- What it is:
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Plot2g is a filter that reads Form-Z generated HPGL2 on stdin, then prints G-code on stdout upon receipt of EOF.
It's a primitive & non-robust HPGL2 interpreter written in ANSI-C. Rather than implementing the full HPGL2 spec, it relies on the syntactic artifacts in HPGL2 "plt" files generated by Form-Z.
Your mileage may vary when attempting to use 'plot2g' to convert HPGL2 from other applications. It all depends on how closely its formatting matches Form-Z's HPGL2.
- Why?
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Plot2g was written as an integration tool for use between Form-Z and an EMC-driven CNC plasma cutter. Nik Mills uses Form-Z, plot2g, and the CNC plasma cutter in the creation of his sculptures.
[xy table photo coming soon] -- Project Credits -- Mechanical engineering & execution: Nick Spitzer Stepper control & interface electronics: Robb Walen Linux/EMC platform & integration programming: Darren Racine We used the coolant on/off signal (M7/M9) to toggle the plasma torch on/off. Thus you'll notice that plot2g outputs the M codes at the start & end of each contiguous cut.
- License:
- Download:
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plot2g-1.3.tar.gz -- source tarball
plot2g-drop.tar.gz -- a wrapper script; provides a 'dropbox' interface