Iād like to suggest a feature for gSenderās auto-leveling tool that would be a game-changer for anyone working with live edge wood or organic shapes.
Currently, auto-leveling probes within a standard rectangular grid. However, raw wood rarely comes in perfect rectangles. Here is what would make the auto-leveling tool much more powerful:
Vector-Based Probing Boundary: Instead of being limited to a rectangular area, it would be amazing if we could restrict the probing area to a specific vector shape (imported or selected within the software). This way, the machine only probes where the actual material is, saving time and preventing the probe from falling off the edges of organic shapes.
Flexible XY/Z Zero Point After Probing: Once the surface is scanned and the mesh is generated, we should be able to set our work coordinate zero (XY and Z) at any point within that scanned area. The software should automatically calculate and apply the leveling compensation relative to that specific zero point, regardless of where the initial probe sequence started or where the mesh was anchored.
This would give us immense flexibility when setting up irregular pieces.
What do you guys think? Is this something that could be implemented in a future update?
@Thiago Iām guessing that by āauto-levelingā, you are referring to the height mapping feature that has been frequently requested? If so, your suggestion makes sense.
@Thiago Ok, Height-mapping is the same thing. It has been requested multiple times and I think it is on the radar for an upcoming release.
If you canāt wait, both ncSender and ioSender have this feature already. For ncSender, the developer calls it 3D Mesh. Check out his YouTube (Francis Creation)
@Thiago Got it, I think. You want the height mapping feature to be defined inside of a closed vector of any shape and not just a rectangular shape.
Those 3D probes are capable of determining the edges of a workpiece. So if I were to implement what you suggested for an unknown shape, Iād have the probe find the contour of the workpiece and then determine the surface profile inside the contour.
If the shape is known and already available as a vector, all youād need to do is do the height map inside the vector.
The software will perform the scan inside the vector area, considering that the vector is positioned on the table at a distance of 200mm on the X axis and 300mm on the Y axis, starting from the machineās home position.
āAfter scanning, I can set the part zero at any point on the wood, and the software will take into account that the wood is located at X 200mm and Y 300mm from machine zero. It will understand that the part zero is in a different location (for example, X 210mm and Y 310mm), without affecting the surface leveling correction at all.
Itās similar, but itās not quite what I suggested. From what I saw, it scans in a rectangular area when viewed from above. And a probe that is just a simple touch plate (without edge-detection capabilities) wouldnāt work.
āImagine you have a rough, round piece of wood, and you need to scan only that round area because you want to machine a pocket or a slot 2cm inside the edge of this wood. You need to probe this round piece, but you run into the problem of the probing being done in a rectangular gridā¦ Do you see what I mean?
I think I see what you mean. So the wood is actually flat you just want it to automatically detect all the edges of the wood, correct? The probe in the video is technically able to do that but the plugin isnāt written to do that.
No, the wood is not flat. I donāt want to detect the edges. Imagine that I took a photo of the wood and traced it in Aspire to generate an approximate vector of the materialās shape, not just its dimensions.
āI will position this vector at a specific X/Y coordinate in Aspire, which must match as accurately as possible the actual position of the wood on my CNC table.
āThe vector will act as a boundary to limit the scanning area, ensuring that the probe doesnāt try to touch off at any point outside the wood. The sensor is just a simple Z-axis touch probe.
āSince the vector is at a specific X/Y position relative to the table in Aspire, and the wood is in that exact same X/Y position on the CNC table relative to āMachine Zeroā, the scanning will take place inside that vector area, which will perfectly coincide with the physical wood on the table.
Iāll try show this in a movie, but I dontāt speak Englishā¦
