topic Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible? in PowerMill Forum

Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 20:27:36 GMT

Is it possible to use a macro to create a workplane that has its location defined by the standard pick points (orange, yellow, green), and work for different block sizes? The pickpoints seem to be defined by their absolute location not location relative to the block.

The workplane location wouldn't have to be at the pick points, as long as the location was always relative to the outer dimensions of the block.Pick Points Shown

When viewing the command window during picking points is shows the following line:

[_PICK_21068_\r]

does anyone know what the number relates to, it changes for each point but seems a bit random.

Any help with this would be appreciated.

Thank you

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

rafael.sansao — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 23:02:48 GMT

You can do the calculation and transform the workplane. Here is an example:

REAL $X = $Block.Limits.Xmin + (($Block.Limits.Xmax - $Block.Limits.Xmin) / 2)
REAL $Y = $Block.Limits.Ymin + (($Block.Limits.Ymax - $Block.Limits.Ymin) / 2)
REAL $Z = $Block.Limits.Zmax

CREATE WORKPLANE ; EDITOR
MODE COORDINPUT COORDINATES $X $Y $Z
MODE WORKPLANE_EDIT FINISH ACCEPT
ACTIVATE WORKPLANE #

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

peter.lockyer — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 15:35:58 GMT

Yes, there are commands to pick the coloured blobs whilst you're in the mode:

MODE WORKPLANE_CREATE ; INTERACTIVE BLOCK
MODE WORKPLANE_CREATE BLOCK XMIN YMID ZMAX

Obviously, the command takes an X, Y and Z value, and for each a MIN, MID or MAX modifier.

I hope that helps.

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 14:08:41 GMT

I think this is definitely going to help, thank you , much appreciated!

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 19:00:01 GMT

Hi Raphael,

I have a couple of questions......

When I try to create a second WP with different values i get several errors "local variable already defined: x" y, z, .

any tips for getting past this? seems like i would need to define a new variable but not sure how to label them.

Also when I try to rename the WP

EXPLORER SELECT Workplane "Workplane\1" NEW 
RENAME Workplane "1" "TOP MID"

it only works if I paste it into the command line as a separate function, rather then adding it to the other code.

This is one of my first experiments with writing macros, so that's probably half the problem!

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

rafael.sansao — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 19:14:59 GMT

You can create the Workplane with the correct name. It is not necessary to rename.

For the second workplane, you can not declare the variables again.
Check out the example:

// First Workplane
REAL $X = $Block.Limits.Xmin + (($Block.Limits.Xmax - $Block.Limits.Xmin) / 2)
REAL $Y = $Block.Limits.Ymin + (($Block.Limits.Ymax - $Block.Limits.Ymin) / 2)
REAL $Z = $Block.Limits.Zmax

CREATE WORKPLANE "TOP MID" EDITOR
MODE COORDINPUT COORDINATES $X $Y $Z
MODE WORKPLANE_EDIT FINISH ACCEPT
ACTIVATE WORKPLANE #

// Second Workplane
$X = $Block.Limits.Xmin + (($Block.Limits.Xmax - $Block.Limits.Xmin) / 2)
$Y = $Block.Limits.Ymin + (($Block.Limits.Ymax - $Block.Limits.Ymin) / 2)
$Z = $Block.Limits.Zmin

CREATE WORKPLANE "BOTTON MID" EDITOR
MODE COORDINPUT COORDINATES $X $Y $Z
MODE WORKPLANE_EDIT FINISH ACCEPT
ACTIVATE WORKPLANE #

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 21:23:22 GMT

Thanks again for your help Raphael,

I have to remove this line:

ACTIVATE WORKPLANE #

then it to work as anticipated otherwise the second WP seems to be calculated from the previous WP?

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

rafael.sansao — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 23:18:08 GMT

That's right.

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 23:23:16 GMT

Raphael,

This is working really well for me, I was able to have the WP change location relative to block size, and also added some code to orientate the WP. This is a great platform for me to expand upon. I'm planning to add some additional clearance WP's for transitional movements between toolpaths.

Thanks for helping us!

I've attached my macro for reference.

Re: Macro for Workplane at Pick Position on Block - Possible?

rafael.sansao — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 23:26:51 GMT

Very good. Congratulations on your work.

If your question has been answered, mark the answer as "accepted solution"