RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] G-code---for the new millenium

Guy:

Your suggestion seems quite reasonable to me, but consider the following:

1. The majority of CNC machines available understand some dialect of G-Code.
Hence, I would not think of building a layer to run the machine that
understood anything else.

2. Many of us are using a computer system to generate the G-Code. By that, I
mean that some of us are using a program like VectorCAD/CAM which allows us
to draw a part and generates the appropriate G-Code from the drawing. From
that point, we need only add the non drawable items, such as feed or spindle
speed, and we're ready to go.

So, if I were implementing something like you mention, I'd make a translator
that would convert the "human readable" mnemonics into G-Code. And, I'd most
likely use the EMC document as a base when determining which G-Codes I'd
use.

But, one more thing to consider - Remember when TurboC was introduced for
computers and TurboPascal was one of the major languages. Several folks
decided that Pascal's "begin" was superior to C's '{' so they build a
translator to allow you to write code in pigeon C (with begin, end, etc.)
and then translate into C. It turns out that it was easier to simply learn C
and continue forward. I believe that the same holds true for G-Code.

-- Carol & Jerry Jankura
Strongsville, Ohio
So many toys, so little time....


|My main area of work is in electronics (not computers) and many systems are
|now controlled by microcontrollers. Their language is usually very
|intuitive
|with commands like
|LSL for Logical Shift Left
|CPI for Compare with Immediate
|SER for Set bits in Register
|CLR for Clear Register
|etc... you get the idea.
|
|I was thinking about implementing alternative text commands to Gcode that
|would be equally well interpreted by the software receiving it (machine
|controller). The commands would be 3 or 4 letter words with an intuitive
|meaning to them. It would not take longer to write the code manually, but
|would allow a listing that is much more "readable" by humans. It would also
|allow someone not quite familiar with code to quickly see the tool path in
|the file.
|
|For example, let's imagine...
|RAP for G00 Rapid positioning
|LIN for G01 Linear interpolation
|ACW for G02 Circular interpolation Clockwise (arcs)
|ACCW for G03 circular interpolation counter-clockwise
|CCCW for G13 Circle counter-clockwise
|XYP for G17 X-Y plane designation
|RADL for G41 cutter radius compensation to the left
|DRL for G83 hole drilling
|ABS for absolute programming mode
|FEED feed rate
|LOOP for loop the program
|DWL for dwell
|RPM for (what else) RPM
|END for end program
|etc...