Possible to flip Cartesian grid in Aspire?

[MikeJames]

My VisionEngraving 2550 router has Home (0,0) in the upper left corner, with all plate values being positive numbers. Y gets larger as it goes south and X gets larger going east. Although I can set Home to be anywhere on the plate, if I send it a negative value for X or Y, I get an "out of bounds" error.

I know that this sounds like a fault with the router driver, but VE says they don't support third party apps. So I'm looking for a solution on the software side.

If there was some way to configure Aspire to allow Home to be in the upper left and flip Y values from negative to positive, all would be hunky dory.

Any ideas?

Thanks from Mike in Knoxville, Maryland.

[Rcnewcomb]

You can do this by modifying the post processor file that is used by the Vectric software. See this thread: http://forum.vectric.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6213->Link

[Adrian]

The latest version of the PP editing guide is on the Aspire Help menu.

[MikeJames]

Thanks gents.

Since you are pointing to the post processor, I take it to understand that there is no way to config Aspire to change its 0,0 location, i.e. it will always be in the lower left.

It seems that if I set the Aspire datum point to lower left, I'll always get positive numbers for X and negative numbers for Y. If this is the case, I need to multiply all of my Y values by -1.

I'm seeing how you can configure the toolpath program via the PP, but is there any simple "programming" allowed? I don't see anything like that in the Post Editing document.

Best regards,

Mike

[Adrian]

I'm a bit confused re-reading this.

You say that your Y runs North to South and your X runs West to East? If you're standing at the North West corner then that's your 0,0 and everything should work fine from that position with the standard Aspire setup?

[IslaWW]

Mike...
Use the "Job Setup" dialog to select the "north west" corner as the XY datum ( 0,0 )

X will behave normally, with positive values increasing to the right (east)
Y will need a "gender" change swapping negative values for positive output. This will provide positive values to be output to the machine and will move it down (south) as you need.

I don't believe that you can "flip a switch" and get Aspire, or any other vector design program for that matter, to "think" positive to the south in the Y. Its a violation of the Cartesian coordinate system that has been in play for 400+ years. However....

You may be able to:
Change the postP output by placing a negative sign in front of the [Y] variable
Swap 2 wires on the Y motor(s)
Add (or subtract) a negative sign in front of the resolution (unit) value for the Y axis.
I am sure the bunch here can come up with a more elegant way that I am not aware of.

It may be easier to change the machines 0,0 position. Remember, as you design, if you are using any of the movement tools, you will be thinking up and the vectors will be moving down.

Remember: Machines are made to be modified. Software is made to be "tricked" (God's rule, not mine)

[MikeJames]

Hi Adrian -

Your solution is where I started, but it generates negative Y values. These negative values causes the router software to crash. It only wants to see positive numbers.

Hi IslaWW -

I like your line of thinking. I will look at everything except the rewiring - I still have another 18 months of warranty that I don't want to lose!

One thing to note is that if I use the lower left datum point in Aspire, I can generate an all-positive toolpath, however when I run it the carving is flipped vertically on the table since my home is upper left. The router support tech says to just flip the artwork in Aspire before I create the toolpath. Although this works, it's not exactly an "elegant solution" and isn't practical in a production environment. I'm looking for a way to make this work correctly so I can stop thinking about it.

Also, the machine allows me to set my home position to anywhere on the table, but once it sees a negative number the process stops.

Thanks again,

Mike

[MikeJames]

I just got an early Christmas present! Vision Engravers just sent me a new Post that fixes the problems completely.

I can now put the home position anywhere on the table, put the datum point anywhere in Aspire, and the router will cut correctly. A miracle to be sure.

Apparently the post fixes two issues.

1. The machine is now happy to process negative numbers.

2. The Y values are flipped. Y = Y * -1

Never underestimate the value of a strongly-worded letter (email). Especially to the Sales Department.

Thanks for all of your help gentlemen. I send best wishes to all.

Merry Christmas!

Mike

[Rcnewcomb]

Glad you were able to get this resolve.

Please post some photos of your work on the forum. It is always interesting to see what others are doing.

[MikeJames]

I will do that very thing when I have something to show.

Mike