9 Axis UVW Operation

Functionality

As of firmware build {fb:101.00} a limited form of 9 axis motion control has been added to g2. The U, V and W axes have been added as secondary linear axes corresponding to X, Y and Z, respectively. Externally visible axis numbers have been extended to accommodate UVW:

Axis Mapping

Axis	Axis #	Description (by convention)
X	0	X moves left to right when facing the machine; positive motion moving to the right
Y	1	Y moves forward to back when facing the machine; positive motion moving to the back
Z	2	Z is the tool-holding axis (cutting or actuating), and moves up and down when facing the machine; positive motion moving up
A	3	A rotates around X with clockwise as viewed from the positive side (right side)
B	4	B rotates around Y with clockwise as viewed from the positive side (back side)
C	5	C rotates around Z with clockwise as viewed from the positive side (top)
U	6	U is a secondary X axis and moves by the rules of that axis
V	7	V is a secondary Y axis and moves by the rules of that axis
W	8	W is a secondary Z axis and moves by the rules of that axis

Using UVW Axes

Motors can be mapped to any of the 9 axes. This allows a machine to have as many as sis linear axes that are independent of each other and obey coupled kinematics.

The primary use case for the UVW axes are to support a secondary 'Z' axis. Some machines have two toolheads - One can be operated as Z, the other as W.

Specs and Limitations

• Coordination Between XYZ and UVW Axes There is no coupling between the X/U, Y/V or Z/W axis pairs. I.e. they define independent linear axes. Movement in X will not change position in U, or vice versa.

• The feedhold actions support Z lift only - they do not currently support movement in W as a feedhold action.