The important thing is you can only use this feature if you use Estlcam as your controller as well! You need a special board for it, a little (and mostly shitty) CNC Shield or, like me and a few others, the Open CNC Shield 2, not the Jackpot or SKR.
Yes, you can use FreeCAD, AutoCAD, Fusion…
To clarify, if I use the jackpot it will need an add on board to make edge detection work, assuming I’m using eastlcam as the controller?
Please save yourself the headache and don’t use a camera. I deal with a camera to edge find in a robot welding cell… if a $40k industrial camera system has difficulties consistently finding an edge, you’ll be cursing for hours with a diy setup. Dust and dirt will make you crazy
No, you just can’t use Estlcam with the Jackpot as a controller. You need a completely different board.
If you use the Jackpot or SKR, Estlcam is just there to generate the toolpaths and gcode.
Are you honestly telling me, a middle aged man building his first cnc machine in his garage with pawn shop parts and with as far as you know the IQ of toast will have difficulties just because trained professionals with huge and massively expensive machines is having them?
I’m choosing to be offended.
I’m confused a bit, and of course I ordered the board last night. On the V1 site the board is listed
“The Jackpot Control board can use most any control software that supports GRBL.” and the video I was watching on estlcam shows it as a feature on v9. They’re using the touch probe/grounding on 90 degree plate.
If the controller is just feeding the gcode to the board, why wouldn’t a feature on the software work?
Estlcam is both, it generates toolpaths for nearly every controller and it has a built in controller as well that most people here don’t use (and can’t use because of the different control board). The touchplate feature with edge detection only works when you use it as a controller. A “normal” touchplate for height also works with the Jackpot.
Gotcha, thanks.
So the arduino based board will work but not the jackpot board. So if I’m reading correctly, the estlcam will generate the gcode, then it gets uploaded and fed to the jackpot board by the web interface, at which point it’s run like 3d printer and you’re just hoping for the best? Is there any direct control at that point? And I’m guessing if my garage internet goes down, so does the cnc? That’s not what I want. The makerspace version of vcarve requires active internet. Their router went down a while back and the machine was dead until I hot-spotted my phone.
So assuming the above, are there any twists to the arduino board?
No offense intended. We are all in the same boat. Just saying cameras, while they sound cool, in that application are more of a headache then they are worth. My two cents from dealing with them.
I’m choosing again to be offended by you not choosing to be offended.
Or I’m just screwing around and my sarcasm font isn’t showing up… 
Not quite. Almost. Let’s get some sugar and cinnamon on that toast…
estlcam (or whatever) generates the gcode. Then you take the gcode file and upload it to the jackpot board via the WiFi interface, or by sneakernet via sd card. Now, the web interface is… fungible, as you can run in either STA or AP mode, which means basically, it can be a member of your existing WiFi network, which is nice and easy, and keeps things simple, or it can be its own hotspot without any other connectivity, which is moderately more complicated, as you’d have to switch WiFi networks on your laptop (or tablet, or whatever) to transfer your gcode file, and to control your CNC. There are a raft of pros and cons for the technical issues of both, most of which come down to convenience vs stability and security. All that aside, your WiFi going down won’t crash the CNC, just make it ungovernable beyond the big red button/power plug. Once the gcode is uploaded to the controller, it is run from the controller. It shouldn’t be streamed from the source, for exactly the reason you cite: The network is unreliable.
It’s a special forum feature that takes a long time to unlock… And it’s still a little buggy.
Yes, but you can put it in an SD card and run it from there, no internet needed. Also, the controller connects directly to your mobile or tablet, so Internet isn’t needed either. As far as I know you can pause jobs.
If we’re lucky, JeffeB and/or Madgrizzle will weigh in with their $1.50 in optics opinions…
I’m not aware of anyone on this forum running a V1 machine (Primo or Lowrider 3) that has edge detection or uses camera integration. That doesn’t mean it cannot be done, but it means we solve our problems in a different way. For example, I have a series of both horizontal and vertical 3/8" pin holes bored by my machine. If I push my stock against the pins, I know it is aligned with the axes of my machine, and the corner of the stock is at a known location relative to the home of the machines.
It doesn’t have grbl installed, but I think that’s an easy fix.
I did a quick web search on VCarve post processors. The postprocessor listing contains machine names, not firmware. I’m sure many (most?) of the machines on this list are GRBL machines. I’m not sure which of the machines is best in terms of handling generic GRBL. I’m guessing that some of these mchines have proprietary features. A bit of play or a technical question to VCarve should allow you to find a compatible postprocessor.
The shop machine only has 1 post processor loaded on it. Well, it has it listed twice, but still very short drop down list since you have your choice of xcarve or xcarve
The ‘free’ trial version I have on my home computer (that let’s you play but won’t generate or save) has a much longer list on it.
I might be over-thinking/stressing about it. The board is ordered already so I will get everything up and running and then change it out if I decide I need to after I actually get my feet wet with it. Edge detection would be neat, but I don’t have it now so it’s not like I’m suddenly missing out on something I ‘need’. I’m reminding my self I’m building, not buying, and I have a BUNCH of things over the years that have ended up in the ‘wrong parts’ pile.
I’ve got a touchplate with edge detection. 
Getting edgy here… 
I currently use a straight piece of wood jammed against the side rail of the machine to get started and then put 2 index holes in my slab so I can pull and replace the piece as needed. I can cut both sides and align anywhere on the table using them. I have a couple ideas to bypass the need for the index holes entirely, but they will not make me very popular at the MS I’m looking forward to being able to modify as I see the need.
Some of these plates require specific firmware and/or controller support. If your plate is one of the simple, single wire ones, like this, then you can run a g-code script to find the corner using the plate, but you have to pick the script to run based on the diameter of the bit.
To add a post processor in V-Carve, on the save tool path menu, you click on the PPs listed under the machine, then there should be an option to
From there you will get the Machine info “page” and in the middle should be the PP section. Click the “+”.
You will then get a very long list of most any PP that is associated with most major manufacturers of CNC machines (unfortunately V1E is not listed). Scroll down until you find the GRBL in/mm PPs (you’ll have to add each one).
With that, you should be able to still go to the makerspace and design and set up your tool paths and then generate the gcode from V-Carve, save them both to a thumbdrive/SD card, and then bring home to carve. The unfortunate side of this is if you find a mistake in the carve, you’ll have to go back to the makerspace to do any edits, and then back to your machine, but it is do-able.
I have V-Carve desktop ($350). I want to at lease go to Pro, and when I do, all I have to pay is the difference for the cost of upgrading (another $350 the last I checked - Pro was $700), and same for Aspire. It may not be in your budget right now, but if it is something you know and are familiar with, it may save you time and aggravation in trying to figure out something new to create your designs.
Edit: just to clarify, this should work for creating gcode that the Jackpot with FluidNC can read and execute.
