Hey there i’m nowhere near deep into microcontroller stuff. But are the rx/tx pins from the esp32 in use on the jackpot board?
I have the idea to use an arduino via rx/tx to control the jackpot from estlcam. So the arduino just acts as gcode sender because estlcam cannot talk directly to the esp32.
In fluidnc there is a mainloop listening for incoming gcode so in theory this should be possible right 
If you define UARTs in the config, then yes there is.
There are provisions for pendant interface, web sockets, and a shell.
Usually the interface is connected to the USB bridge chip on the ESP-32 dev board, and also web socket interfaces are open for use over WiFi.
Although possible in theory, Estlcam ↔ arduino ↔ FluidNC is a bit of a rube goldberg setup.
How is that better than saving the gcode from Estlcam, transferring it to the Jackpot SD card, and running the job from there?
Thank you for the answer.
I don’t really know i like the idea to have a pc next to my machine where i can do everything from one program and don’t have to handover files and so on.
I will give it a try tomorrow with a test setup.
IMO, that’s really just not worth the effort.
Transferring the gcode over to SD, and running directly from the SD card is more reliable than using an external sender.
It’s a lot more likely for a problem to happen between a Sender and FluidNC, than a problem happening between FluidNC and the SD card.
Using the web interface to upload the files means you don’t have to be tethered to the machine to do it, also.
The thing is i don’t like the design of the WebUi. Thats it 
That’s fair, but how much does the design of the WebUI really matter?
How much time per day are you actually going to spend using it?
It seems like you are saying you are not super-experienced in dealing with micro-controllers, so this seems like you are heading down the path of most resistance, and will spend more time dealing with this, than actually using the machine.
There are a plethora of options that can be used to control FluidNC.
The most supported, most stable, and most efficient way is to use the WebUI to run files from the SD card.
UGS is a sender that is written/maintained by someone who also wrote the web installer for FluidNC. If you were dead set on using a sender, I would probably look into this one.
If you just want to try it because you think it’s fun and want to learn something, or whatever, then by all means, have at it.
But, in my opinion, the design of the WebUI is completely inconsequential to having a reliable CNC machine, and if an experimental EstlCAM ↔ Arduino ↔ ESP32 turns out to be flaky, you will spend more time and energy on that than you will probably ever spend actually touching the WebUI. Not to mention the cost of potentially ruined materials…
Thanks for your honest opinion and expertise. It makes sense what you are saying.
My first goal right now is to get my LR4 up and running. Everything else I’m going to look into afterwards. I was just curious if this would work and i like to learn new things and give them a try.
I backed a plasma cnc project on kickstarter a while ago and in my opinion this guy made the perfect interface for an grbl based cnc controller. It looks so good and just works. The Touchscreen Interface is just on point.
Take a look at it!
Plasma CNC
You’d make me happy! I really love the controller potion of Estlcam though I think there might be problems with all the macros though.
Side remark: you should try the WebUI 3, it looks a lot better with the mods.
This is true. But if OP wants to do this, then they don’t have to defend their motivation to us. It is their machine.
It is my understanding that Estlcam firmware is a closed box. So I don’t even know where to start with a project like this. The rx/tx pins can be enabled (as Jim pointed out). But the hard part is converting whatever Estlcam sends over to the jackpot. I don’t believe it is straight standard GCode all the time.
Have you tried UGS or cncjs?
Which is exactly why I added
and I also mentioned both of those as options.
However, OP does appear to be building a new LR4, and at least, as far as this forum is concerned, is a new user.
Given all recent discussions, I don’t think it is out of line to point out the amount of trouble and potential issues that this could cause, and offer up my opinion on whether it is worth the effort or not.
I don’t feel like I was being disrespectful, or forcing them to defend themselves, just trying to understand the motivation, given the number of options that are out there that don’t require a custom microcontroller solution and OP’s admittance that this may not be an area of deep understanding.
I started this thread because i just was curious if this idea would work.
It’s not my first CNC controlled machine i already built a co2 Lasercutter, a mpcnc v2 and a 3D printed cnc i designed myself.
On the Mpcnc and my own design i used the classic Arduino cnc shield with Estlcam. There i had hard wired control with Estlecam so i’m just used to this workflow.
Maybe someday Estlcam will learn to talk directly to the esp32.
And in now way i felt disrespect from anyone. A Forum is here to ask questions and get answers to questions you can’t figure out yourself!
There was some back and forth whether Estlcam could replace the USB cable with WiFi, but it seems that it isn’t possible. Too bad. 
I don’t mind a USB cable.
