aph relaxation in 3D and more). There is much more already in our GitHub repos and more to be added. For getting an idea of our future direction check this lecture out. For getting a better understanding of graphs and graph theory watch this lecture and this lecture on a gamified spatial configuration process. Stay tuned for more and do not hesitate to post Python questions in the meantime.
ps. If you are having installation problems, please check the remedy suggested below:
Comment by Iman Sheikhansari on August 26, 2019 at 8:33amDelete Comment
HiIf you are encountering a problem with rhino 6 versions don't worryFollow these steps.1. Download SYNTACTIC from https://sites.google.com/site/pirouznourian/syntactic-design2. Install it and go to the installation folder, Drag & drop SYNTACTIC(green one) over your grasshopper canvas.3. Close your rhino and reopen it. 4. Type GrasshopperDeveloperSettings5. Tick the Memory load *.GHA assemblies using COFF byte arrays option6. Run grasshopper and enjoy plugin
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both my plotter/cutter and wide format printer. I had been running the plotter from my main work laptop - a Win10 machine via the plotters USB port. As it turns out you can't get Win XP drivers for this USB connection so I needed another solution.
I tried to use the plotters DB25 serial port connection using an old DB9 to DB25 modem cable I had in my collection = no luck the plotter wouldn't talk. A bit more research and it turns out these plotters need a 'null modem' cross over cable to operate. I found a pic of the correct wiring online and made up my own with some cable and connectors from the local electronics hobby shop.
With this hooked up and using Hyperterminal I was able to fire some codes to the plotter directly and get a response back - winning!
At this point I got my original code working with the 'net use' redirect from LPT1 to COM1.
HOWEVER - being that the plotter was now on a COM port there are a few more interesting things you can do with it - one is being able to read the paper size/cut area from the printer.
So what I needed to to was find a way to send and receive data to/from the plotter using the serial port.
A bit of research into .NET's serial port interface and using a bunch of small pieces of test code I have manged to completely re-jig this driver.
Upgrades include:
- Direct Serial Port comms using Null Modem cable (a USB to serial adaptor + null modem should also work)
- Plot area read from the plotter - a rectangle the size of the plot area is placed on a separate layer and coloured red
- Testing to see if selected plotting curves are both closed and inside of the cutting area - with errors shown and exiting if they are not right.
- After plot 'parking' of the plot head at the end of the cut items + an adjustable offset (currently requires manual resetting of origin on the plotter before for next cut)
Great thing is it is now 100% running within Rhino Python - no DOS command line calls = no flashing up of the CMD wind. Also no temp files needed on the HDD and no limit to number of curves that can be plotted - tested with 200 or so with no issues.
Overall very happy with whole project - have learnt a LOT about Python and .NET interfacing AND ended up with a very handy/useful tool.
Cheers
DK
# This code is a WIP # It plots directly to a DGI Plotter# via the serial port
import System.IO.Ports as Portsimport rhinoscriptsyntax as rsimport time
#Some setup valuescom_port = 'COM1' #change to match plotter port baud_rate = 9600 #change to match plotter settingplotter_step = .025 #mmfinsh_offset = 10 #mm
#Delete old cutting area and cut objectsif rs.IsLayer('Cutting Area'): rs.PurgeLayer('Cutting Area')if rs.IsLayer('Cutting Objects'): rs.PurgeLayer('Cut Objects')
#Setup Serial PortMyport = Ports.SerialPort(com_port)Port_Write = Ports.SerialPort.WriteMyport.BaudRate = baud_rateMyport.ReadTimeout=5000 #5 secsMyport.Close()Myport.Open()
#Setup PlotterPort_Write(Myport, 'PU;PA0,0;IN;\n')Port_Write(Myport, 'SP1;\n')Port_Write(Myport, 'PA;\n')time.sleep(2)
#Read the Paper size from PlotterPort_Write(Myport, 'OH;') #HPGL read limits codetime.sleep(2)
return1 = ''papersize = ''count = 0char_in_buffer = 0chars_in_buffer = Ports.SerialPort.BytesToRead.GetValue(Myport)
if chars_in_buffer == 0: print 'Plotter not ready' Myport.Close() exit()
while (count < chars_in_buffer): return1 = Myport.ReadChar() papersize = papersize + chr(return1) count = count + 1
papersize = papersize.split(",")rect1 = (float(papersize[2])*plotter_step)rect2 = (float(papersize[3])*plotter_step)
print 'Cutting area = ' + str(rect1) + 'x' + str(rect2)
#place cutting area curve on its own layer, make it red and lock itplane = rs.WorldXYPlane()cutting_area = rs.AddRectangle( plane, (rect1), (rect2))rs.AddLayer (name='Cutting Area', color=(255,0,0), visible=True, locked=True, parent=None)rs.ObjectLayer(cutting_area, 'Cutting Area')
#get plotting objects
allCurves = rs.GetObjects("Select curves to plot", rs.filter.curve)
#test to see if these are closed curves - exit if not
for curve in allCurves: test_closed = rs.IsCurveClosed(curve) if test_closed == 0: print "One or move of these curves are not closed" Myport.Close() exit()
#test to see if these are inside cutting area - exit if not
for curve in allCurves: test_inside = rs.PlanarClosedCurveContainment(curve, cutting_area)
if test_inside==0 or test_inside==1: print "One or more of these curves are outside of cut area" Myport.Close() exit()
#All ok - convert to points and send data to printer
rs.AddLayer (name='Cut Objects', color=(0,255,0), visible=False, locked=True, parent=None)
for curve in allCurves: Port_Write(Myport, 'PU;PA;SP1;\n') polyline = rs.ConvertCurveToPolyline(curve,angle_tolerance=5.0, tolerance=0.025, delete_input=False, min_edge_length=0, max_edge_length=0) points = rs.CurveEditPoints(polyline) rs.ObjectLayer(polyline, 'Cut Objects')
# PU to the first point x = points[0][0] y = points[0][1] Port_Write(Myport, 'PU' + str(int(x / plotter_step)) + ',' + str(int(y / plotter_step)) + ';\n') # PD to every subsequent point i = 1 while i < len(points): x = points[i][0] y = points[i][1] Port_Write(Myport, 'PD' + str(int(x / plotter_step)) + ',' + str(int(y / plotter_step)) + ';\n') i += 1
Port_Write(Myport,'PU;\n')
#find the far end of the cutbox = rs.BoundingBox(allCurves)far_end = str(box[1])far_end = far_end.split(",")far_end = far_end[0]far_end = float(far_end)/plotter_stepfar_end = (int(far_end))+ finsh_offsetfar_end = str(far_end)print (far_end)
#return plotter home and close portPort_Write(Myport, 'PU;PA' + far_end + ',0;IN;\n')Port_Write(Myport, 'SP1;\n')Port_Write(Myport, 'PA;\n')Myport.Close()time.sleep(10)…