Basic Functions For Scan Head And Laser Control; Marking Points, Lines And Arcs; Marking With Vector And Arc Commands; Jump Commands - Scanlab RTC 5 PC Interface Board Installation And Operation Manual

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Basic Functions for Scan Head and Laser Control

7.1 Marking Points, Lines and
Arcs
7.1.1 Marking with Vector and Arc
Commands
As explained in chapter 6.1 "RTC
page 61, positioning of the scan system's axes (and
thus of the laser beam) under RTC
achieved by calling jump, mark, arc and ellipse
commands. Each of these commands describes one
vector or arc. With the RTC
lines and arcs will be marked
alphabetic characters ultimately consist of the
constituent lines, points and arcs that define them
(see chapter 7.5 "Marking Dates, Times and Serial
Numbers", page 150).
Vector commands (jump, mark) require as param-
eters the coordinates of the end point of the corre-
(2)
sponding vector . Each vector starts at the current
output position, which is usually the end point of the
preceding vector or arc. Arc and ellipse commands
require parameters for the X and Y coordinates of the
arc center and the arc angle(s). Circular arcs start at
the current output position, but elliptical arcs do so
only with appropriate parameters. The initial output
position at start-up (or after a reset of the RTC
the center of the image field, i.e. the point (0|0).
Refer to chapter 7.3 "Scan Head Control", page 118
for a description of the image field coordinate
system. At runtime, each vector or arc to be traced by
the scan system gets divided by the RTC
microsteps (microvectorization, see
(3)
"Microsteps" on page 96)
(1) Here, wider line widths can be specified via
(see page 505).
(2) The coordinates must be specified as digital control values
(without units). To avoid confusion with coordinates in [mm],
SCANLAB uses the expression "coordinate values [in bits]".
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(3) iDRIVE scan systems let you execute jump and
commands in either the (preconfigured and microvectorized)
vector mode or (after enabling and activation) in jump mode
(see page 156).
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RTC 5 PC Interface Board
Rev. 1.9 e
7 Basic Functions for Scan Head and Laser Control
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5 Software Basics",
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5 control is
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5, hence, only points,
(1)
. Even numeric and
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5) is
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5 into
section
.
set_wobbel_mode
goto_xy
Jump commands principally serve to move the scan
system's axes (while the laser is off) as quickly as
possible to a new starting position
marking (i.e. mark, arc and ellipse) commands
perform marking motions while the laser is switched
on (also see following description).
To mark a point, the laser (i.e. the "laser active" laser
control signals) must be switched on for the desired
time period after a jump or mark command (see
chapter 7.1.3 "Marking Points", page
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arc marking, the RTC 5 automatically switches the
laser (the "laser active" laser control signals) on at the
beginning of a marking command and later switches
it back off (e.g. at the beginning of a subsequent
jump command). Here, users can specify delays to
optimize the timing of scan head and laser control
signals for their particular applications (see
chapter 7.2 "Delay Settings for Synchronizing Scan
Head and Laser Control", page
Adjustment of laser parameters is described in
chapter 7.4 "Laser Control", page
At the end of this chapter (page
commented sample code for a basic marking task is
listed.

Jump Commands

A jump command (jump_abs
a (usually) fast movement of the scanner mirrors.
Thereby the focus position (intended for the laser
beam) "jumps" from the starting point to the end
point of a vector. In general, the laser is switched off
during the jump (if necessary, the "laser active" laser
control signals are therefore automatically switched
off at the beginning of the vector – also see
"Scanner Delays" on page 100). The jump speed can
be defined with the commands
set_jump_speed_ctrl (see page 439)
If the laser system does not allow fast switching, the
jump speed must be set high enough to prevent a
visible marking effect on the workpiece. Also see the
commands home_position
home_position_xyz.
(4) Outside a list, repositioning can be achieved via
goto_xyz (even while the laser control signals are on).
(5) For using abs and rel commands see "AbsCalls"
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Additionally, the RTC 5 provides timed vector commands (see
page 198), para vector commands (see
3D option is enabled – 3D vector commands (see
(4)
. In contrast,
96). For line and
99).
128.
97) a thoroughly-
(5)
or jump_rel ) causes
section
set_jump_speed and
(3)
.
and
goto_xy or
page 77.
page 147) and – if the
page 172).
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