Quick On Screen Programming?

Hello,

I have a SWI Sport B3 Mill with a ProtoTRAK M3 proprietary console that is getting old and decrepit and should probably be replaced at some point (especially since it is very difficult to get setup for running G-Code over the serial port).

I would love to get LinuxCNC up and working for it, but I have one main question before I dive in.

Is there any existing, quick on screen programming? While the ProtoTRAK M3 is a bear to work with, one of its notable features is the ability to quickly set up a tool path within the GUI of the system. Basic stuff. You can create any number of steps, and they have some pre-set routines for doing simple stuff like milling out a circular pocket, or a basic helix path, or a basic hole pattern. And you can set up tools within the GUI and then choose a tool for each step, and it will work out all the tool offsets. You can also set the number of passes etc. Then you can just run the program and it will work through all of your steps, including pauses for tool changes etc.

Does anything like this exist for LinuxCNC? I really like the ability to just turn on the machine and not have to mess with some sort of CAD program just to make a precise square pocket, or cut a precise circle out of a piece of plate. The ProtoTRAK even had a few programs that were a bit more advanced like the one for cutting a gear path.

If something like this does not exist, I might want to put my programming hat on and attempt to create an addon for one of the GUI's that will add some of these features, but I figured I'd ask first.

www.linuxcnc.org/docs/2.7/html/gui/ngcgui.html
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Simple...NC_G-Code_Generators

Awesome video! This is exactly what I was thinking of.

Is this feature only available on the AXIS GUI? I was kinda hoping this type of thing would be available on the Gmoccapy GUI since I would like to set up a touch screen for the mill.

Thanks

see here:

gmoccapy with features

as starting point

Norbert

LinuxCNC features is a very nice conversational CAM, its approach leads us to a higher level, but unfortunately I never handled to make it work well on the 2.7 version. Nick's video tutorials are very old, meanwhile one user developed another version and I'm not understanding anything...