- New stepper algorithm with the new optimized planner seems to be
working nearly twice as fast as the previous algorithm.
- For one, the planner computation overhead is probably a fraction of
what it used to be with the worst case being about half still.
- Secondly, anytime the planner plans back to the first executing
block, it no longer overwrites the block conditions and allows it to
complete without lost steps. So no matter if the streams slows, the
protected planner should keep the steppers moving without risk of lost
steps (although this still needs to be tested thoroughly and may
audibly sound weird when this happens.)
- It now seems that the bottleneck is the serial baudrate (which is
good!)
Development push. Lots still broken.
- Protected planner concept works! This is a critical precursor to
enabling feedrate overrides in allowing the planner buffer and the
stepper execution operate atomically. This is done through a
intermediary segment buffer.
- Still lots of work to be done, as this was a complete overhaul of the
planner and stepper subsystems. The code can be cleaned up quite a bit,
re-enabling some of the broken features like feed holds, and finishing
up some of the concepts
- Pushed some of the fixes from the master and edge branch to here, as
this will likely replace the edge branch when done.
- **NON-FUNCTIONAL**
- Contains an old draft of separating the stepper driver direct access
to the planner buffer. This is designed to keep the stepper and planner
modules independent and prevent overwriting or other complications. In
this way, feedrate override should be able to be installed as well.
- A number of planner optimizations are installed too.
- Not sure where the bugs are. Either in the new planner optimizations,
new stepper module updates, or in both. Or it just could be that the
Arduino AVR is choking with the new things it has to do.
- Increased g-code parser line buffer to 70 characters (from 50) to
prevent some long arc commands from getting truncated.
- Decreased planner buffer from 18 to 17 blocks to free up memory for
line buffer.
- Added a line buffer overflow feedback error (Thanks @BHSPitMonkey!)
- Arc mm_per_segment parameter was removed and replaced with an
arc_tolerance parameter, which scales all arc segments automatically to
radius, such that the line segment error doesn't exceed the tolerance.
Significantly improves arc performance through larger radius arc,
because the segments are much longer and the planner buffer has more to
work with.
- Moved n_arc correction from the settings to config.h. Mathematically
this doesn't need to be a setting anymore, as the default config value
will work for all known CNC applications. The error does not accumulate
as much anymore, since the small angle approximation used by the arc
generation has been updated to a third-order approximation and how the
line segment length scale with radius and tolerance now. Left in
config.h for extraneous circumstances.
- Corrected the st.ramp_count variable (acceleration tick counter) to a
8-bit vs. 32-bit variable. Should make the stepper algorithm just a
touch faster overall.
- Maximum velocity for each axis is now configurable in settings. All
rapids/seek move at these maximums. All feed rates(including rapids)
may be limited and scaled down so that no axis does not exceed their
limits.
- Moved around auto-cycle start. May change later, but mainly to ensure
the planner buffer is completely full before cycle starting a streaming
program. Otherwise it should auto-start when there is a break in the
serial stream.
- Reverted old block->max_entry_speed_sqr calculations. Feedrate
overrides not close to ready at all.
- Fixed intermittent slow trailing steps for some triangle velocity
profile moves. The acceleration tick counter updating was corrected to
be exact for that particular transition. Should be ok for normal
trapezoidal profiles.
- Fixed the Timer0 disable after a step pulse falling edge. Thanks
@blinkenlight!
- Improved planner execution speed by 5% or more. Re-factored most of
the calculations in terms of the square of velocity. This removed a lot
of sqrt() calculations for every planner_recalculate.
- Planner execute speed has been more than halved from 4ms to 1.9ms
when computing a plan for a single line segment during arc generation.
This means that Grbl can now run through an arc (or complex curve)
twice as fast as before without starving the buffer. For 0.1mm arc
segments, this means about the theoretical feed rate limit is about
3000mm/min for arcs now.
- Increased the Ranade timer frequency to 30kHz, as there doesn't seem
to be any problems with increasing the frequency. This means that the
maximum step frequency is now back at 30kHz.
- Added Zen Toolworks 7x7 defaults.
- Brand-new stepper algorithm. Based on the Pramod Ranade inverse time
algorithm, but modified to ensure step events are exact. Currently
limited to about 15kHz step rates, much more to be done to enable 30kHz
again.
- Removed Timer1. Stepper algorithm now uses Timer0 and Timer2.
- Much improved step generation during accelerations. Smoother. Allows
much higher accelerations (and speeds) than before on the same machine.
- Cleaner algorithm that is more easily portable to other CPU types.
- Streamlined planner calculations. Removed accelerate_until and
final_rate variables from block buffer since the new stepper algorithm
is that much more accurate.
- Improved planner efficiency by about 15-20% during worst case
scenarios (arcs).
- New config.h options to tune new stepper algorithm.
- Updated interface protocol to play nicer with interface programs. All
Grbl responses beginning with '$' signifies a setting. Bracketed '[]'
responses are feedback messages containing either state, parameter, or
general messages. Chevron '<>' response are from the real-time status
messages, i.e. position.
- M2 Program end command was causing a system alarm. Fixed. Thanks
@blinkenlight !
- Added some more notes to config.h.
- Added the ability to override some of the #defines around Grbl in
config.h, like planner buffer size, line buffer size, serial
send/receive buffers. Mainly to centralize the configurations to be
able to port to different microcontrollers later.
(All v0.8 features installed. Still likely buggy, but now thourough
testing will need to start to squash them all. As soon as we're done,
this will be pushed to master and v0.9 development will be started.
Please report ANY issues to us so we can get this rolled out ASAP.)
- User startup script! A user can now save one (up to 5 as compile-time
option) block of g-code in EEPROM memory. This will be run everytime
Grbl resets. Mainly to be used as a way to set your preferences, like
G21, G54, etc.
- New dry run and check g-code switches. Dry run moves ALL motions at
rapids rate ignoring spindle, coolant, and dwell commands. For rapid
physical proofing of your code. The check g-code switch ignores all
motion and provides the user a way to check if there are any errors in
their program that Grbl may not like.
- Program restart! (sort of). Program restart is typically an advanced
feature that allows users to restart a program mid-stream. The check
g-code switch can perform this feature by enabling the switch at the
start of the program, and disabling it at the desired point with some
minimal changes.
- New system state variable. This state variable tracks all of the
different state processes that Grbl performs, i.e. cycle start, feed
hold, homing, etc. This is mainly for making managing of these task
easier and more clear.
- Position lost state variable. Only when homing is enabled, Grbl will
refuse to move until homing is completed and position is known. This is
mainly for safety. Otherwise, it will let users fend for themselves.
- Moved the default settings defines into config.h. The plan is to
eventually create a set of config.h's for particular as-built machines
to help users from doing it themselves.
- Moved around misc defines into .h files. And lots of other little
things.
(NOTE: This push is likely buggy so proceed with caution. Just
uploading to let people know where we're going.)
- New report.c module. Moved all feedback functions into this module to
centralize these processes. Includes realtime status reports, status
messages, feedback messages.
- Official support 6 work coordinate systems (G54-G59), which are
persistently held in EEPROM memory.
- New g-code support: G28.1, G30.1 stores current machine position as a
home position into EEPROM. G10 L20 Px stores current machine position
into work coordinates without needing to explicitly send XYZ words.
- Homing performed with '$H' command. G28/G30 no longer start the
homing cycle. This is how it's supposed to be.
- New settings: Stepper enable invert and n_arc correction installed.
- Updated and changed up some limits and homing functionality. Pull-off
travel will now move after the homing cycle regardless of hard limits
enabled. Fixed direction of pull-off travel (went wrong way).
- Started on designing an internal Grbl command protocol based on the
'$' settings letter. Commands with non numeric characters after '$'
will perform switch commands, homing cycle, jogging, printing
paramters, etc. Much more to do here.
- Updated README to reflect all of the new features.
- Installed a new 'alarm' method to centralize motion kills across
alarm or reset events. Right now, this is controlled by system abort
and hard limits. But, in the future, a g-code parser error may call
this too as a safety feature.
- Re(re)organized status messages to just print all errors, regardless
from where it was called. This centralizes them into one place.
- Misc messages method installed for any user feedback that is not a
confirmation or error. Mainly so that there is a place to perform
warnings and such.
- New stuff installed and still made the flash size smaller by saving
flash space from clearing out repeated '\r\n' pgmstrings.
- Fixed a bug where hard limits message would print everytime a system
abort was sent.
- Thank you statement added for Alden Hart of Synthetos.
- Hard limits option added, which also works with homing by pulling off
the switches to help prevent unintended triggering. Hard limits use a
interrupt to sense a falling edge pin change and immediately go into
alarm mode, which stops everything and forces the user to issue a reset
(Ctrl-x) or reboot.
- Auto cycle start now a configuration option.
- Alarm mode: A new method to kill all Grbl processes in the event of
something catastrophic or potentially catastropic. Just works with hard
limits for now, but will be expanded to include g-code errors (most
likely) and other events.
- Updated status reports to be configurable in inches or mm mode. Much
more to do here, but this is the first step.
- New settings: auto cycle start, hard limit enable, homing direction
mask (which works the same as the stepper mask), homing pulloff
distance (or distance traveled from homed machine zero to prevent
accidental limit trip).
- Minor memory liberation and calculation speed ups.
- Allowed status_message function to be called by others. This is to
centralize all feedback into protocol.c.
- Fixed a bug where line number words 'N' were causing the parser to
error out.
- Allowed homing routine feed rates to move slower than the
MINIMUM_STEP_RATE parameter in config.h.
- Homing performs idle lock at the end of the routine.
- Stepper idle lock time will now not disable the steppers when the
value is set at 255. This is accomodate users who prefer to keep their
axes enabled at all times.
- Moved some defines around to where they need to be.
- Homing cycle will now cycle twice (spec more/less in config) to
improve repeatability and accuracy by decreasing overshoot.
- New Grbl settings added: Enable/disable homing cycles, homing seek
and feed rates, switch debounce delay, and stepper idle lock time.
- Please note that these settings may change upon the next push, since
there will be more added soon. Grbl *should* not re-write your old
settings, just re-write the new ones. So, make sure you keep these
written down somewhere in case they get lost from a code bug.
- Refactored settings migration to be a little smaller and managable
going forward.
- Limit pin internal pull-resistors now enabled. Normal high operation.
This will be the standard going forward.
- Updated all of the 'double' variable types to 'float' to reflect what
happens when compiled for the Arduino. Also done for compatibility
reasons to @jgeisler0303 's Grbl simulator code.
- G-code parser will now ignore 'E' exponent values, since they are
reserved g-code characters for some machines. Thanks @csdexter!
- The read_double() function was re-written and optimized for use in
Grbl. The strtod() avr lib was removed.
- Added acceleration to the homing routine.
- Homing now accounts for different step rates when moving multiple
axes without exceeding acceleration limits.
- Homing now updates all internal positioning variables to machine zero
after completion.
- "Poor-man's" debounce delay added.
- Updated the delay_us() function to perform faster and more accurate
microsecond delays. Previously, the single increments would add
noticeable time drift for larger delays.
- Fix a bug in the stepper.c prescalar calculations that was changed in
the last commit.
- Other minor fixes.
Added a compile-time only experimental feature that creates a
user-specified time delay between a step pulse and a direction pin set
(in config.h). This is for users with hardware-specific issues
(opto-couplers) that need more than a few microseconds between events,
which can lead to slowly progressing step drift after many many
direction changes. We suggest to try the hack/fix posted in the Wiki
before using this, as this experimental feature may cause Grbl to take
a performance hit at high step rates and about complex curves.
- Program stop support (M0,M1*,M2,M30*). *Optional stop to be done.
*Pallet shuttle not supported.
- Work position is set equal to machine position upon reset, as
according to NIST RS274-NGC guidelines. G92 is disabled.
- Renamed mc_set_current_position() to mc_set_coordinate_offset().
- Fixed bug in plan_synchronize(). Would exit right before last step is
finished and caused issues with program stops. Now fixed.
- Spindle now stops upon a run-time abort command.
- Updated readme and misc upkeeping.
- Fixed a premature step end bug dating back to Simen's 0.7b edge
version is fixed, from which this code is forked from. Caused by Timer2
constantly overflowing calling the Step Reset Interrupt every 128usec.
Now Timer2 is always disabled after a step end and should free up some
cycles for the main program. Could be more than one way to fix this
problem. I'm open to suggestions.
- _delay_ms() refactored to accept only constants to comply with
current compilers. square() removed since not available with some
compilers.
- Grbl now tracks both home and work (G92) coordinate systems and does
live updates when G92 is called.
- Rudimentary home and work position status reporting. Works but still
under major construction.
- Updated the main streaming script. Has a disabled periodic timer for
querying status reports, disabled only because the Python timer doesn't
consistently restart after the script exits. Add here only for user
testing.
- Fixed a bug to prevent an endless serial_write loop during status
reports.
- Refactored the planner variables to make it more clear what they are
and make it easier for clear them.
- Added machine position reporting to status queries. This will be
further developed with part positioning/offsets and maintaining
location upon reset.
- System variables refactored into a global struct for better
readability.
- Removed old obsolete Ruby streaming scripts. These were no longer
compatible. Updated Python streaming scripts.
- Fixed printFloat() and other printing functions.
- Decreased planner buffer back to 18 blocks and increased TX serial
buffer to 64 bytes. Need the memory space for future developments.
- Begun adding run-time modes to grbl, where block delete toggle, mm/in
reporting modes, jog modes, etc can be set during runtime. Will be
fleshed out and placed into EEPROM when everything is added.
- ALPHA status. - Multitasking ability with run-time command executions
for real-time control and feedback. - Decelerating feed hold and resume
during operation. - System abort/reset, which immediately kills all
movement and re-initializes grbl. - Re-structured grbl to easily allow
for new features: Status reporting, jogging, backlash compensation. (To
be completed in the following releases.) - Resized TX/RX serial buffers
(32/128 bytes) - Increased planner buffer size to 20 blocks. - Updated
documentation.
- Fleshed out the original idea to completely remove the long slope at
the end of deceleration issue. This third time should absolutely
eliminate it.
- Changed the acceleration setting to kept as mm/min^2 internally,
since this was creating unneccessary additional computation in the
planner. Human readable value kept at mm/sec^2.
- Updated grbl version 0.7d and settings version to 4. NOTE: Please
check settings after update. These may have changed, but shouldn't.
- Before updating the new features (pause, e-stop, federate override,
etc), the edge branch will soon be merged with the master, barring any
immediate issues that people may have, and the edge branch will be the
testing ground for the new grbl version 0.8.
- Added another way to further ensure the long slope deceleration issue
is eliminated. If the stepper rate change is too great near zero, the
stepper rate is adjusted at half increments to the end of travel,
creating a smooth transition. - If the new STEPPER_IDLE_LOCK_TIME is
set as zero, this delay is not compiled at compile-time. - NOTE: The
next update is likely going to be major, involving a full re-write of
the stepper.c program to integrate a simple way to apply pauses,
jogging, e-stop, and feedrate overrides. The interface should be
flexible enough to be easily modified for use with either hardware
switches or software commands. Coming soon.
Added a very short (25 ms) user-definable delay before the steppers are
disabled at the motors are disabled and grbl goes idle. This ensures
any residual inertia at the end of the last motion does not cause the
axes to drift and grbl to lose its position when manually entering
g-code or when performing a tool change and starting the next
operation.
- The long standing issue of a long slope at deceleration is likely
fixed. The stepper program was not tracking and timing the end of
acceleration and start of deceleration exactly and now is fixed to
start and stop on time. Also, to ensure a better acceleration curve fit
used by the planner, the stepper program delays the start of the
accelerations by a half trapezoid tick to employ the midpoint rule. -
Settings version 3 migration (not fully tested, but should work) -
Added a MINIMUM_PLANNER_SPEED user-defined parameter to planner to let
a user change this if problems arise for some reason. - Moved all
user-definable #define parameters into config.h with clear comments on
what they do and recommendations of how to change them. - Minor
housekeeping.
