Machine control
With the Arduino fitted, the bar along the bottom of SRM-CAM reads the machine's position, jogs X, Y and Z, probes and zeroes it, runs the spindle, pauses, and stops. VPanel still plays the files and sets the spindle speed. The drawings are live: try the bar.
Connect
Plug in the black USB (the Arduino; the white one is the mill, for VPanel). Pick the port on the bar, most likely Arduino first, and press Connect, or (Ctrl+L). Plugged in after SRM-CAM started? . The chip on the left says what the link is doing: Machine offline, Connecting…, Linked, Lid open, Spindle on, or Link failed.
The machine bar
| Control | Does |
|---|---|
| X Y Z readout | The machine's position, about three times a second, in machine coordinates. Z turns red and says Touch while the probe reads contact. SRM-CAM has no G54 switch: VPanel shows G54. |
| Jog pad | Move X, Y and Z by the step: see Jogging. |
| Probe Z | Lower the bit from here until it touches, and stop on the copper. Tells SRM-CAM where the surface is (for the Z-reach check and the level page). VPanel's origin is untouched. |
| Zero Z | Touch off the same way, then the firmware writes the machine's G54 Z origin at the copper and lifts 2 mm, like VPanel's Z under Set Origin Point. Only Z: X and Y are never moved. Check VPanel's G54 Z once before a job. |
| Spindle | Start or stop the tool, at whatever speed VPanel's slider says: the machine ignores a speed sent over the link. Refused with the lid open. |
| Pause | Hold the machine where it is, spindle still turning; Resume carries on. VPanel's Pause, from SRM-CAM. |
| Click to jog | Click the bed and the head lifts about 5 mm and travels there, snapping to the hole under the cursor. In the Bed — as cut frame only. |
| Run readout | While a run is being followed: how far it has got and the time left. , or leave on. |
| STOP | Drop the move in flight and stop the spindle. Esc does the same from anywhere, dialogs included. The bit stays where it is: raise it with Page Up. |
Jogging
| Control | Does |
|---|---|
| XY cross, Z ▲▼ | Move by the step. ▲ on the cross is +Y, away from you. |
| Step: 0.01, 0.1, 1 or 10 mm | Each press moves this far. Z down is capped at 1 mm a press, whatever the step. |
| Arrow keys | While lit, the arrow keys move X and Y from anywhere in the window, except while you type in a box or a dialog is open. Shift is 10× the step, Ctrl a tenth. It goes off by itself on STOP and on disconnect, and when a run starts. |
| Page Up / Page Down | Z up / down one step, from anywhere, lit or not. |
| Click to jog | Click the bed for a long trip: the head lifts about 5 mm first. Works alongside Arrow keys. |
They move at the height the bit is at. Raise it before crossing clamps or brackets. A step sideways or down is refused while Z says Touch; up always works.
Pause and STOP
They are different things. Pause holds the machine with the spindle turning, and Resume carries on from the same place. STOP drops the move and stops the spindle; the job does not resume, and the bit stays down in the cut until you raise it.
The Z readout is machine Z
Because the bar always shows machine Z, it is the quick way to check the Z travel after fitting a bit: with the bit on the copper, machine Z must stay above −50 mm, because −55 is the end of the travel. In VPanel you would switch the coordinates from G54 to Machine to see the same number (and back to G54 before zeroing).
The Machine menu
| Item | Does |
|---|---|
| Rescan the serial ports | After plugging the Arduino in. |
| Connect / disconnect (Ctrl+L) | The same as the bar's Connect. |
| Move the head to the View position | Head forward and out of the way, to reach the bed or change the bit. |
| Track this step's run / Start tracking when the bit moves | Follow a run from the bit's position; the second starts it by itself once the bit has been moving for a moment (a jog from SRM-CAM does not count). |
| Align the overlay to the bit / Clear the overlay trim | When the drawn bit lands beside the hole it is really in: click the design point the bit is physically at. Only the picture, click-to-jog and tracking are corrected; the files are untouched. |
| Export the hold-down screw file… | See Holding the copper. |
| Export the bed fixture (pin holes)… | The dowel-pin holes in the spoilboard. |
| Machine test… | Exercise every SPI command and report PASS / FAIL / UNKNOWN. Read-only by default; motion and spindle tests are armed separately. STOP reaches a running test. |
| Automatic mode (run it all) | Pro: adds Mill a board to the plan. It is always on in Novice. |
| Stream this step over the link (experimental)… | Send the selected step's moves one by one instead of through VPanel. Starts as a dry run. The speed units are not calibrated: for real jobs, export and play the files from VPanel. |
Novice's menu has only the serial ports, connect and the View position; the rest is in Pro.
What the link does not give you
The machine ignores the rpm sent over the link: 500, 1000, 2000 and 3000 all settle on whatever VPanel's slider says. Set it there before any wet run.
- Feed rate is not calibrated for streamed moves.
- Only the lid bit of the status word is proven on this machine. The bit Roland labels "paused" does not mean paused here, so none of the others is shown as a machine state.
- No X or Y zero. There is a control that zeroes Z and none that zeroes XY, on purpose: the screw fixture, dowel registration and every re-run depend on the XY origin staying put. Automatic mode leaves G54 alone too, and checks it before cutting.
The spindle's rules
- It will not start with the lid open.
- The button follows the machine: a spindle started from VPanel shows as on here.
- Disconnecting never stops a spindle SRM-CAM did not start.
- A spindle SRM-CAM started stops by itself if the app goes quiet for ten seconds (the firmware's deadman; the bar's polling keeps it fed).
- A dry run never spins the tool.