Saturday, December 21, 2024
Comparing input SVG with actual output
I thought it might be a good idea to compare the SVG that I'm using as source for these logo probe etchings with the actual observed output. So I fired up Inkscape and overlaid a microscope image on the SVG. It looks like this:
Now there's a bit of shuffling around which may be speculative, and I have had to distort for a best fit. But there are a number of interesting things going on that give hints to issues with hardware and software:
Yeah, my scaling is stuffed because I had to distort the image. Fair cop. More calibration needed.
There is quite a bit of consistent displacement on the Y axis that does not come out with scaling or distorting. The tip of the logo is too low, and the lowest part of the μ is too high. Backlash, maybe. I suspect a Y-specific hardware fault here,as the problem is not exhibited on the X axis. Mebbe I should swap the X & Y axes and try again? Hmmmm....
Looking at the line around the outside of the logo you will see a number of Control Points used to define the curve. The distortion of the outside of the logo is consistent with the transitions between these points. I strongly suspect I am asking the software to do things it was never expected to do.
Dear Santa, I would like:
My GRBL settings to pretend to be in millimetres but actually be in microns so the GCODE converters don't run into floating point or precision errors.
Proper calibration measurements with simple shapes.
Backlash tests and a hardware overhaul.
My 3D designs for all the things to magically appear on github.
Lots of beer.
P.S. Please give the people who haven't discovered Open Source yet a nice present too, and pat Rudolph for me.
