Getting this to work

Question

Getting this to work

Opened this issue 11 years ago · 23 comments

Hi,

i'm triying to get HAL2Arduino to work and i'm stuck at some point here.

What i have done is download HAL2Arduino-0.5 and change the pinning and stepsPerInchX/Y/Z for my machine (modAccelStepper ) and the limit switches (modLimSwitch). I compiled it and flashed it to my arduino nano (with Atmega 328p). I connected my cnc to the configured pins. Then i went to linuxcnc and get the Ubuntu 10.04 package with all linuxcnc related stuff included and installed it in a virtualbox.
I followed the instrucions.txt from your github repo and created a new config 'my-mill', changed the path for the python script and modified the config that linuxcnc will find the script. The Arduino is connected to the virtualbox and it's been recgnized with /dev/ttyUSB0.

When i try to start linuxcnc with the shortcut on the desktop for my configuration i receive the following errors:
Can not find -sec MOT -var MOD -num 1
Can not find -sec IO - var IO -num 1
Can not find -sec LINUXCNC -var NML_FILE -num 1
Can not find -sec EMC -var NML_FILE -num 1
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready......................................Traceback )most recent call last):
File "/opt/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py", line 2020, in
ser.close()
NameError: global name 'ser' is not defined

custom.hal:2. /opt/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py exited without becoming ready
1474
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
Stopping realtime threads
Unloading hal components

Can anyone tell me what's going on there?

Answer 1 · 2014-06-02T19:42:03.000Z

I got one step further. I modified the python script to set the device "/dev/ttyUSB0" as port... But the message is still there:
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready......................................Traceback )most recent call last):

But one thing seems good: the red uart led flashes on startup of linuxcnc.

Answer 2 · 2014-06-03T09:43:25.000Z

On 02 Jun 2014, at 21:42, siredmar notifications@github.com wrote:

I got one step further. I modified the python script to set the device "/dev/ttyUSB0" as port... But the message is still there:
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready......................................Traceback )most recent call last):

I had to modify this line as well.
This is how far I get:

halcmd: loadusr -Wn ard /home/emc/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py
Waiting for component 'ard' to become ready............Found device on /dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: HAL-2-Arduino
Unit: '0'
Version: 0.5
.comThread: port=/dev/ttyUSB0 arrayPos:0 Queue:0x8d22b2c
.....................................makePins: creating: 'axis_0_home-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_0_joint-pos-cmd'
makePins: creating: 'axis_0_pos-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_0_neg-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_home-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_joint-pos-cmd'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_pos-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_neg-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_home-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_joint-pos-cmd'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_pos-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_neg-lim-sw-in'
commandList=['']
linkData=''
listOfPorts=['/dev/ttyUSB0']
listOfCommands=['215 224 231 233']
listOfAxis=['0 1 2']
listOfUnits=['0']
linkMsg=''
comService: started.
comThread: Sending 996 0 0 996; to /dev/ttyUSB0
………………………………………………..

hangs here, printing dots

Rene

Answer 3 · 2014-06-03T20:45:06.000Z

Looks like to .py file is not returning the .ready back to hal to signal
that its up and running.
On Jun 3, 2014 4:43 AM, "Rene Hopf" notifications@github.com wrote:

On 02 Jun 2014, at 21:42, siredmar notifications@github.com wrote:

I got one step further. I modified the python script to set the device
"/dev/ttyUSB0" as port... But the message is still there:
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become
ready......................................Traceback )most recent call
last):

I had to modify this line as well.
This is how far I get:

halcmd: loadusr -Wn ard /home/emc/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py
Waiting for component 'ard' to become ready............Found device on
/dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: HAL-2-Arduino
Unit: '0'
Version: 0.5
.comThread: port=/dev/ttyUSB0 arrayPos:0 Queue:0x8d22b2c
.....................................makePins: creating:
'axis_0_home-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_0_joint-pos-cmd'
makePins: creating: 'axis_0_pos-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_0_neg-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_home-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_joint-pos-cmd'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_pos-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_1_neg-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_home-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_joint-pos-cmd'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_pos-lim-sw-in'
makePins: creating: 'axis_2_neg-lim-sw-in'
commandList=['']
linkData=''
listOfPorts=['/dev/ttyUSB0']
listOfCommands=['215 224 231 233']
listOfAxis=['0 1 2']
listOfUnits=['0']
linkMsg=''
comService: started.
comThread: Sending 996 0 0 996; to /dev/ttyUSB0
………………………………………………..

hangs here, printing dots

Rene

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Answer 4 · 2014-06-03T20:49:03.000Z

I got one step further (by accident)... When i flash the HAL2Arduino hexfile and try directly after that, the python script detects the hal2arduino firmware. After that the firmware version should be sent, but never returns. It seems like the pairing will not work as planned... btw i use the arduino nano with just moAccelStepper and modLimitSwitch mods...

Answer 5 · 2014-06-03T20:58:18.000Z

Ah. I see. The python file expects the arduino to respond in a preset
amount of time. If its just a tiny bit too slow it won't connect.
On Jun 3, 2014 3:49 PM, "siredmar" notifications@github.com wrote:

I got one step further (by accident)... When i flash the HAL2Arduino
hexfile and try directly after that, the python script detects the
hal2arduino firmware. After that the firmware version should be sent, but
never returns. It seems like the pairing will not work as planned... btw i
use the arduino nano with just moAccelStepper and modLimitSwitch mods...

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Answer 6 · 2014-06-03T21:01:29.000Z

So can you give me a hint where to tune the timings? Should i modify it in the python script?
Or can be a proper handshake mechanism implemented in the arduino/python code?

Answer 7 · 2014-06-03T21:12:25.000Z

Near line#121 of the .py file....
Change the serial packet timout value to timeout=0.05 or higher. Note: the
higher the value the easier to connect but also more latency of the serial
link.
On Jun 3, 2014 4:01 PM, "siredmar" notifications@github.com wrote:

So can you give me a hint where to tune the timings? Should i modify it in
the python script?
Or can be a proper handshake mechanism implemented in the arduino/python
code?

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#3 (comment).

Answer 8 · 2014-06-03T21:19:31.000Z

I tried timeout=0.06 and 0.5 and 1 and 2 but no effect. The only thing that is working is after plugging in the usb cable directly start linuxcnc. It seems to search the firmware, but nothing is received...
Starting LinuxCNC...
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready...........Found device on /dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: Failed. HAL-2-Arduino not found on this device
...............................................................Wait, something is not right here.

But if i try again without reconnecting the arduino, it won't work again

Answer 9 · 2014-06-03T21:23:29.000Z

It will also do that if the computer has another arduino that is not loaded
with hal2arduino. I really need to fix that. :-/
On Jun 3, 2014 4:19 PM, "siredmar" notifications@github.com wrote:

I tried timeout=0.06 and 0.5 and 1 and 2 but no effect. The only thing
that is working is after plugging in the usb cable directly start linuxcnc.
It seems to find the arduino firmware, but the firmware version is not
received:
Starting LinuxCNC...
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready...........Found device
on /dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: Failed. HAL-2-Arduino not found on this device
...............................................................Wait,
something is not right here.

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Answer 10 · 2014-06-03T21:31:37.000Z

Btw: there is a fork of your work (https://github.com/CCHS-Melbourne/HackCNC) that hast the same goal as you... i tried that one and could connect to it pretty well and without problems... the code seems pretty stripped down from yours... don't know if thats a bug or a feature :)
Still i'd like to see hal2arduino running because imho its the better approach.

Answer 11 · 2014-06-03T21:37:51.000Z

I remember them, nice bunch. School kids actually. Its not so much as
stripped down. Just older, less developed version of my work. I'm guessing
that it's probably over a year ago that I helped them, smart group too.
On Jun 3, 2014 4:31 PM, "siredmar" notifications@github.com wrote:

Btw: there is a fork of your work (
https://github.com/CCHS-Melbourne/HackCNC) that hast the same goal as
you... i tried that one and could connect to it pretty well and without
problems... the code seems pretty stripped down from yours... don't know if
thats a bug or a feature :)
Still i'd like to see hal2arduino running because imho its the better
approach.

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Answer 12 · 2014-06-03T21:44:31.000Z

Did you ever experience such problems like i do connecting the hal2arduino?

Answer 13 · 2014-06-03T23:06:42.000Z

Since I wrote the code from scratch, yes. Many times.
On Jun 3, 2014 4:44 PM, "siredmar" notifications@github.com wrote:

Did you ever experience such problems like i do connecting the
hal2arduino?

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Answer 14 · 2014-06-04T08:33:59.000Z

Hi,

i debugged the code a little bit. The 'ok' message seems to be received. What is not working is the comSetup function as it won't pass the line ser.write(lastCommand). I'm no python expert, but i think it is somehow connected to pyserial... I use python 2.7.5 with pyserial 2.7.
Can you give me info on your setup?

Answer 15 · 2014-06-04T10:25:41.000Z

I stripped the python program down to the minimum and added some wait loop for handshake and i get the expected results:

#!/usr/bin/python
import sys, string
import serial
import time

firmware = 'HAL-2-Arduino'
firmwareVersion = 0.5
port = '/dev/ttyUSB0'

def comSetup(ser, command, data1, data2):
    lastChecksum=command + data1 + data2
    lastCommand="%s %s %s %s%s" % (str(command), str(data1), str(data2), str(lastChecksum), ";")
    ser.flush()
    ser.write(lastCommand)
    for i in range(0,6): # attemp to send a command, but no more then 5 times.
        linkMsg = ser.readline()
        if linkMsg.find('resend') > -1:
            print "resend"
            ser.flushInput()
            ser.write(lastCommand)
        else: # Command sent successfully.
            returnvalue = linkMsg.strip('\r\n')
            return returnvalue

ser = serial.Serial(port, 115200, timeout=1)
print "Found device on %s\nAsking for firmware info." % port
time.sleep(2)
linkMsg = 'notok'

while linkMsg.find('ok') != -1:
   linkMsg = ser.readline()
   time.sleep(0.5)

if comSetup(ser, 990, 0, 0) == firmware:
   print "firmware %s" % firmware
   unitId=comSetup(ser, 992, 0, 0)
   if unitId != "":
      print "Unit: %r" % unitId
      version=float(comSetup(ser, 991, 0, 0))
      print "version: %s" % version
      if version >= firmwareVersion:
         codesAccepted = comSetup(ser, 993, 0, 0)
         print "codesAccepted: %s" % codesAccepted
ser.close()

This is the output:
$ ./testserial.py
Found device on /dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
firmware HAL-2-Arduino
Unit: '0'
version: 0.5
codesAccepted:

So the communication seems to work with pyserial and my version of python. With this wait routine the arduino can be reset with the normal reset switch an the python script waits until the "ok" comes in. When i insert this exact same wait loop in the original py script, nothin happens. Maybe it's related to those threading functions it is using?

Answer 16 · 2014-06-04T12:07:08.000Z

I tested further, it is definitely a problem regarding the threads.
i commented out the thread generation (i only use one arduino and probably will never need a second or even a 10th one) and called the comThread function manually. The communications seems to work fine but the program wont continue and prints only dots after printing all firmware specific things.

Answer 17 · 2014-06-04T12:13:25.000Z

Ah btw: in order to make the if else construct work i needed to disable in the arduino firmware the #define commandsRequested

Answer 18 · 2014-06-04T12:50:55.000Z

Ok, now i got the original py file and added the while loop for proper handshake... Now i hang with the same printing dots like Rene (second post on this issue) when loading the py file directly with halrun... I suspect its because linuxcnc does not run. When i run linuxcnc this shows up:

$ linuxcnc
LINUXCNC - 2.5.4
Machine configuration directory is '/home/armin/linuxcnc/configs/my-mill'
Machine configuration file is 'my-mill.ini'
Starting LinuxCNC...
while loop
linkMsg: ok

while loop
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready..........................linkMsg: 
.Found device on /dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: HAL-2-Arduino
Unit: '0'
Version:  0.5
comThread: port=/dev/ttyUSB0    arrayPos:0      Queue:0x9a98acc
......................comService: started.
 commandList=['']
linkData=''
listOfPorts=['/dev/ttyUSB0']
listOfCommands=['']
listOfAxis=['0 1 2']
listOfUnits=['0']
linkMsg=''
....................
custom.hal:21: Pin 'Hal2Arduino.axis_0_joint-pos-cmd' does not exist
Shutting down and cleaning up LinuxCNC...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py", line 2021, in <module>
    commandHandler(str(listOfCommands), str(listOfAxis))
  File "/opt/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py", line 854, in commandHandler
    if codesAccepted.find(str(command)) > -1 and axisesRequested.find(str(thisAxis)) > -1:
KeyboardInterrupt
Unhandled exception in thread started by 
sys.excepthook is missing
lost sys.stderr
Cleanup done
LinuxCNC terminated with an error.  You can find more information in the log:
    /home/armin/linuxcnc_debug.txt
and
    /home/armin/linuxcnc_print.txt
as well as in the output of the shell command 'dmesg' and in the terminal

Seems like it wont connect signals provided from the py script or something? It seems to me that the arduino part seems to work. Can you give me working config for linuxcnc for 3 axis, 3 homing switches and in mm so i can test it?

Answer 19 · 2014-06-04T21:13:00.000Z

Oic, look a the line that starts with custom.hal:21 the hal file is
expecting a pin. Joint position for X.

If you removed it from the arduino, you'll also need to remove the
corresponding entry from the custom.hal file too. That's why it crashed.

Your getting closer, and gaining speed I may add. :)
On Jun 4, 2014 7:50 AM, "siredmar" notifications@github.com wrote:

Ok, now i got the original py file and added the while loop for proper
handshake... Now i hang with the same printing dots like Rene (second post
on this issue) when loading the py file directly with halrun... I suspect
its because linuxcnc does not run. When i run linuxcnc this shows up:

$ linuxcnc
LINUXCNC - 2.5.4
Machine configuration directory is '/home/armin/linuxcnc/configs/my-mill'
Machine configuration file is 'my-mill.ini'
Starting LinuxCNC...
while loop
linkMsg: ok

while loop
Waiting for component 'Hal2Arduino' to become ready..........................linkMsg:
.Found device on /dev/ttyUSB0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: HAL-2-Arduino
Unit: '0'
Version: 0.5
comThread: port=/dev/ttyUSB0 arrayPos:0 Queue:0x9a98acc
......................comService: started.
commandList=['']
linkData=''
listOfPorts=['/dev/ttyUSB0']
listOfCommands=['']
listOfAxis=['0 1 2']
listOfUnits=['0']
linkMsg=''
....................
custom.hal:21: Pin 'Hal2Arduino.axis_0_joint-pos-cmd' does not exist
Shutting down and cleaning up LinuxCNC...
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/opt/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py", line 2021, in
commandHandler(str(listOfCommands), str(listOfAxis))
File "/opt/HAL2Arduino-0.5.py", line 854, in commandHandler
if codesAccepted.find(str(command)) > -1 and axisesRequested.find(str(thisAxis)) > -1:
KeyboardInterrupt
Unhandled exception in thread started by
sys.excepthook is missing
lost sys.stderr
Cleanup done
LinuxCNC terminated with an error. You can find more information in the log:
/home/armin/linuxcnc_debug.txt
and
/home/armin/linuxcnc_print.txt
as well as in the output of the shell command 'dmesg' and in the terminal

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Answer 20 · 2014-06-05T18:46:17.000Z

thanks for the information but i'm not quite sure how to configure that... as far as i understand this whole system correct the arduino receives some commands over uart and does something with the information. This part seems to work just fine and for the first approach it shouldn't matter at all how the arduino is configured...
what i don't quite understand is the linuxcnc configuration... the custom.hal maps nets given by the python script to commands eg. xpos-cmd. Those commands are remapped in my-mill.hal to stepgen commands. Is that correct so far?
btw: what is meant by "joint position"?
But i think i understand it now and know how to configure it. Unfortunately i can't it until monday.

Answer 21 · 2014-06-09T20:46:17.000Z

So i am testing and have no idea how to configure it right. Maybe you can give me a hint by have a look at my configuration files... here is the arduino project using only stepper drivers for x, y and z and 3 homing switches. No other mods are active... https://github.com/siredmar/EMC-2-Arduino/tree/master/Downloads/HAL2Arduino/HAL2Arduino-0.5/HAL2Arduino_0_5

and here is my linuxcnc config: https://github.com/siredmar/EMC-2-Arduino/tree/master/configs/my-mill-0.5

Answer 22 · 2014-08-04T19:18:08.000Z

I uploaded the HAL2Arduino_0_5 to Arduino Due using Arduino 1.5.7
But it seem I cant read firmware.

sudo python HAL2Arduino-0.5.py 
Serial<id=0x838ab6c, open=True>(port='/dev/ttyACM0', baudrate=115200, bytesize=8, parity='N', stopbits=1, timeout=0.95999999999999996, xonxoff=0, rtscts=0, dsrdtr=0)
Found device on /dev/ttyACM0
Asking for firmware info.
Firmware: Failed. HAL-2-Arduino not found on this device

Wait, something is not right here.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "HAL2Arduino-0.5.py", line 2020, in <module>
    ser.close()
NameError: name 'ser' is not defined

Answer 23 · 2014-08-04T19:30:45.000Z

EncoderServo seem not working. But I downloaded the zip and imported in library.
#define useEncoderServo false
Now I found firmware.