AXIS as simulator under Windows

Hi all,

Is there any way of running AXIS under Windows? I think it would make a perfect g-code simulator for those working and creating g-code on this OS.

kostas wrote:

Hi all,

Is there any way of running AXIS under Windows? I think it would make a perfect g-code simulator for those working and creating g-code on this OS.

Axis is written in Python, so in theory it is remotely possible. But, Axis does NOT contain the G-code
interpreter or trajectory planner, so running Axis by itself would not do what you want. it would
just be a static panel that did very little. If you can port enough of EMC to actually get this working,
you will have pretty much ported all of EMC to Windows.

If it absolutely has to run under Windows (why, I ask?) you could possibly run the sim version
of EMC under VMware under the Windows OS of your choice.

Jon

Thanks Jon. It isn't an absolute necessity, but I think it would be good to have a simulator of EMC on Windows. Of course, now that I read about porting most of EMC, I no more find it a very good idea.

About the "why":
First of all, I would like the ability to watch how a g-code program would appear in EMC, just after I get the code result from a Windows application. Fact is, most CAM programs are made for Windows and I use one of these to get the work done. I'm sure most Windows users would appreciate such a thing. I tried one or two of the free simulators available, but they just aren't enough (for me).
I tried the VMware solution but it's terribly slow on my PC.
Second, I always thought it would be good if there was such a thing as an EMC simulator on Windows. I think it would maybe attract more users to EMC. Thing is, I'm a little disappointed of trying to get people work with EMC and hitting a wall every time. I usually tell them about real time issues on Windows, how easy (and economical) it is to have the benefits of a closed pid loop on software and stuff like that, but I guess most people like what they are most familiar with and they don't like getting their hands a little dirty to have things work better. A simulator would be one more step ahead on this direction. Maybe ..

From what I read, I think this is great for what I'm trying to do. I'll give it a try and report back.

Thanks Andy!

kostas wrote:

I tried the VMware solution but it's terribly slow on my PC.

If your processor is made in the last five years or so it will have hardware virtualization which will allow virtual machines to run instructions directly on the processor with native performance. Typically this is disabled by default in the BIOS but only takes a minute to switch.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_VT-x#Intel_v...alization_.28VT-x.29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD-V#AMD_virtualization_.28AMD-V.29

If the processor doesn't have this feature or the feature is disabled in the BIOS the virtual machines will be very slow like you describe. If you can get the hardware virtualization working then I think a virtual machine would be a great solution.