3DP - Via speeds and circular print move

georgia

I'm working on 3D printing some big files that a) take a long time to print and b) take a long time to load onto the controller.

Two things that would dramatically reduce our file size and print time would be:
- If we could use PrintC commands (in addition to PrintL) and define circular paths in our Gcode. This would reduce the number of points we would need to define our object by nearly a third.
- If we could move the TCP much faster during via moves without exceeding our analogue IO limits (since aoTCP_3DP is proportional to TCP speed)

Does anyone know if either of these two things are possible with DispL?

Anders S

Hi, 
Today 3DP PP does not support circular move instructions. There are several reasons for that, for example it will be more complicated to support functions like "Wipe" etc. The load time to the controller will probably be reduced some with circular instructions, but it will not be a huge difference (if you use the option "Create Rapid Modules" at the Export from 3DP PP) . But I don't understand how it can take longer time to print without circular instructions. It is the process that decides the TCP speed, and a linear movement has the same TCP speed as a circular instruction. Regarding the analogue IO limits, if you can´t change the maximum value for the I/O because of your process equipment, I´m afraid you cant get around that.
This works the same way with DispL, so it will not help to change to that.

georgia

Thanks for your help, Anders!

I maybe misspoke. A PrintC template obviously wouldn't effect print time, but it would reduce the number of points in my print by a few hundred thousand, and would more accurately describe a lot of my geometries.

I'd like to increase the speed of my via moves by a factor of around 5X (because I'm working with such a large print, this would reduce my total print time by a considerable amount). Unfortunately, my equipment is the cause of my limitation here. Is there another way to couple, say, aoTCP_3DP and doEquActive_3DP in software so that I can safely send an extrusion IO command only when I'm printing?

In a related issue - Because my print has some large radius paths (think large half-cylinder), the corners of the smallest-fit cube used in the "Check-Reach" function are in positions way outside of my actual print geometry that my arm cannot reach. However, I have confirmed that my arm can in fact reach all of my print areas. Is there another way for me to set my initial print joint configurations without the "Check-Reach" function, since this seems to be where I select my joint config?