Category: Tutorials

Tutorials

Creating my own Processing arc method

2016-06-29 Dan

The Processing arc() command isn’t robust enough for my tastes so I wrote a new one that gives me more control over the things I care about. Along the way it lets me validate my arc code for the Makelangelo’s support of gcode commands G02 and G03. If people are learning Gcode then their arc() command would be helpful if it looked the same as a gcode command. Don’t you agree?

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Tutorials

How to draw Open Street Maps with a Makelangelo

2016-06-28 Dan

Drawing open street maps on the Makelangelo looks fantastic and is painless once you have the Open Street Map OSM file into DXF format. Here are the steps I use to download Open Street Map data as a DXF.

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Tutorials

How to Draw an Arc with GCode

2016-05-25 Dan

Gcode syntax

G02 will draw an arc clockwise in the XY plane.

G02 (X[value]) (Y[value]) (I[value]) (J[value]) (F[value]);

G03 will draw an arc counterclockwise in the XY plane.

G03 (X[value]) (Y[value]) (I[value]) (J[value]) (F[value]);

Optional parts (are in parenthesies). [value] should be replaced by a decimal number with optional exponent.

Gcode details

Arcs begin at the current tool position and end at (X,Y).

The circle of the arc has a center at (I,J).

F indicates the feed rate, the speed to draw the line.

If X or I are not included in the GCode command, the tool position X is used.
If Y or J are not included in the GCode command, the tool position Y is used.

Tutorials

Micromouse encoders to measure distance

2016-05-19 Dan

Encoders give a micromouse the power to measure the distance it travels so that it can build a mental map of a maze. Read on to see how I measure the movement of the wheels to calculate turns and forward movements.

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