Image to gcode
Converts an image file to gcode.
Project Rational
Typically printers will use color overlap to give the appearance of color gradients and continuity. This script is designed to avoid overlap for experiments requiring isolated or precisely located depositions.
Example applications
- Bacteria deposition
- Circuit board etch resist
- Circuit construction
Compatible Firmwares
Marlin
Use this branch for HPC6602 compatibility with the inkshield. https://github.com/sjkelly/Marlin/tree/hpc6602
Install
On a Ubuntu or Debian system, the dependencies can be installed with the lines below.
From apt:
sudo apt-get install python-opencv
From pip: (Use sudo apt-get install python-pip to get pip)
sudo pip install ast
sudo pip install termcolor
How to use
You can execute the script by running python image_to_gcode.py in your terminal.
usage: image_to_gcode.py [options] input...
Convert bitmaps to gcode.
positional arguments:
input input file, defaults to stdin
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT
Output file, defaults to stdout
-s SPREAD, --spread SPREAD
Nozzle spread (mm). Default: 3.175
-n NOZZLES, --nozzles NOZZLES
Nozzle count. Default: 12
-a AREA, --area AREA Print area in millimeters. Default: [200, 200]
-f FEEDRATE, --feedrate FEEDRATE
Print feedrate. Default: 1000
--version show program's version number and exit
-r RED, --red RED Head offset in millimeters. Default: [0, 0]
-g GREEN, --green GREEN
Head offset in millimeters. Default: [30.5, 0.1]
-b BLUE, --blue BLUE Head offset in millimeters. Default: [0, 0]
-k BLACK, --black BLACK
Head offset in millimeters. Default: [0, 0]
Outputs
Since the implementation in Marlin is very simple, the output gcode needs to take into account some behaviors. Primarily these considerations are around move buffering. Since nozzle commands are not buffered, an M400 command is sent between a movement and a fire command as shown below.
G1X0.0Z0.0F10000
M400
M700 P0 S3075
The G1X0.0Z0.0F10000 indicates a move to the 0.0 location in the X axis, and 0.0 location in the Z axis at a feedrate of 100000 mm/min. The following M400 command tells the printer firmware to wait for all moves to complete before executing the next command. Last, the M700 P0 S3075 command tells the printer to fire the zeroth print head nozzles with the pattern 110000000011. The number following the 'S' is the decimal representation of the binary number indicating which nozzles to fire.
About
This project was started at AMRI at Rice University in August 2013.
License
See LICENSE.txt