Turning it off and on via M8 / M9 works so far!
Time to design and build a circuit board with some safety switches and power IO.
Also need to work on proper focus and height, and maybe GRBL acceleration… That will fix the X mark. Basically the machine cant turn hard square corners fast enough! Realistically this will be less of a problem with real world designs.
Retired server tech copy high end machine the photoelectric sensor has high paper dust on them will stop or cut out lock up wood dust . not safe will kept running lock up.
Change of plans people!
I will be making one giant PCB board which will connect to a Raspberry Pi, for controlling all the things!
Spindle AUTO (default), OFF, ON - Tied to X- Controller’s Spindle
Laser Enable ON, OFF (default)
Laser AUTO (default), OFF, ON - Tied to X- Controller’s M8
Vacuum AUTO (default), OFF, ON - Tied to X-Controller’s Spindle
LED lights ON (default), OFF
Limit Switches will be tied into the Pi’s IO for troubleshooting and display…
I may even wire in the GRBL’s Output to the Pi’s IO for added flexibility.
The GUI will be a mobile webapp via my smartphone or a dedicated tablet!
Kinda similar to this thread: Hacking the X-Controller
However I will have much more hardware IO.
FYI There is no plans for “pendant” or GCODE control - All this will still be done by my host CNC computer; for now