Standard and GRBL Gcode Generator for Image Engraving May 2016 Photo courtesy of Mr. Jeffery Woodcock. Electronic circuit to convert cnc stepper control signals (as output by Mach3, Linuxcnc, and other. Manual editing of saved profiles may cause PEP5 to malfunction.
Contents • • • • • • • Overview for Mac, Windows and Linux - by Grbl Controller is a piece of software which is used to send GCode to CNC Machines, such as a ShapeOko. As of version 3.0, the software has been optimized to send GCode to a Grbl Arduino Shield, which is the standard and default controller type for the ShapeOko. Grbl Controller is written to work on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It has been written as a superior replacement for the popular GCodeSender, and UniversalGCodeSender. User Bobt was able to get it running on a Raspberry PI. Implements “Agressive preload” and Z-rate limiting options.
Will trim too-long lines when sending. 
Current version doesn't consider line-endings, so will overflow the buffer, change the Grbl Line Buffer Size in Tools Options from 50 to 49 (48 on linefeed and carriage return systems such as Windows). Home page Visit the On-line Documentation • • Downloading Installers for Mac, Windows and Linux Building from Code (may be necessary for Linux) See information Using Grbl Controller 3.0 Preparing • Power up Arduino and shield • With motor off, manually position milling bit over origin (0,0) on the work piece. The origin is the intersection of X and Y on your CAD drawing. • Start Grbl Controller • Select COM port and open Adjusting • Choose appropriate step size (start with 1) • Press the Z down button, the milling bit should move down towards the work piece 1 mm.
The Z jog speed can be adjusted in menu Tools -> Options • Repeat until the the bit is almost touching • Turn on motor • Press Grbl Controller's Reset button to zero the Arduino Grbl code Sending G-code • Choose Send GCode radio button • Open desired file, usually.nc • Press Begin. If for some reason there is a long, slow traverse, the controller may time out. Increase timeout value in Tools -> Options Finish • Turn off motor when milling is complete Emergency • Press the Reset, Stop or Close button on Grbl Controller - the steppers should stop within a second or two. If not, power off your shield Original Kosme Version.