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The APIs and Inkscape based software use the same motion control code– there is a difference in how you can control it, but not a difference in the smoothness of motion.
At a minimum, you’ll need to modify the configuration file as well, to set the limits and resolution.
One other approach that you could possibly use would be to substitute
doABMovefordoXYMove— This moves as<AxisA> + <AxisB>, and<AxisA> - <AxisB>. I’m not sure that the signs are right (you might need to invert one or both), but it will rotate the coordinate system by 45 degrees.There are several different possible meanings to the “new axidraw software” — if you can clarify which specific software package(s) you mean, or what feature is that you’re looking for, that might be helpful.
AxiDraw does not use a CoreXY geometry, but it does have mixed axes. It is possible to modify AxiDraw software to work with the WaterColorBot (and vice versa) — it has been done quite a few times. However, the AxiDraw software does not have built-in support for features like brush washing or automatic re-inking.
This is not nearly enough information to guess at what kind of a problem it is, let alone to provide a solution.
You haven’t said what it is that you installed, what version of whatever it is that you installed, how you installed it, what version of Inkscape you installed it into, nor what the actual syntax error is.
Is it possible that you had a different value of the “tolerance” parameter set on the two machines? That would cause the difference.
There are any number different things that you can do to simplify a process like this. Using a “search path” is probably not better than just keeping the files in one directory, and using them there.
The most basic method of all would be to put your SVG files to plot right in your home directory. Then, open a terminal window and directly use
axicli your_file.svgto print that file.Adding one level of complexity, suppose that your files are in a folder named “axidraw_files”, in your home directory.
Then, open a terminal and move into that directory
cd axidraw_filesand callaxicli your_file.svgto print it.Alternately, stay in your home directory and use
axicli axidraw_files /your_file.svgto print it. (You can hit the “tab” key on your keyboard to autocomplete things as you’re typing them– this is faster than it looks.)Another method that I’ve used, especially when working on Raspberry Pi, is to make a shell script that I call instead of axicli, which calls axicli on a particular file. You could do the same thing, making a new command that moves to the right directory, and calls
axiclion a particular file.For example, if your files are in
~/axidraw_files, then you could create a script calledadplotthat changes directory toaxidraw_files
and then plots the second argument on the command line.You can also potentially create a linux alias, that prepends the directory name to the file when you call axicli.
Yes, similar types of “9 g” servo motors will work. The little lift arm is not guaranteed to fit those from different manufacturers.
There is some significant variation in the quality of these types of servo motors — cheaper ones may burn out very quickly. However, we would also advise you not to buy “fancier” grades of servos — things like metal gears and digital control tend to not actually increase the lifetime.
[I apologize for the slow reply; I missed the notification about the update.]
That certainly doesn’t sound good. The servo sounds like it’s on its way out. These do fail over time but are straightforward to replace.
If yours is a recent purchase, please contact us by email or through our contact form and we can send you a replacement. Otherwise, we do sell replacements both directly ( http://emsl.us/903 ) and through resellers ( https://www.robotshop.com/uk/evil-mad-scientist-replacement-servo-motor-axidraw.html ).
One additional thing to check is that the vertical slide does fall raise and fall freely when the servo motor lifts it. If it is having difficulty sliding, that will reduce the servo lifetime, so please check on that.
Now, is that grinding noise from the servo or from the plotter, when moving in X and Y? If it’s the latter, then try disconnecting the servo (at the connector on the left side of the machine), and try a plot that way. If a servo is failing, it can draw too much power, which can affect XY movement. If you are still having some kind of difficulty with XY movement, please write to technical support directly (again by email or our contact from); we’ll have some additional things for you to check.
The Alpha Clock Five schematic essentially arranges the full set of LEDs on the segmented displays as a rectangular matrix with 5 rows (one for each segmented display) and 18 columns (one for each segment in the display).
The columns are switched by two LED driver chips, U2 and U3, and the rows are switched by drive transistors Q1-Q5.
If all of the LEDs are lighting (even in one display) when they should, that suggests that the LED driver chips (the columns) are likely operating properly.
If not all of the segmented displays are lighting, that suggests strongly that something is going on with the row drivers. The signals to control those transistors originate at pins 36-40 of the microcontroller (U1). Those signals go through U5, which essentially acts as a level shifter, before going to RP6, a set of resistors that are connected to the transistors.
Since you’re seeing what appear to be *multiple* digits failing, the most likely cause is that something is flaky with U5. I’d start by checking that the chip is securely seated, and then check it solder connections. Next up would be to check soldering at RP6, and to begin checking the connections from U5 and RP6 to the microcontroller.
Those are screenshots on the page there.
From “nothing seemed to work,” I don’t have much to go on. If you can say what it is that did not work as expected, I may be able to help. Please be very specific.If your lines are getting messed up in the regular Hatch Fill, reduce the tolerance parameter value.
The missing part in subtracting/intersecting/etc is that there are a number of operations in the “Path” menu within Inkscape. If you select two shapes within Inkscape, then use the Path > Difference, Path > Intersection, Path > Union (etc) to add and subtract them in different ways.
See here for details:
https://wiki.evilmadscientist.com/Creating_filled_regions#Hatch_Path_Effect_MethodIn most cases, using EggBot > Hatch Fill will be easier, and give acceptable results.
I’ve seen this exact thing done for an event, but I don’t have the code for it. They had a JS application that you could type your name into and it would resize the text to fit in the label size.
If you want to do this within Inkscape, I’d suggest to make a template document the size of the paper, have the guests type within a text box there, and then use AxiDraw Merge to plot it — It will automatically replace the text with a stroke font and plot it.
Once you’ve done the first one, you can use Extensions > Previous Extension (or alt-q) to print the next one. So, just type and then a single keystroke to do text substitution and print.
Alternately, there are ways to do text substitution and drive the AxiDraw from the command line, but they aren’t as well integrated.
Whoa! Holy cow that is a hell of a “bump”. That’s _really_ solid material there; it takes a lot to affect it.
There’s not much that we can do about that kind of dent other than replacing the whole strut, but if you’re reasonably happy with it (and the performance is there) then we’re happy too.
Well, fantastic — I’m glad that you were able to get it up and running.
How bad is the damage on the far X end? Is it just the motor cover that is dented, or is the damage more extensive?
Hi Romazzino,
No, that sounds dreadfully out of the ordinary; The pictures are horrifying. AxiDraw should pleasingly precise, with no appreciable play in the carriages.The most likely case is that it got bumped hard during shipping, and bumped one or both carriages out of alignment. You should check for any more serious damage elsewhere (bent metal, broken parts) as well.
The good news is that it is relatively straightforward to tune it back up. If you write to us by e-mail (or use our contact form at https://shop.evilmadscientist.com/contact ), we can send you a PDF with instructions. If you read through them carefully, it should take you about five minutes to get back to AxiDraw-level precision.
