Image to Go Code imports most digital image files into G-Code format that can be ran with most computer numerical control routers and mills. The software package includes: A basic digital image editor to allow you to retouch the image before send it to the g-code converter. The converter reads the pixels information directly from imported image and creates the g-code file.

Before the g-code file is created the size of the carving dimensions and the maximum tool depth can be increased or decrease without the need to reprocess the image. Image resolution can also be adjusted using several methods like the k-factor, axis combine, reverse, close enough and the x and y axis resolution. Prep-code and post-code can be edited with the G-Code Editor built into the application for easy access and more. Image to G-Code can convert raster images to vectors also.

Image to G-Code also imports DXF files from most CAD programs. (AutoCAD release 12 compatible), the importer support most geometric entities including inserts [with nested blocks]. After the DXF file is imported all supported entities are put in list organized by layers. The G-Code setup options form allows you to set layer level priorities including turning on and off the layer, set the tool release plane, close enough, default Z-Axis character, pre-code and post-code, optimize, and more.

Image to G-Code also includes a little CAD drawing editor that allows you to modify imported DXF-Files, convert True Type Fonts to vectors, and draw lines, circles, polygons, arcs and more.

The built in G-Code editor is a text editor with the basic find and replaced functions, clipboard support, undo and redo, math expression parser, triangle and distance between two points calculators and G-Code M-Code panel that includes most G and M codes formatted syntax including circular interpolation calculations.

Image to G-Code is a fully integrated for easy interaction and its graphic user interface is similar to most Microsoft Windows(c) applications found in the market today.

Tweakie.CNC – CNC Homebuilt router, mill, engraver, vinyl cutter.

CNC machine construction and operational details together with examples and samples of things that can be made and techniques used for small CNC machines. Low Power Laser as he said “

To drive the laser I am using an adjustable, constant current source which is capable of driving a 2 to 2.5 Volt diode at any current between 5 mA to >500 mA thus catering for most commonly available types. The laser diode used here is being driven at 170 mA which according to the manufacturers specification will produce 150 mW of laser output power (before the lens).

The drive PCB also incorporates a ‘TTL modulation input’ which will allow pulsed operation up to 15kHz and providing the pulse width is small enough and the PRF high enough (check with the diode manufacturers specification) the laser drive current, and subsequent output power, could be increased accordingly (an additional heatsink may also be required for this type of operation). I am, however, operating it in CW mode and as the specification for the modulation input is <0.5 Volt for off and >2 Volt for on, this has meant that I can switch the laser on and off using a signal derived from the Z axis direction pin of the LPT port. Therefore, by disabling any Z axis movement and manually focusing the laser onto the surface of the work I am able to use the same GCode file (vector graphics) albeit with a reduced feedrate that I would otherwise have used for conventional point engraving (+Z moves turn the laser off and –Z moves turn it on again).

DD-WRT is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many ieee802.11a/b/g/h/n wireless routers based on a Broadcom or Atheros chip reference design.

The firmware is maintained by BrainSlayer and is hosted at dd-wrt.com. The first versions of DD-WRT were based on the Alchemy Firmware from Sveasoft Inc, which is in turn based on the original GPL’d Linksys firmware and a number of other open source projects. DD-WRT was created directly from Sveasoft’s software decision to start charging for their firmware, closing the door to opensource.

At present DD-WRT is available for free although a different business model is being drafted by BrainSlayer in order to pay his salary, as this is his full time job.

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The new version of DD-WRT (v24) is a completely new project. DD-WRT offers many advanced features not found in the OEM firmwares of these devices, or even the firmware available for purchase from Sveasoft. It is also free of the product activation or tracking found in the Sveasoft firmware.

Note: Beta firmware, by its very nature, will contain bugs. It is not recommended to install beta firmware on large networks that are used for businesses, etc. However, there is now a bugtracker in place for DD-WRT firmware located here: DD-WRT Bugtracker.

Among other features not found in the original Linksys firmware, DD-WRT adds the Kai Daemon for the Kai Console Gaming network, WDS wireless bridging/repeating protocol, Radius Authentication for more secure wireless communication, advanced Quality of Service controls for bandwidth allocation, and software support for the SD-Card hardware modification

HTC_Prophet: Currently sold as Qtek S200 / Dopod 818 Pro / Dopod 830 / Swisscom XPA S200 / O2 Xda Neo / i-mate JAMin / Orange SPV M600 / Vodafone VPA Compact S / T-Com T-One TC 500

HTC Prophet is similar to the Magician, but with a little bit varied design, Windows Mobile 5, Wifi (802.11b/g) and a 2 megapixel camera. However, despite it performs at 200 MHz versus 416 MHz of Magician, it?s not slower – it just needs some tweaking for better handling of programs running, such as overclocking through OMAPClock.exe.
(The development version of the Prophet was codenamed HTC_Athena, but this changed when there was confusion between the HTC Athena and the Quanta Computer O2 XDA Atom.)

There you will find a collection of Service Manuals, User Manuals, dismantling guides and disassembly videos.

The emphasis is placed on PDA Phones manufactured by HTC, but some of the more popular models form other makers are included. Many of the manuals are of a technical nature and are not designed for the everyday user. In fact, using these guides to dismantle your phone will invalidate your warranty. Unless you are a skilled technician or hobbyist, you should not be tempted to open these devices, as it is entirely possible you will turn your expensive piece of technology into an equally expensive brick. It is obvious therefore, that using any of the guides or Service Manuals, as an aid to dismantling your PDA / phone, is done at your own risk.

As you need Backup software is

ftp://ftp.xda-developers.com/Uploads/

password da

The correct ftp link is ftp://xda@ftp.xda-developers.com/Upl…20by%20ather90
password xda

ArtCAM can very easily be used to create terrain maps from USGS data files. This has applications for Architects to do land studies and presentations, for museums and national parks for maps of areas they are in. The starting file format is called a DEM file (Digital Elevation Model). This file format contains a very large amount of information, which ArtCAM does not need. ArtCAM has no way to extract the information out of the file, so we need to use a piece of shareware called Wilbur to convert it. Then the process is similar to that use for lithophanes.

The DEM data is available for download from the USGS web site – a good starting point is – http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/sdts/. If you are lucky you will find the piece you need for free, this is unlikely though as the web site is tough to navigate in.

As it can be difficult and extremely time consuming to find the piece of the earth that you need when doing this, by far the best method and what I would recommend is buying the pieces you need. Best place for this is Mapmart – www.mapmart.com , a good contact there is Rebecca Murray. She can be contacted through tel: 303 759 5050 ext. 175,
or by e-mail info@mapmart.com

They sell DEM files in USGS standard pieces (Quads), they are working on being able to give you just the data you need, but at present you have to buy the rectangles.

DEM’s are in 2 sizes, “7.5 second DEM’s” are the more detailed and are approx. 6.5 miles x 10.5 miles rectangles (approx. 70 sq. miles). This is also known as a Quad.
The other size of DEM is a “3 arc second DEM” these are square and about 7000 sq. miles of the earth. This is not as detailed, but if you are doing a large area such as a city or national park this is the best choice.

So to get the part of the earth you want to model. You can go on their website and pick it. Or you can phone or e-mail Rebecca. Ideally you should specify the top left corner, latitude and longitude and the lower right corner the same way. Then specify the type of DEM file you want. They should be able to quote you on the cost for the number of quads you will need. They can either e-mail the file, put it on a CD (for an additional cost) or you can download it. The prices per piece vary on the types of data, but are between 2 and 10 dollars each – so very cheap. Remember you may need a number of pieces to make the map you want to build.

Once you have your DEM’s you need to use Wilbur to extract a grey scale from the DEM file.
Wilbur can be downloaded from http://www.ridgenet.net/~jslayton/software.html
It is free to download and use. Once Downloaded, install it and you are ready to begin as soon as you get your DEM files.

1. Next start Wilbur and go to FILE – OPEN and change the file filter to “USGS DEM Surface *.dem”. Pick the file to load and hit Open.
2. This will take a moment to load. Now select from the drop down menu – TEXTURE – GREY MAPS – HEIGHT MAP. Wilbur will create a grey scale – white high black low.
3. Go to FILE – SAVE AS – change save as type to Bitmap if not set already. Give the file a name and Save it.
4. Continue this with the other DEM files you have if the area you are creating requires multiples. Once finished you can exit Wilbur.

In ArtCAM you will go through the following process.

1. Start ArtCAM Pro
2. Go to Create Model from an Image Icon
3. Select one of the Bitmaps you saved from Wilbur. I normally start South West and move East and then North progressively.
4. Set the Method to – Image Size, set the Units to Inches (or whatever your preference is). Then set the size of the image (eg. 12 x 12) I normally use a height of 1 inch. This can be changed later, but will help us when we need to join the files back together.
5. A relief will be created, save this immediately as a relief (or art file).
6. Close the file and then continue the process until you have created relief for each of the separate DEM files.
7. Next we need to merge the multiple files together to make a single map. Create a new file, which is large enough to contain the pieces you made. (eg. 24 x 12 for two 12 inch squares).
8. Load the most Southwesterly piece using Relief – Load – Paste. Just paste it into the lower left hand corner (where it reads in).
9. Next use Relief Load paste to paste in the piece of the map immediately East of the one you read in. When you paste it in you should use Merge Highest and leave the size settings as they are.
10. Look at the 3D view once it is pasted, you will probably see a line where they join. This is because each height map may not have the same variation in low and high points so will have been created to different scales in ArtCAM. To remedy this use the cursor to “eyeball” the depths at a point where it goes from the original to the new one. Try and do this at the highest point along the edge. Make sure they are pieces that should match in height (adjacent). Write down the two depths as they are in the first piece and the new piece.
11. Undo the Paste operation so you only have the original again.
12. Take the two figures you have eg. 0.785 (from the original map) and 0.554 (from the second piece) and divide the first by the second (0.785 / 0.554 = 1.417) This value is the scaling factor we need to use for the second relief for the Z depth to get it to match the original (It could be less than one).
13. So go back to ArtCAM and go to Relief – Load – Paste again on the second model. Move it in X and Y so it slightly overlaps the original (only by about 0.04). Now go to the Z range on the Size tab of the 3D clipart menu. This should be 1 inch – set it to be the number we calculated above (1.417 in our case). Make sure you are set to merge highest and hit paste.
14. You should see this is a much better match.
15. Continue this process until you have all the pieces of your map pasted in.
16. To finish smooth the file 2 or 3 times and you are ready to machine it. You may also want to resize the Z depth of the whole model before you cut it.
17. You may not need all the map in which case use the Selection Rectangle and Edit Crop to get the piece you need.

A: A dongle is a security hardware key that protects copyright and prevents software piracy and is used with the Speed Step software package. It is attached to your computer or server via the USB or parallel port. Dongles which affix to the parallel port are either black (network), white (standalone) or yellow (standalone). Dongles which affix to the USB port are distinguishable by number. Network dongles begin with GB1SW, standalone begin with GB2SW. The use of the dongle confirms that you are the authorised user of the software. Dongles are common with commercial CAD software. They do not interfere with security arrangements of networks.

Windows/Mac/Linux/Etc: XBMC has just released the first beta of XBMC 9.04 (codename Babylon), packed with several impressive new features and fixes.

New-to-this-release features include support for more filetypes, some crazy Karaoke features, improvements to the skinning framework, better music and movie scraping tools for artwork, and support for PowerPC Macs. The release is available on Windows, Mac, Linux (shortly), AppleTV, and original Xbox. It’s a hefty download, so get started! While you’re enjoying your new XBMC install, check out these five awesome themes for customizing XBMC. http://xbmc.org/download/

This is a homemade 3d printer I’ve built from a Lexmark Z12 desktop printer.

Alvaro Fogassa said ” I’ve got too many e-mails asking me how it works,so i will try to explain it here.
whats needed besides the printer:

* 3 step motor drives
* 2 step motors size 23 with about 200oz/in
* Power supply(24volts x 5amps)
* The Pcbs and Bascom
* All the hardware (Iwill talk about that when I finish it.)
*The software to slice the .stl file and send it to the printer………”

GCAM is the free GNU Computer Aided Manufacturing package. Most 3-Axis Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) mills such as the Taig and Sherline are supported in both english and metric units. GCAM has a simple interface for making bolt holes, drill holes, sketches, templates, and more. After extruding these entities one can export the corresponding G-code for the selected cutting tool(s).

CAM also imports RS274X (Gerber) and Excellon drill files for gerber to G-code pcb milling conversion used in circuit board prototyping. Once a design is complete one can export the corresponding G-Code to the appropriate CNC driver of choice such as TurboCNC for DOS or EMC for Linux. Please use the Discussion Forum to post any questions or suggestions. The GCAM source code is approximately 18k lines of C and is released under the GNU General Public License. The GCAM source code can also be downloaded from the Files page. Please post all feature requests under Bugzilla.
Image:gcam_gui.png
News

* New Debian Package Coming Soon
* New features include Drag and Drop Treeview, CTRL + Left Mouse Object Selection, Assistant Menu, Improved RS274X Support, Arbitrary Origin, Helical Sketch Paths, and more.
* New Manual Coming Soon
* Featured on Georgia Tech Robojackets website.
* Debian Package for Gutsy Gibbon now available under Files page.