Raspberry Pi CNC Controller

[@WillWinder]

Nice setup, always fun to see how people are using my little program. Thanks for the shout out!

[@ThinkinThoed]

Thanks for the great software! :) Made jumping into CNC that much easier for me.

[@chaddanylak8706]

good software but evertime i use the program it crash half way in a job any idea to prevent this

[@WillWinder]

@chad danylak It's not supposed to do that, create a ticket on github and I can help you out.

[@markyu70]

I have a problem. Visualizer in UGS on Raspberry Pi 3 B+ doesnt' work. I tried python bCNC and it works but I prefer to use UGS.

[@Jimehh30]

when a development spread a lot, make a great reputation for the developer

[@rstiekema]

I love how you make every sentence count. No bullshit, a lot of great info. Thanks for making this.

[@dineshvyas]

The shortest and the most informative video.

[@freeelectron8261]

Sweet! Just what I'm looking for as I have a nice clean dust free laptop and an unused Pi. Raspberry Pi's are becoming so useful now.

[@Zimbob2424]

lol, As soon as I heard RPi only $35 I had to check how old the video is, well it's old. Lot of subscribers though, I'll check out the rest of the channel

[@zbesh]

Now I am changing my setup to make it Pi-based, thank you for the video, great help

[@jmpattillo]

I’ve been meaning to do this with my x carve for two years. Thanks for the step by step

[@InnerBushman]

This is misinformation at best. The Pi is not the CNC controller. You clearly have a CNC machine with a built-in controller. The Pi is only working as an interface, or like repetier host works for 3D printers. It only sends plain text g-code over serial cable and displays the read-back from the controller.

[@arielgilg]

¡Que buen video!, excelente presentación, información precisa y concreta. Gracias por compartir su valisoso conocimiento.

[@yummo6209]

Very nicely done ... to the point and matching your dialog to the action in the video made everything easy to follow.

[@Duraltia]

Suddenly and out of nowhere comes G28.1 without any further explanation as to what its purpose is like telling some guy on the street to turn the switch on a console of a device he just saw for the first time. Certainly for anyone vaguely familiar with the topic this video made kind of sense but for anyone else this was like a rollercoaster of a how-to xD

[@RinksRides]

bruh! just ordered the 3-axis Nema 34 kit from fleabay that uses a parallel port and linuxCNC, and a laptop dock for my DELL 6410... Ur mesin with my head now, lol! Great vid!

[@dirk-janfaber]

Thanks for the video. It was just what I needed. Don't forget to install `sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-jdk`, if it hasn't been installed already (it wasn't on my pi).

[@JohnColgan.]

Nice build, expand my knowledge & experience

[@taylorwight5856]

I have been trying to figure out how to do this for a while. Thanks for breaking that down so simply!

[@jul10199555]

ASDDDSAFSFSFDA THANKS, I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DO THIS WITH MY CNC FOR MONTHS AND I COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING "FREE" ABOUT IT, THANKS MAN

[@LDWorkshop]

Congratulations for this nice setup. I did install UGS on a RasberryPi a few weeks ago to run my Sahpeoko3 and I unfortunately have some trouble with it (crash during jobs). It seems you run an older version of UGS, I'll try this same version to see if it works better. If only I saw your video a few weeks earlier, I would earn lot of time and pain ! Thanks again.

[@chips4289]

I have been thinking about this to make a plasma table cnc. I have a laser engraver so its basically the same idea. I have the fabrication skills to build a table but had no idea of what to do for the electronics.. I also use fusion360 more for 3d printing and laser engraving but a plasma table would be awesome..I see no reason why I couldnt use a home plasma cutter ..I just have to figure out how to wire everything so it tells my plasma when to fire. This is awesome!

[@SebastiaanSwinkels]

So it's not really a controller but just a gcode streamer. A controller is the part that actually sends the step command to the individual stepper drivers etc.

[@rondlh20]

Unfortunately yes, the Pi lacks IO functionality to be a flexible CNC/3D printer controller. Adding an IO expander via I2C or SPI could solve that

[@Richard.Andersson]

Ron DLH : I still think that the Pi will not work well for this since it is running an entire OS in the background and thus the timing for controlling the motors will not be precise. You need a real-time OS for the timing to work properly or just stick to a dedicated microcontroller.

[@gfc62]

Sebastiaan, yep this was disappointing, from the title and intro I thought he was showing a CNC controller - not just a shop computer used to connect to his stock X-Carve controller. Others have built out RasPi CNC controllers so I was curious if his approach would be different than the popular RasPi / Protoneer board formula. Of course we shouldn’t expect much from any Make: video on CNC; it doesn’t appear that hard core CNC projects are their forte

[@rondlh20]

You can run an OS on the Pi, but you don't have to. There is no reason why it couldn't run any the 3D printer platforms like Marlin. Some changes in the software are required of course. You could also run an real-time OS on the board.

[@sir_wolfart4733]

There are people that have make rpi it to a controller for a CNC, and 3D printer using LinuxCNC or Machinekit with a real time kernel running. The rpi is a lot more to get its set up. I use the Beagle-bone Black with a per made os img for Machinekit and you can get up and running real fast. Both use GPIO pins to talk to the stepper motor drivers. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH_OmIiijcmcfqc for the rpi gpio test. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3zCgIylg7R1erM for the Beagle-bone Black.

[@SirValiantIII]

This is great. Saved to come back to later

[@yash1152]

First video I have ever seen, which brought my Electronics/Computer's love with my Mechanical wife (LOL).

[@patrickdekker3934]

solid build man

[@kevincoleman5223]

Definitely doing this

[@SloanThrasher]

Nice setup. Can you add links to text files with the commands and config options you used in the video?

[@pucomponent]

where you bought keyboard with buildin pad could you guide the link please

[@jratha1]

Interesting Project, Have you got a full walk through on how to program the Pi?

[@HerrDoktorK0v0]

I don't think you need to install maven. I believe this is only needed to do development on UGS. I've got GRBL 1.1 running on an Arduino Uno with a grblshield doing the actual controlling. This seems to be just the thing to get my old Shapeoko working again with a nice, light weight control system.

[@TheFeralEngineer]

Got a pi running Linuxcnc on my emco CNC lathe 👌

[@prophead62]

in your clip you say Raspberry PIs are only $35.00 ....please send link where i can get one. I'd really like to start working with them and learning about them.

[@MyDream1612]

Greate and useful info, nice setup! Can you send me link where you buy the keyboard, or what is the brand of the keyboard you use, ilove it. Thanks

[@ssfdre38]

I would use the touch scree for a lot of those buttons as it would be easier to control then the keyboard just to make the process faster

[@MAKE]

The interface gets pretty tiny on the screen. and there's a lot of minuscule screen elements - like the arrows to change your step increments. But, the solution is there for you if you want it!

[@donfillenworth1721]

OK, that does it! I’m subscribing. Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

[@Ishalak]

Excelent video, this helped me a lot.. but i was wondering if is there a way or any script for autmatically conect the usb port when the platform starts? thank you.

[@CiaranWhelan]

Any way to add touch screen for the UGS on that screen since it is a touch screen? Seems a waste not to use it.

[@victor21209]

Nice video, thank you for share, I have a question, can you see a preview of the piece on raspberry pi??

[@mamoshimamoshian9078]

Hi Even thou 3 years has gone, But I really DO Hope that you still look at your post here :) ? I have several questions but the most important is how do you get that black screen is it a dos screen or another software.I will be Grateful . Thank you very much for sharing.....:)

[@nigelhungerford-symes5059]

Nicely done

[@jimviau327]

Sorry for the dumb question but what is actually the interface between the Pi computer and your stepper motors? What's under the hood ? By the way nice video.

[@QAYWSXEDCCXYDSAEWQ]

Wow, its 2024? Can you give us an update? Is is all still working; what sort of controller does the xCarve use?

[@ROARitstiffanyyy]

Fantastic video!

[@kishoremn191]

This is really cool...!! Thanks a lot for sharing.

[@knartfocker00]

Dude, that was exceptional. Do you take apprentices?

[@carlchrzan8072]

Hello do you have a step-by-step guide for the install? You said things faster than I can understand. I’m good with electronics but not software. Thanks

[@TheCalibso]

Thanks for this video, but is there a way to use Candle instead UGS ?

[@eformance]

The native resolution of the Pi touchscreen is 800x480, you will find everything is crisper if you set that as the FB size.

[@MAKE]

Yeah, but I found that the UGS interface is just a little too cramped to use at that size. I've found that 960x540 has enough space for the critical stuff, and still scales nicely.

[@bscottmartyn]

How is the Raspberry Pi connected to the motor and spindle controllers?

[@ALFAHOBBIES]

Nice idea but now that I set everything up like you have in your video, how do you start UGS without digging deep into the file folders trying to find the program to run. I can get it to run once I dig through lots of folders but there has to be a better way. making a desktop icon to make it easy to start universal gcode sender would be great but I can't figure out how to do that.

[@elibeeblebrox1084]

if you ever figured this out, please help

[@jratha1]

OK, I've now got all this working and its certainly better than using the laptop (old laptop and very slow) I've found that the classic script is a lot better for running on the pi though, not as resource hungry. I'm just trying to work out how to create a shortcut for the desktop so I can run this with just a touch screen rather than mouse an keyboard. Any ideas how I can do this as all my attempts have failed

[@adelolly07]

Thanks, very informative and very well presented :)

[@Chrismoughan]

Dude. Great video!

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice info, thanks :)

[@bentebrunsvelt319]

Thanks for good tips Greets from Holland

[@IgnoreMyChan]

Die Ben. (No, English speakers, I'm not telling Ben to die!)

[@JeffSwenson]

great video! Going to get a pi right meow

[@mestevep12]

great Vid..but was wondering can UGCS be used to carve 3d objects ie carvings ???..I can not get it to do 3d but flat 2d code runs OK

[@diegogarrido6935]

Great Video!

[@IgnoreMyChan]

Do you have an opinion about the cheap $200-$300 CNC routers you can find on Aliexpress? Are those a waste of money for a PCB milling machine, or are they perfect for that purpose?

[@MAKE]

I don't have any experience, personally. Switch & Lever has a great video where he reviews one. Build quality was bad and some parts broke on assembly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKPOaHeAa9VgpLM Assuming you get it together ok, you should be fine. PCB milling doesn't require a ton of machine rigidity and strength. You might want to put it in an enclosure though - depending on your PCB material, some of the stock is really toxic.

[@IgnoreMyChan]

Thanks! I've seen that video before but that doesn't make it look too good :) Also thanks for the head-up about the toxic PCB's! Never thought about that.

[@MAKE]

Specifically the dust from milling. FR4 is the really nasty stuff. FR1 & 2 are nontoxic.

[@IgnoreMyChan]

That's really good to know! Thanks! What does the FR in FR4 stands for? -Edit: Sorry, that was of course only one Google query away: "Flame Retardant", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FR-4

[@jasonmhite]

I have one, it works well but you need to know what you're doing as they don't have any frills. Critically, they don't have any endstops, so it's easy to crash the spindle carrier. But yes, they are perfectly capable and if you use it right they are much much more capable than you'd think, I use mine to engrave pretty complex PCBs semi-often. It's absolutely critical to do software auto-leveling on your copper clad, but most of the cheapo's on Aliexpress are generic GRBL controllers that support probing so this is easy to set up. Also you have to be careful with dust, you want ventilation and a fan to pull the dust away so you don't breathe it as bare minimum.

[@bhsx]

Don't need full size monitor in shop... Sits in front of full size monitor in shop. 😂 Great video though.

[@Vitalii_Yeliashevskyi]

Which controller and drivers you are using? I plan to build my first cnc, but all controllers I have seen hahave only LPT. Im looking at lv8727 based drivers, but I'm not sure about controller. Could you please give some piece of advice?

[@TravisMeeks6]

*BEST. VIDEO. EVER!!*

[@MAKE]

[@MARS-GREENH0USE]

It's just a product pitch, not free either. No controllers

[@AntzyX]

Another benefit you get using a raspebrry pi is that you then have your PC free for other tasks.

[@djtyros]

Using the run_platform.sh to open seems to take forever. I look at the output terminal, and its just saying theres nothing to update... etc.... but still takes 3-5mins to open. Any advice on how to fix? thanks

[@dunichtich100]

This is just perfect!!!

[@tomadams1066]

I would like to build this project. Is there a way to use Protoneer Raspberry Pi CNC hat v2.58 (I will use this to drive my TB6600 stepper motors), and connect it to your system? Would I need to use an additional Raspberry Pi ?

[@williamcabanjr8947]

Would this set-up work for a 2.5 laser on GRBL ? Thanks for Sharing !

[@Tapajara]

Title says that the Raspberry Pi is a Controller but the video seems to say that it is just a G-Code Sender. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE! If it is just a Sender, then you still need a controller like GRBL running on Arduino.

[@DanRegalia]

Got any links to the side covers for your CNC? Also, Do you have a walk thru on using pi-bakery to setup everything? I want to make this same setup. Thanks! This video is really awesome.

[@tomadams1066]

I have loaded the raspberrypi and using PuTTY. I am using the Protoneer. I am trying to get from the Linux program to the GUI. Can you tell me how to get my Lenux to go to the GUI screen? Thanks, Tom

[@38KSW]

I am very interested how you interfaced the Raspberry Pi to the cnc machine

[@milthon57]

Great. I wonder it can be used for plasma CUTTING. Arduino is not a good choice because of plasma interferences

[@jasondevault5066]

What break out board did you use, stepper motors, and drivers?

[@johnross3752]

Hi i want to run my CNC table with a raspberry pi & an exterior hard drive. I have large table 10 foot by 20 foot I would like to run Mach3 because of the fitures My question is can I run windows 7 as my O/S and then load programs on windows like normal

[@brennonrose3827]

would the software work with a laser as well? with control of guide lights and beam power

[@messygreasyhand5465]

Great vid thanks

[@pfabiszewski]

Very nice project! I'm curious what are benefits of your approach comparing to Android tablet with OTG cable pluged in. I'm thinking on both. Does anyone have any ideas?

[@IgnoreMyChan]

Is there gcode-software for Android? The great thing of a Raspberry is that you can run virtually any software (that compiles for ARM) on it. A lot easier and open than Android, imho.

[@pfabiszewski]

IgnoreMyChan yes, it is. It can be used via bluetooth or USB as well. Link: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.gorest.grblcontroller IMO the solution showed on the clip is more elegant, but not only though.

[@geologist_luna]

So I followed these instructions for setting up the Pi with the UGSender and I can't get this to work at all. Obviously I don't know where to go from here. I've been working on this for two weeks. WTF?

[@kamilhashmi1]

Awesome video :)

[@bitsinmyblood]

Fantastic!

[@joeltyler3427]

1:05 That ribbon cable does the touch screen as well display.

[@raifhanna1120]

Can I use Raspberry pi for rotary knife CNC?

[@williamstorey5024]

2 rookie questions new to git. I git cloned and compiled ugs as you showed. A is it going to run through all that stuff every time I launch or is there another method of launching besides run_platform.sh? second how do I update the git he makes nightly builds?

[@jotirlingswami4426]

Hi, Will this work on the raspberry pi zero W model ?

[@diegomestrecam7674]

grate video. really looking foward to try it. the only thing is that when I do the: sudo apt-get install maven it is not working reom there. it tells me that there are a buch of URL´s not found 404. im i doing something wrong, or what other thing kan I do there to fix it? thanks

[@danielrj3000]

I have one question you can use te visualizer Real Time when you Run the .GNC code ???

[@glennedward2201]

Any improvement in performance? Or same? I’ve been looking at the high powered orange pi plus 2e 2gb 64 bit board for this process.

[@alexrand6796]

Awesome! dunno why ppl buy a Intelboxstick to run esltcam on it.

[@CesarOlesk]

Very good

[@RyuuzakiJulio]

Would it connect to an Arduino with the motor driver shield?

[@fromdarktolight6353]

Is that rasberry pi 3,? Is it overkill to use rasberry pi 4?

[@usmanwijanarto8608]

i love u Bro .. thanks for sharing

[@kleidaras900900]

Hello! I want to built a cnc machine with some intelligence. Is there a way to send the zero point of the workpiece from a camera to the controller?

[@haroldmeid7791]

Can I use an old small laptop as a controller? And if so how do I do it

[@drustan6890]

how are the stepper motors connected to the raspberry pi? the steppers are usually connected to a controller or atduino, do we connect the arduino to rasp?

[@aplavins]

Nice!

[@theodurbin8672]

Regarding Fusion 360... you say it's free, and it definitely isn't. It's a subscription service which costs $300 per year, unless you can get a student/education license. That doesn't apply to most of us. AutoDesk is a business, and understands that training folks to use their proprietary software means building future revenue streams. That said, I'm sure they put out a good product.

[@MAKE]

It's free for hobbyists as well - which is anyone making less thank $100k/yr with that software - which does describe most of us.

[@theodurbin8672]

Make: Then I need this yesterday.

[@Waltkat]

Can you point us to where Fusion is available for free because all I can find is free for 30 days then $40 per month afterwards. No mention of being free indefinitely for hobbiest. In the mean time, I've been using FreeCAD.

[@tmartin9482]

Same confusion over here. Guess they're meaning the 'Sign up as a Start-Up or Enthusiast' thing. Well, this doesn't meet the definition of free or open source software, but you can use it as long as they don't change the licensing.

[@Waltkat]

I don't see anywhere on Autodesks' website where one can get Fusion 360 free for more than 30 days. All I can find is free for 3 years if one is a student, educator, or academic institution. I'm none of those. Am I missing something here?

[@Elwould23]

Saves space by not having to have a full size monitor. (Has full size monitor on bench behind him) Good use of Pi but Idk why you would get a keyboard that has no dust shield and has a touchpad. No need for a mouse, that's what tab and shift tab are for.

[@MAKE]

Hey, I said it was a NEW setup! I haven't rehomed that old monitor and reclaimed the space yet. :D

[@Elwould23]

Just messing around. IDK why jokes are all considered trolling now? Has society become that sensitive?

[@MAKE]

Not at all! I knew you were having a laugh, so I joined in! So far the keyboard with the dust hasn't been too much of a problem. A dust cover wouldn't be a bad idea, but I don't know if they make them for keybards this tiny.

[@Pete.G]

I wonder if you could make a dust cover for tiny keyboards using some brush on latex normally used in mould making?

[@cardansan]

Hi! Thanks for the video, I'm quite new to Raspberry but really wanted to use it with my CNC, I did exactly as you showed in the video but now I don't know how to make a shortcut to open the UGCS instead of running the instalation .sh file and I wonder if there's another way to open it that doesn't take ages to load. :(

[@cardansan]

Never mind, I found out how to do it.

[@ConsiderThis]

How do you run the GUI without running the .sh file?

[@Barneyscarpetcleaning]

@@cardansan how do you make the shortcut to open the ugs ?

[@msdesignru]

Pretty interesting...

[@Zone1242]

I almost made it - maven installed ok, java8 is installed, cloned the UGS files. When I run the platform.sh the compile fails. It gets to the part where it copies 30 resource files, ugs-parent succeeds, ugs-core fails so it skips the rest and I get an error 'Failed to execute goal..............lots of text ending in (permission denied). Any pointers to where I might get help is much appreciated...... Cheers, John

[@RyuuzakiJulio]

Run as sudo? Maybe sudo -i?

[@Zone1242]

@@RyuuzakiJulio Thanks, I tried sudo so I'll try with the added suffix.....

[@JLocke573]

I keep getting an error when I run the ./run_platform.sh command. It says "Failed to execute goal com.github.eirslett:frontend-maven-plugin:1.6:install-node-and-npm (install node and npm) on project ugs-pendant: could not download Node.js: Got error code 404 from the server." All my attempts to google and try peoples solutions have failed

[@afoundationforeconomicfree1014]

Same here any luck finding a solution?

[@mostafasohrabi5634]

exellent