The active rewriter for jogs/MDI didn't help anyway because the
continuous-jog buttons send rate-based /api/jog commands to the AVR
and bypass the planner+MDI path entirely. Rather than build out
continuous-jog coupling on the ESP firmware or fake it with browser
ticks, simplify back to:
* Runtime check (Planner.__encode + ExternalAxis motion entry
points) refuses any move that would worsen the Z-A gap. Already
improvement-aware so X/Y jogs and Z-up/A-down recoveries pass.
* File preprocessor (AuxPreprocessor) injects pre-position A
moves into uploaded gcode so well-formed programs run without
operator intervention.
Operator workflow: jog freely down to the safe band; if you need to
go deeper, lower A first (aux jog mm) or use a step-jog MDI like
'G91 G0 Z-10 A-10' that includes the A delta. Programs do the right
thing on their own.
Tells the auxcnc ESP how far (in steps) to back off if HOME is
invoked while the limit switch is already tripped. The ESP now
hard-fails instead of zeroing blindly when the switch stays active
after the preclear move. Default 10 mm; set home_preclear_mm=0 to
disable the preclear and revert to immediate failure.
Match the file-preprocessor behaviour for live operator input. When a
Z-down jog or MDI line would push (A-Z) above the safe band, append
the matching A delta to the same line so the planner runs Z and A
together. Same direction-aware refusal: only error when the operator
explicitly asks A to move *up* (delta > 0) past the bound, or when
the required A would violate A's soft minimum.
Implementation:
* ExternalAxis.coordinate_mdi rewrites a multi-line MDI burst,
tracking G90/G91 modal across lines (jogs always emit
M70/G91/G0/M72; standard MDI defaults to G90). Z and A targets
are computed in machine coords using offset_z and offset_a so
the work-coord A token we emit is consistent with the operator's
frame.
* The 'A0' the jog UI emits for axes that aren't moving is treated
as 'no A intent' (G91 delta of zero) and freely overridden.
* Hooked into Mach.mdi after the existing ATC rewrite. On
ExternalAxisError the burst is dropped with a user message; the
planner check downstream still fires as defense in depth.
* Planner.__encode also catches ExternalAxisError now (vs
bricking on uncaught) - logs to the operator messages list and
halts the cycle cleanly so subsequent jogs work.
* check_coupling itself is now improvement-aware: only refuses
moves that worsen an existing violation. Pure XY jogs and
Z-up/A-down recovery moves pass even when (A-Z) is currently
above the bound.
Tested locally with synthetic MDI: small Z jog within band, Z jog
across the boundary (auto-injects A delta), G90 MDI G0 Z-50
(appends A106), explicit A-lift while Z deep (refuses), pure XY
jog (unchanged), G91 A-down (unchanged), G90 G0 A0 with
offset_a=134 (refuses as lift to home).
The auxiliary A axis carries a tool that hangs below the Z spindle.
Beyond a small Z descent the two physically collide unless A drops
with Z. Enforce in machine coords:
A_machine - Z_machine <= K
K = (A_home_mm - z_home_mm) + couple_z_clearance_mm
With our setup K = (134 - 0) + 22 = 156. At rest A=134 Z=0, A-Z=134
which is fine. Z can descend 22mm before the rule starts forcing A
down with it.
Two complementary layers:
(1) AuxPreprocessor injection (auto-fix uploaded files)
Tracks modal Z, A and distance mode (G90/G91) while scanning the
file. When a line would put A above Z by more than the clearance
we emit a 'G0 A<safe>' BEFORE the line so A is already at the
safe position when Z descends. Endpoint check is sufficient
because Z moves monotonically along a single line.
Errors are raised (not silently auto-fixed) when:
- the line lifts A above the safe band while Z stays put
(would require auto-injecting a Z-up which could swing
through a fixture)
- the line endpoint targets an A above the safe band
G91 disables injection with a one-shot warning; the runtime
check still applies.
(2) Runtime check (ExternalAxis.check_coupling)
Single source of truth for live motion. Hooked into:
* Planner.__encode for every line block (covers MDI and
running programs - gplan emits machine-coord targets)
* ExternalAxis.execute_to_mm/enqueue_target_mm/enqueue_line
for direct A motion (covers UI jog/move and planner-A
dispatch)
Raises ExternalAxisError on violation; gplan and the API both
surface the message. Skipped when coupling is disabled or the
axis isn't homed (mirrors the soft-limit gate).
Continuous Z jog from the AVR is not gated - it's an active
operator action without a pre-known endpoint. Operator-driven
over-travel during continuous jog will be caught by the next
MDI/file-load attempt.
Configuration in aux.json:
couple_z_enabled bool default true (per agreed setup)
couple_z_clearance_mm float default 22.0
z_home_mm float default 0.0
Surfaced in the new Z-A Coupling section of the A Axis settings
page with a description of the rule. Existing aux.json files get
the new keys via the merged-defaults path on read.
Tested locally with synthetic gcode covering Z descent, combined
moves, A lift while Z deep, G92 reset, G91 mode, and combined
Z+A target violations.
The auxiliary stepper used to be exposed as a W axis. After the
gplan integration it is exposed as A. Migrate persisted macro
config on every load:
w_down.nc -> a_down.nc
w_up.nc -> a_up.nc
'W Down' -> 'A Down'
'W Up' -> 'A Up'
Idempotent so a stale in-memory copy can never reintroduce the old
names.
ATC pneumatics in g-code (drop tool / grab tool / release clamp /
engage clamp) are expressed as M100..M103. AuxPreprocessor rewrites
those into (MSG,HOOK:droptool:) etc on file upload + on planner
load + on MDI input, so the Hooks layer (B1) can dispatch them via
registered ATC handlers in Ctrl.
- AuxPreprocessor.py: regex-based file rewriter, idempotent.
- FileHandler: invoke preprocessor on every upload.
- Planner.init: also re-preprocess on load (catches files written
before this version).
- Mach.mdi: same rewrite for ad-hoc MDI input so M101 typed at the
console produces a HOOK message.
- Ctrl: register the four ATC hooks (droptool/grabtool/release/clamp)
with block_unpause + auto_resume so programs using them pause at
the right point and resume cleanly. aux_home retained as a legacy
alias for older preprocessed files.
ExternalAxis exposes the auxcnc-driven ESP stepper as motor 4 (a
synthetic, host-only motor that gplan sees but the AVR doesn't). The
result is a virtual A axis that is fully integrated with the planner:
G1 A25 F1500 schedules a coordinated S-curve and the ESP runs the
exact same 7-segment trajectory the AVR would have run if A were a
real motor.
- ExternalAxis.py: synthetic-motor state, S-curve LINE block forward
to the ESP, soft-limit enforcement, option-(b) homing (user A=0
at the home limit).
- State: walk motors 0..4 in find_motor; clear both homed and h on
reset; expose synthetic motor vars.
- axis-vars.js: motor-4 guard so the JS computed axis bindings don't
throw when motor 4 has no entry in config.motors; resolve motor_id
for the synthetic axis by scanning state['4an'].
- Ctrl: instantiate ExternalAxis after AuxAxis, share the axis_letter
setting, wire AuxAxis state observer.
- Web: route /api/aux/{home,jog,move} through ExternalAxis when it
is enabled so the DRO and synthetic-motor flags stay in sync.
bbctrl.AuxAxis manages a stepper driven by an auxcnc-style ESP32
over /dev/ttyUSB0 (or whichever serial port). Persistent config in
aux.json; UI talks to it via /api/aux/* endpoints.
- AuxAxis: serial framing, position tracking, soft-limit enforcement,
homing state machine, ATC pneumatic control (M100..M103 wrappers).
- Ctrl: instantiate self.aux alongside the other subsystems and
close it during shutdown.
- Web: handlers for /api/aux/{config,status,home,abort,jog,move,set-zero}.
Adds bbctrl.Hooks: a small dispatch layer for HOOK:<event>:<data>
messages embedded in g-code as (MSG,HOOK:droptool:) etc. Hooks can
block the unpause until the registered callback completes and
auto-resume after.
- bbctrl.Hooks: registry, fire, dispatch_hook_message, persistent
config in hooks.json, REST surface (/api/hooks, /api/hooks/save,
/api/hooks/status, /api/hooks/fire/<event>).
- Ctrl: instantiate self.hooks alongside the other subsystems.
- Planner._add_message: when a (MSG,...) line is HOOK:<event>:<data>,
route it through ctrl.hooks instead of state.messages so it never
surfaces as a UI popup and dispatch is immediate (state.messages
has a 250ms debounce).
- Web: handlers for the /api/hooks routes.
bbctrl.Trace records monotonic-anchored events from process start.
Ctrl, Comm, the Web layer and __init__ are instrumented so a single
GET /api/diag/timing returns a full timeline of import, controller
init, AVR connection, first websocket, and first GET /. The
restart-timing.js client posts performance.now() marks back so the
browser side can be aligned in the same view.
Used to drive the cold-boot optimisations that reduce listen latency
on the Pi by ~8s.
Importing camotics.gplan pulls in a C++ extension (libstdc++,
boost::python, etc.) which adds several seconds to bbctrl startup
on the Pi. Defer it to Planner.init() — bbctrl can serve the UI
and accept connections without ever touching the planner, and the
penalty is paid only the first time motion is queued.
Tornado removed @web.asynchronous in 6.x; bbctrl on the Pi runs an
older but compatible async-aware build. Switching to coroutine syntax
keeps the streaming endpoint working across Tornado 5/6.
Recursive _rotate() may have already moved or unlinked the source path
by the time we try to rename it (also tolerates concurrent logrotate
runs from /etc/cron.reboot). Catch FileNotFoundError instead of
crashing bbctrl on startup.
