The Ant Farm is a program that aims to simplify the process of PCB-making using CNC machines.
In this software we included both the necessary CAM features and the CNC machine control capabilities, trying to simplify the user operations as much as possible.
This software is a pre-alpha, meaning that not all the functionalities are implemented, and the implemented ones may not work or not work properly.
The View tab can be used and it's capable to generate gcode files from gerbers.
The Control tab is currently under development, and its functionalities may have some issues.
The Align tab is not developed at all.
Up to now, the application is compatible only with CNC machines using GRBL v1.1 firmware, and it has been tested using only some gerber and drill files generated using Autodesk's Eagle and KiCad EDA.
If you want to have some more information about the actual implemented features, you could watch this video:
The application requires an installation of python version 3.7 or greater.
The python packages needed are listed in the file "requirements.txt", that could be used to install them by command line.
The cleanest way to install these packages is using a virtual environment.
Either download the zip of the repository sources or use git:
Enter the folder where there is the code, create a virtual environment and activate it:
cd TheAntFarm
python3 -m venv ./env
Activate the virtual environment:
source ./env/bin/activate
Install all the required packages:
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
It could be also necessary to install an additional library:
sudo apt install libxcb-xinerama0
In some linux distribution the access to usb serial port may be denied (permission denied).
In this case, a possible solution may be to add your user to the dialout group and disable the modemmanager service at startup.
To add your user to the dialout group you may use the following command:
sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
To check that your user has been added to the dialout group run this command:
groups ${USER}
To disable the modemmanager service run:
systemctl disable ModemManager.service
For this last modification to be effective, you may need to reboot.
Either download the zip of the repository sources or use git:
Enter the folder where there is the code, create a virtual environment and activate it:
cd TheAntFarm
python3 -m venv .\env
Activate the virtual environment:
.\env\Scripts\activate
Install all the required packages:
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
The software must be run from the project directory, after the virtual environment has been activated (see installation paragraph), using the following command:
.\venv\Scripts\activate
python3 the_ant_farm.py
Either download the zip of the repository sources or use git:
In VS Code
-
File -> Open Folder -> open the TheAntFarm Folder
-
Terminal -> New Terminal (This will probably open a Powershell, which is what we will use)
In the Terminal:
python -m venv .\venv (You may have to install python3 globaly)
- Restart VS code
Activate the virtual environment:
.\venv\Scripts\activate
- Open the_ant_farm.py, in the bottom right of the interface it should say "Python", next to it should be the python verion number folled by 'venv'/venv, if not click it and change the interpreter.
Install all the required packages:
"path"\TheAntFarm\venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip3 install -r requirements.txt
Running the software
python .\the_ant_farm.py
The providers of this software decline any responsibility for damages to persons or things deriving from its use, and they will not be liable for any damages you may suffer in connection with using, modifying, or distributing this SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
Our projects requires a lot of work and often expensive hardware for testing (CNC machines).
Please consider a safe, secure and highly appreciated donation via the PayPal link below.
