other scripts as example. The search and replace script is really simple and should be clear for adaptation: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/blob/master/plugins/PostProcessingPlugin/scripts/SearchAndReplace.py

[BuxZED 2]

 

 

Hi all,

 

this took longer than I initially thought. life got in the way. but here is my first run with the modified Gcode

 

Things to fix

• Fix the camera focus
• Add "Retract", and "Unretract" at each layer stop to prevent the long oozing 

but all in all, I like the effect ?

Edited July 21, 2018 by BuxZED

[BuxZED 2]

ok, I solved the camera focus issue 

but still having issues with stringing on the way back from the microswitch (this is not passive drooping, the machine is actively extruding on the way back)

 

 

 

below is the code I'm using. any pointers would be appreciated

 

file = open("processed_code.txt", "w")


with open("to_process_code.txt") as gcode_file_original:
    contents = gcode_file_original.readlines()
    for line in contents:
        line = str(line)
        hit = line.find("LAYER:")

        if hit != -1:
            line = line + "\n" + "G10" + "\n" + "G0 X200 Y218" + "\n" + "G0 X223 Y218" + \
                "\n" + "G4 S03" + "\n" + "G0 X200 Y218" + "\n" + "G11" + "\n\n"
            print(line)
            file.write(line)
        else:
            line = line
            print(line)
            file.write(line)

I added the G10 and G11 thinking it will solve the issue. the machine still extrudes on the way back  

 

 

[PhATL1 0]

BuxZED how did you work this out? I'm using Simplify 3D to do this but would love a walk through on how to create this in Cura