Difference between revisions of "Eggbot Troubleshooting"
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* [[Eggbot Troubleshooting#ellipses|Circles plot like ellipses]] | * [[Eggbot Troubleshooting#ellipses|Circles plot like ellipses]] | ||
* [[Eggbot Troubleshooting#precision|Closed figures plot open, the ends do not meet in my plots]] | * [[Eggbot Troubleshooting#precision|Closed figures plot open, the ends do not meet in my plots]] | ||
| + | * [[Eggbot Troubleshooting#cutnpastebitmap|"Paste in Place" results in a bitmap copy (OS X)]] | ||
| + | * [[Eggbot Troubleshooting#cutnpastebitmap|"Paste in Place" doesn't paste back to the same location (OS X)]] | ||
<div id="stairsteps"> | <div id="stairsteps"> | ||
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<div id="precision"> | <div id="precision"> | ||
;Ends don't meet in plots | ;Ends don't meet in plots | ||
| + | </div> | ||
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| + | <div id="cutnpastebitmap"> | ||
| + | ;"Paste in place" results in a bitmap copy (OS X) | ||
| + | ;"Paste in place" doesn't place the object in its original location (OS X) | ||
| + | :On Macs, if your "Paste" or "Paste in Place" operations are resulting in bitmaps being imported into your Inkscape drawing, then you need to change your X11 preferences. X11 is the windowing system which Inkscape runs to manage its windows. If you click on any running Inkscape window, you will see in the Apple menu bar along the top of your screen the menu item "X11" just to the right of the Apple-icon menu item. Click on the X11 menu and select the "Preferences..." item. In the resulting popup "X11 Preferences" window, select the "Pasteboard" tab. In the resulting option set, unset the item "Update Pasteboard when CLIPBOARD changes". | ||
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| + | :Another symptom of this problem is that the "Paste in Place" operation does not paste the copied object back to its original location; instead it appears elsewhere on your drawing page. Furthermore, you can check to see if a bitmap was pasted by looking at the "Edit" menu. If the "Undo" item indicates that an "import" was done, then a bitmap was imported. | ||
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</div> | </div> | ||
Revision as of 14:11, 29 December 2010
Don't panic -- there are some first time setup issues you may encounter as well as some other, easily corrected "learning curve" items.
- Stair steps in plotted lines, jerky pen or egg motion
- Loud or whining stepper motors
- Mirrored text
- Upside down text
- Circles plot like ellipses
- Closed figures plot open, the ends do not meet in my plots
- "Paste in Place" results in a bitmap copy (OS X)
- "Paste in Place" doesn't paste back to the same location (OS X)
- Stair steps
- Loud stepper motors
- Does your plot appear to have "stair steps" or jagged lines? Are the stepper motors loud or whining? You likely need to adjust the "Current Adjust" control on the EBB board with a small screwdriver. This is a physical control -- a potentiometer -- on the EBB circuit board mounted to your Eggbot chassis. The control is labelled "CUR ADJ" on the board. If the current is too strong or too weak you may see (or hear) these symptoms. The current increases as you rotate the control counter-clockwise (CCW). Starting with the control turned all the way clockwise (CW), both motors should be very weak. As you increase the current -- turning the control with a small screw driver CCW -- you should be able to feel the motors increasingly resist moving by your hand. The ideal setting is one that provides smooth, relatively low-noise moves from the stepper motors, but has enough torque that the pen arm is not "floppy". Often, this is about half way CCW, maybe a little less. More current, while increasing the motors torque, leads to jerky moves, with position errors (e.g., stair steps).
- NOTE: the stepper motors are the two large, metal encased motors which mount to the Eggbot's chassis. One rotates the egg while the other rotates the proximal pen arm. The smaller, plastic encased motor which raises and lowers the distal pen arm is a "servo motor". It's behavior is not controlled by the current adjustment.
- Mirrored text
- Upside down text
- Circles look elliptical
- Ends don't meet in plots
- "Paste in place" results in a bitmap copy (OS X)
- "Paste in place" doesn't place the object in its original location (OS X)
- On Macs, if your "Paste" or "Paste in Place" operations are resulting in bitmaps being imported into your Inkscape drawing, then you need to change your X11 preferences. X11 is the windowing system which Inkscape runs to manage its windows. If you click on any running Inkscape window, you will see in the Apple menu bar along the top of your screen the menu item "X11" just to the right of the Apple-icon menu item. Click on the X11 menu and select the "Preferences..." item. In the resulting popup "X11 Preferences" window, select the "Pasteboard" tab. In the resulting option set, unset the item "Update Pasteboard when CLIPBOARD changes".
- Another symptom of this problem is that the "Paste in Place" operation does not paste the copied object back to its original location; instead it appears elsewhere on your drawing page. Furthermore, you can check to see if a bitmap was pasted by looking at the "Edit" menu. If the "Undo" item indicates that an "import" was done, then a bitmap was imported.
