Native support for touch-trigger / 3D probes

So a couple thoughts on what I think would be useful to most users.

  1. Set X,Y origin to center point of radius. This would allow you to probe the inside dimensions of an existing artifact on the part and set the X,Y origin to the center of a hole. This would probe four times and require that you place the probe into the hole before probing.
  2. Verify stock alignment. Let’s say you have mounted a stock board that is 1" thick, 12" wide with a length of 15". This could probe the first corner XYZ, then probe the opposing corner XYZ, and alarm if that corner is not in the expected location.

Just two things I thought of. The touch probe is certainly the type of probe that would have the most scenarios associated with it so coming up with UI that makes that easy, and useful, will be the challenge.

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Center point finding of a hole would definitely be useful. Or the center of a slot, in the one-dimensional case.

I suppose I should mention that basic XY probing seems to be working fine when I set it up as a ā€œstandard blockā€ with XY width of 0 and a tool diameter equal to the diameter of the probe tip ball (2.0mm on mine).

Yep the corner probing works fine for me too.. XYZ using the standard touchplate and adjusting the tip diameter to 2mm as you said.

I would like it very much to see options for Probing with 3D probes. Maybe you can choose in the settings which type of probe you have. instead of XYZ probe and Z Block there would also be 3D probe. This adds the options of edge finder, internal/external hole center probing, rotation finding and maybe even for 4th axis center finder for round stock.

Also i saw there is a plugin which uses an external relay to choose between two different probes like toolsetter and 3d probe on a single input via relay: GitHub - grblHAL/Plugins_misc: Assorted small plugins

Is this already supported or is there support planned? sounds very cool

I have a 3D probe running via the TLS connector on an Altmill. It parallels my auto touch probe.

There are no probing routines built in but you can make your own in the form of a macro.

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Hello Jens. Thank you i know that i can just make my own macro. Thats why i am asking here, it would be even cooler to just have it implemented directly into gSender. It should also be quite easy to implement as its just simple small macros :slightly_smiling_face:

Also i wrote with Terjeio about a new Door state which makes it possible to jog with a defined ā€œsafe speedā€œ and do 3d probing while the door is open. only starting files and the spindle is prohibited. Hope Chris or someone from the team reads that and can also implement that into gSender. Makes a door switch much more usable while keeping the same safety aspect.

I’ve just started looking into 3D probes, do you have one you recommend?

I recently got a PG Fun probe from Amazon - I am quite happy with it. ($135 CAD)

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We’ll be adding support for 3D probes in the next release - it’ll be selectable in Config and work similarly to the current XYZ touchplate code. Tip diameter and Z offset will be configurable for accuracy based on your probe.

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Hi all, as of 1.5.5 we’ve now added support for 3D probes! I know this has been long demanded, so we’re super stoked to finally have it implemented. This new support for now only has the typical probing XYZ procedures similar to the standard block probing options - but now that a first version is done the intent is to have it be in the wild for a while so that we can address any follow-up feedback on the Config settings or anything else related to the functionality of using the probe before moving forward further with it. Let us know how you find it to work, and leave any other feedback as you see fit. I’m happy to finally close this topic now that this feature has been implemented :clinking_beer_mugs:

Screenshot 2025-09-24 at 11.27.39 AM

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