M300 gcode support - beeping wanted

Feature Request:

I remotely administer my 3d printer (tweaked Prusa Mendel) running Repetier. Often a print job finishes/fails and the machine is in need of human assistance before it can do anything else. Making it able to make sound tones would help it draw the attention of human helpers who happen to be home. (sorry about the alliteration)

I want to be able to run a job that displays a message on the screen. (M117 does that nicely)
Then I want is to be able to make a series of beeps until someone comes and notices. I would probably make it musical to make it more fun (Bach is good for this) I could make the motors move around at certain speeds to generate a series of tones but, although possible, is not very practical. Having the M300 S{freq} P{duration in ms} command would be quite helpful.

I know this command may have initially seemed frivolous and not related to actual printing but it is actually quite useful and would be appreciated in future revisions of Repetier, a very fine printing application/firmware.

Thanx :-)

YOu can attach a piezo beeper and let that one scream.
M120 S P

With duration/count in range 0-255

Alternatively the host has a @sound command and can also play wav files on pause/finished

---

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thanx for replying. :-)

I'll give M120 a run when I'm physically at home. I've got one of those $50 16x4 LCD controllers with wheel, reset button, SDcard reader, AND PIEZO BEEPER that I hear when I use the interface. It sounds like I'll get most of the desired benefit. Still I'd like to hear it play Imperial March or a long Bach medly. (I've go Doom and Doom II midi files somewhere too that I could convert to gcode)

The @sound command triggers a sound at the host computer not the printer, right? It would work right now because I'm using a laptop but I plan to hook the printer and its webcam into an ethernet/usb adapter and control it from a virtual machine on a real box I already have on 24/7 to save electricity. No sound for virtual machines though.
Giving this a try soon --> [www.monoprice.com]


I may be able to use the accessing of the sound file as a trigger to launch a program to send myself an email when the print job is done. I noticed that the repetier-host seems to be aware of printing events even when initiated at the LCD interface. I don't know if it will notice an end of job event. Gotta check that out. It would be cool to have the option of launching an app/batch file at the end of printing but you can't ask for everything at once. I'm very happy with what repetier can do today and am looking forward to the future.

For now, until I make the next upgrade, my mendel prusa 2 can be seen at:
[ip1.foxpup.com]

One of my daughters wants me to build a delta printer for big stuff. One of my son's wants me to build a 3d scanner. I'm thinking about a CNC machine or laser cutter. We are one geeky family. :-) (only way to go for us)

Also, I just wish I could gain direct access to some of the PLA that they make at the Cargil plant only a few miles away from where I live instead of having to deal with wholesalers selling to distributers selling to retailers selling to me. What a racket. I did find a good Omaha seller that sells quality stuff so I can get next day PLA. :-)
[www.onlinefilament.com]

I need to build a robot to unload completed print jobs done on a glass plate, store them away nicely and place an empty one in the printer as needed. Someone needs to design such a system. Same goes with filament "cartridges". Some day.... :-) For now I've got human labor but not forever. My border collie is smart, but not that smart and kids grow up. :-)

Thanx for helping

foxpup Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanx for replying. :-)
>
> I'll give M120 a run when I'm physically at home.
> I've got one of those $50 16x4 LCD controllers
> with wheel, reset button, SDcard reader, AND PIEZO
> BEEPER that I hear when I use the interface. It
> sounds like I'll get most of the desired benefit.

Sounds like the Smartcontroller. Simply set FEATURE_CONTROLLER 2 in this case and it should work:-)

> Still I'd like to hear it play Imperial March or a
> long Bach medly. (I've go Doom and Doom II midi
> files somewhere too that I could convert to
> gcode)

That is too much for a firmware. No DA output for that, if I'm not missing a thing.
>
> The @sound command triggers a sound at the host
> computer not the printer, right? It would work

Yes, the host strips it and plays the sound.

> right now because I'm using a laptop but I plan to
> hook the printer and its webcam into an
> ethernet/usb adapter and control it from a virtual
> machine on a real box I already have on 24/7 to
> save electricity. No sound for virtual machines
> though.
> Giving this a try soon -->
> [www.monoprice.com]
> =7527

You could also use a Raspberry-PI with Repetier-Server as remote solution. I have it working with a WLAN stick, making it completely position independent.

>
>
> I may be able to use the accessing of the sound
> file as a trigger to launch a program to send
> myself an email when the print job is done. I

Email has still to come :-(

> noticed that the repetier-host seems to be aware
> of printing events even when initiated at the LCD
> interface. I don't know if it will notice an end
> of job event. Gotta check that out. It would be
> cool to have the option of launching an app/batch
> file at the end of printing but you can't ask for
> everything at once. I'm very happy with what
> repetier can do today and am looking forward to
> the future.
>

No feedback for this I think. Only for variables changed in the ui of the printer.

> For now, until I make the next upgrade, my mendel
> prusa 2 can be seen at:
> [ip1.foxpup.com]
> 0/Snapshot.jpg
>
> One of my daughters wants me to build a delta
> printer for big stuff. One of my son's wants me
> to build a 3d scanner. I'm thinking about a CNC
> machine or laser cutter. We are one geeky family.
> :-) (only way to go for us)

Could be my home. CNC is somewhat running and Delta printer is planned next.
>
>
> I need to build a robot to unload completed print
> jobs done on a glass plate, store them away nicely
> and place an empty one in the printer as needed.
> Someone needs to design such a system. Same goes
> with filament "cartridges". Some day.... :-) For
> now I've got human labor but not forever. My
> border collie is smart, but not that smart and
> kids grow up. :-)
>

Send me the plans when your Robot is ready :-)
> Thanx for helping

---

Repetier-Software - the home of Repetier-Host (Windows, Linux and Mac OS X) and Repetier-Firmware.
Repetier-Server - the solution to control your printer from everywhere.
Visit us on Facebook and Twitter!

repetier Wrote:
>
> Sounds like the Smartcontroller. Simply set
> FEATURE_CONTROLLER 2 in this case and it should
> work:-)
>

You are "Spot On" with the Smartcontroller. Great value. I'll give your selection a try. :-)

> > Still I'd like to hear it play Imperial March or
> a
> > long Bach medly. (I've go Doom and Doom II
> midi
> > files somewhere too that I could convert to
> > gcode)
>
> That is too much for a firmware. No DA output for
> that, if I'm not missing a thing.

Actually I was thinking more along the line of cheesy beeping music. For instance, for machines that do use M300 commands, this would be musical and may be the imperial march. Just a series of controlled beeps and pauses.
I could run it like any other gcode print job. :-)

M300 S{pitch in hz} P{duration in ms}

M300 S400 P450
M300 S0 P100
M300 S400 P450
M300 S0 P100
M300 S400 P450
M300 S0 P100
M300 S320 P325
M300 S0 P100
M300 S480 P125
M300 S0 P25
M300 S400 P400
M300 S0 P100
M300 S320 P325
M300 S0 P100
M300 S480 P125
M300 S0 P25
M300 S400 P750
M300 S0 P150
M300 S574 P450
M300 S0 P100
M300 S574 P450
M300 S0 P100
M300 S574 P450
M300 S0 P100
M300 S630 P325
M300 S0 P100
M300 S480 P125
M300 S0 P25
M300 S375 P400
M300 S0 P100
M300 S320 P325
M300 S0 P100
M300 S480 P125
M300 S0 P25
M300 S400 P750

>
> You could also use a Raspberry-PI with
> Repetier-Server as remote solution. I have it
> working with a WLAN stick, making it completely
> position independent.

I would very much like to do that some day but I'd like to get my mendel to a state of optimization first, then move on. I recently purchased some more smooth and threaded rods and plan to tweak the physical dimensions of the unit a bit. I think I can realisticly get to 200mm x 200mm x 200mm build space with some longer rods and declare it optimal. Going much higher stars to get impractical with a moving Y axis. I may have to add some stability supports as well.

Raspberry-PI is ultimately on the horizon but it is far off, but felt a bit closer yesterday with it being PI day and all. :-)
Your wireless approach is very cool. Now if one could integrate it with a cheap web cam, we would be golden. I'm a big advocate of keeping cameras on these machines, for remote administration, illustration for the public, and ferensic data gathering in case something goes wrong. If I had hundreds of these machines I might feel diferently.

***Another Repetier Suggession***
A suggession for the Repetier code writer: I tweaked the code on my setup to change the sequence of what axis is homed first when a "home all axis" command is sent. The default is XYZ. My printer being a mostly regular Prusa Mendel 2, does something nasty in a situation when its head is at sy x=~100 +/- 60mm, y=anything, z=~90 +/- 10mm. It moves left homing the x axis but the extruder assembly collides with structural components before it can reach the stop switch. This would not have happend if it was lower (smaller z) By making the homing sequence YZX I eliminated that problem and can still print "Way up there". I like the idea of moving Y first because it puts the head at an extreme side before it plunges downward doing the Z homing. It can then do the X homing safely. It works nicely for me and my Prusa Mendel 2. If/when I get my scaling upgrade done as mentioned before it will be a mute issue, but off the shelf Prusa Mendel 2 kits should have problems like this and going YZX would solve that. Hopefully it doesn't open up other issues, but I'd like to hear what they might be. :-)

>
> Email has still to come :-(
>

Its just a matter of being able to launch a batch file or a program in Windows. There are working command line email tools out there. Most cell phone companies have email to SMS portals for their customers so I could even get a text message on my phone when a job is done. I've already sent myself text messages by launching a batch file. I just need to trigger it. :-)

Even if you did nothing at all to change the program, it should be possible to have a program or daemon check for the right activity of the serial port or access events on the "job complete" sound file as a trigger to launch a program/batch file. This, however, would be rather kludgy. :-)

> > machine or laser cutter. We are one geeky
> family.
> > :-) (only way to go for us)
>
> Could be my home. CNC is somewhat running and
> Delta printer is planned next.

Good luck with the CNC. I just made an order from the wonderful McMaster Carr company buying lots of rods, and many 3mm bolts, nuts, washers and such with no particular project in mind. I've already got a hundred 608 bearing and 20 linear ones, 2m of notched belt and 5 NEMA 17 motors. I'm going to build something some time fairly soon but I'm not sure just what yet. :-)

I'm still not sure about Delta printers as being a good idea. I like the stationary build platform and the size of things, but it just seems like it would be either less precise or less "organic" as Adrian Bowyer would consider it. I'd very much like to be wrong on this. :-) In spite of all the metal hardware I've bought recently, I'm a big fan of machines making parts for other machines and having the highest percentage possible is a good thing even when things are a bit inferior to what machined metal parts can do. The next step is having the machines handling the output from their production to do further assembly, unlike Adrian's idea of symbios, I would prefer to take the perspective of shepherd with each machine as a kind of sheep, each being productive, mostly autonomous, but occasionally needing help. To make a larger "flock" possible it would also be useful to build other robots that go around looking for anomolies in each unit and calling on known procedures in dealling with them or letting the shepherd know something is wrong, sort of a "Border Collie" device. It would have to be mobile, much more complex, and fewer in number but would help the shepherd a lot. Ideally I'd like to find a sellable commodity that this whole system could produce so an actual living could be made running the system. (solar/wind farm?, almost any plastic item, ...)

> >
> >
> > I need to build a robot to unload completed
> print
> > jobs done on a glass plate, store them away
> nicely
> > and place an empty one in the printer as needed.
>
> > Someone needs to design such a system. Same
> goes
> > with filament "cartridges". Some day.... :-)
> For
> > now I've got human labor but not forever. My
> > border collie is smart, but not that smart and
> > kids grow up. :-)
> >
>
> Send me the plans when your Robot is ready :-)
> > Thanx for helping

Some kind of "rover" transport device would be good. It could work a bit like a fork lift in function and have some kind of interface with the printing units to disengage the filament cartages for transport, and then do the reverse with replacements. Same goes with the print jobs themselves. Somehow I imagine stackable storage cubes for both items, complete with bar codes to scan in an inventory "ammo dump" of sorts. The machines would be a kind of service/transport "droid". The simplest coding for it would be to send it to each location, have it check for for status. If there is nothing to do right then, go on to then next one. If there is somthing like removing a print job and adding a clear build plate or switching out filament cartrages, it follows those procedures. It would then complete its "circuit" and start over again. If it detects conditions that are outside its context of any of its procedures, it should be able to contact the human or higher level management system. Whether this device would be synonamous with the "Border Collies" mentioned above is yet to be decided.

Regardless, if/when I build such a thing I will not want to do so in a social vaccume, and would like to share ideas anyway being a strong open-source advocate. Maybe someone with more time than I have will read this and be inspired to follow down this path ahead of me and some day I could build a kit from their design. If they move too slowly, however, there reverse may happen. :-)

Wonderful things are coming. Someday, mayby I or my kids will be able to make a living as a "shepherd", without having to deal with all the unpleasant smells and esperiences that go along with the usual meaning of that proffession. :-)