Scanything setup and configuration questions

[David Buchhauser]

I can't seem to find any information on the hardware requirements for Scanything. I have a 4x4 router table (CNC Router Parts pro4848). I am using Mach3 with the Warp9 ESS to run the table. The ESS/controller connects to the computer using an ethernet cable. The computer is Windows 7 - 64 bit. I have downloaded Scanything V1.0.16 from the Sheetcam website and followed the instructions for Mach3:

"Instructions for installation with Mach3
Download and install Scanything then run Mach3 and go to Config->Config plugins. Enable the SheetCamRemote plugin and restart Mach3. To test the connection, enable the drives on your machine and check if the jog buttons in Scanything work. "

Does a video camera need to be connected in order to test the connection by enabling the drives and checking to make sure the jog buttons work?
Since I can run Mach3 Mill on my desktop office computer (not the computer out in the shop that I use to run the cnc) and I have downloaded and installed Scanything onto this computer, should I be able to test the jog buttons without being connected to the cnc? I can use the keyboard to jog in Mach3 Mill, and the display shows the movement on the readouts without any hardware being connected.

Mach3 Jog Buttons work.jpg (91.67 KiB) Viewed 5149 times

When I open Scanything, the jog buttons are not active.

Scanything Jog buttons not active.jpg (56.07 KiB) Viewed 5149 times

I receive the following error messages when starting Scanything. I do have he plugin (SheetCamRemote.dll) installed in the C:/Mach3/plugins folder.
Any ideas what I am doing wrong here?

22:23:26: Checking for updates...
22:23:26: Not connected to machine
22:23:26: Error: file '', line 1: '=' expected.
22:23:26: Error: file '', line 2: '=' expected.
22:23:26: Error: file '', line 3: '=' expected.
22:23:26: Error: file '', line 4: '=' expected.
22:23:26: Error: file '', line 5: '=' expected.
22:23:26: Warning: unexpected " at position 89 in '"https://www.sheetcam.com/Scanything/Upd ... re</a>.</p>'.
22:23:26: Error: file '', line 7: '=' expected.
22:23:26: Connected to update server


I have not yet purchased the video camera. The Scanything description says: "It is designed to work with a USB video camera"

In reading thru some of the other posts, they talk about using a parallel port for the camera, and that there might be a limitation of using Windows 32 bit operating system. Also - do I need a registration key in order to use Scanything?

Do you have any specific recommendations as to a suitable video camera to use here?

I will appreciate any input you can provide.
Thanks,
David

[WyoGreen]

It's been a long time since I've used Scanything, but I do remember a little. First off, you will need to enter a license key in Scanything/Help/about. That key should have been emailed to you by Les after you bought the Scanything program.
The camera is a USB camera. I can't remember what it is I bought, but it does need to have a decent refresh rate. It is important for "up" in the camera view to match "up" with the jog keys.
You should be able to find quite a bit of information by using the search function on here, and on PlasmaSpider

Hope that helps a little, Steve

[Les Newell]

The jog buttons don't need a camera but unfortunately Scanything won't work with the ESS. I ave been looking into solutions but so far I haven't found any way around the problem.

[djreiswig]

I played with it briefly on my table that is running Mach3 with a C&CNC Bladerunner which uses the ESS Smoothstepper and it seemed to work fine. Am I misunderstanding what you are doing?

[David Buchhauser]

The jog buttons don't need a camera but unfortunately Scanything won't work with the ESS. I ave been looking into solutions but so far I haven't found any way around the problem.

Hi Les,
I installed Scanything onto my shop computer which is connected to my CNC Router Parts Pro4848 router table running on Mach3 thru the Warp9 ESS. After entering the code you emailed me and turning on the SheetCam plugin, so far it seems to work. The Scanything jog buttons work correctly, move the carriage and gantry around as normal when jogging, and the Scanything position readout agrees with the Mach3 position readouts (both in inch units). I don't yet have a USB video camera, but I would assume that the video output from the USB camera which will be input to your Scanything program does not depend on the ESS for communication. Am I correct? Or am I missing something here?

I was waiting to order a USB video camera until I made sure Scanything would work with my Mach3/ESS setup. I would appreciate your thoughts on my progress so far.

Thanks,
David

[David Buchhauser]

I played with it briefly on my table that is running Mach3 with a C&CNC Bladerunner which uses the ESS Smoothstepper and it seemed to work fine. Am I misunderstanding what you are doing?

Did you have a USB camera hooked up or were you just jogging your table around using the Scanything jog buttons? I can jog mine around, but I don't yet have a USB camera to test with.
Thanks,
David

www.desert-hybrids.com

[David Buchhauser]

What is the recommended USB camera for use with Scanything? I have read recommendations to use the Andonstar brand. Which particular model?
Thanks,
David

[Les Newell]

You may still have problems when it comes to calibration and actually scanning. As for the camera I recommend this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELP-2-8-12mm-V ... r=8-5&th=1 It doesn not have a built in light so you also need a ring light such as this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Youliy-Microsc ... 502&sr=8-8
A cheap option is an Xbox Live Vision camera. They are no longer sold new but they are pretty easily available second hand. The lens has a stop to limit the focal range and for close up work you need to break the stop off but that's not difficult. Again you need a light source.

The problem with the usb pen style cameras is that you can't lock the exposure. As Scanything relies on comparing brightness levels, variable exposure makes it a lot more difficult to track the edge. If you have really good contrast it doen't matter but on more marginal scans fixed exposure is considerably more reliable.

[djreiswig]

I used this camera. It seemed to work pretty well.

IMG_20200225_063724715(1).jpg (1.41 MiB) Viewed 5121 times

[Les Newell]

I have tested those. They are ok but you can't turn off automatic exposure. If you have one it will work but if you are buying a camera I'd recommend getting one that you can fix the exposure.

[David Buchhauser]

I used this camera. It seemed to work pretty well.
IMG_20200225_063724715(1).jpg

I went ahead and ordered the Supereyes B005 from Amazon for $27.99 - it will be here tomorrow. I think this will be fine for testing to see if Scanything is going to work with my Mach3/ESS setup. This will be easier for me to mount for testing than the camera Les recommends with the external led ring. If everything works out, then I will purchase the Scanything license and look into the ELP camera/external led setup.

Question for Les: How long is the temporary license code you sent me good for?

Thanks,
David

[Les Newell]

The temp license lasts about 30 days. If it runs out let me know and I'll send you another.

[David Buchhauser]

I received and installed the Supereyes camera. I created a small dot on a white piece of paper as described in the Scanything setup video. When attempting to calibrate, it would lock onto the dot (in the center of the screen), then shift the camera so the dot appeared in the lower right corner of the screen. It then moved until it locked onto that dot again. Then it zoomed around (to lower left corner, upper left corner, etc. and ended up back in the center and went to the right, then left rapidly (I think several times) and then stopped. But it did not lock onto the dot in the lower left corner, upper left corner, or anywhere else - and did not show that is was ready to scan as shown in the setup video.

But when I then selected "edge following" and run, the large circle with the line popped up - so I assumed it was calibrated. I quickly drew a box (of sorts) to test it out. I was amazed that it did indeed lock onto the edge and followed the edge all the way around and back to the starting point. Then it ask me if I wanted to save it, and I was able to save as a dxf and open the dxf with Plasmacam Design Edge and create a cut path. I tried this several times with both the outer and inner edges of the line and it worked perfectly. Here is a video of it following the edge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQC5kYzUeOg

Here is the camera following the edge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pNpVYX7o58

I then tried to trace a metal bracket, and several other items and it would not lock on. It would follow the edge very briefly, and then give the message that it had lost the edge (the same message that popped up many times in the Scanything setup video). At one point the Scanything program shut down (crashed) and I had to restart it. After that, I was not able to run the calibration successfully. I tried adjusting the settings (feedrate, servo gain, brightness, etc. ) and it would not calibrate. I also tried moving the camera closer to the dot (lowering the z axis) and moving it farther away (raising the z axis) with no improvement.

I am wondering if going to the better camera (suggested/recommended by Les) and adding the led light ring around the camera (also suggested/recommended by Les) would possibly help it to calibrate better.

I really don't understand why using the ethernet/ess instead of a parallel port would cause problems with calibration. Is this due to some latency with the data transmission thru the ethernet/ess as opposed to a quicker response with the parallel port. By quicker response, I mean a shorter elapsed time between the initiation of a jog by Scanything/Mach3 and the actual machine movement.

Here are some photos of my setup.

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[David Buchhauser]

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[David Buchhauser]

The temp license lasts about 30 days. If it runs out let me know and I'll send you another.

Thanks Les!!