Bring up a machine¶

PicnicPlace runs on Linux for real machines. These steps are for a LumenPnP v4.1 with stock firmware; other machines need their own machine profile.

1. Probe the firmware¶

picnicplace-probe asks the firmware about itself and never sends a motion command:

cd core
uv run picnicplace-probe --serial-port /dev/ttyACM0 --with-pumps

It reports:

• the firmware's name and version, and whether STOP can act in the middle of a move (Marlin's emergency parser)
• endstop states, stored settings, and the position the firmware reports
• vacuum readings in each firmware variant the profile knows, to show which one your firmware speaks
• with --with-pumps, each nozzle's vacuum with its pump and valve on for about a second
• the cameras and their video formats

It saves everything to a transcript file. Include that file when asking for help with a machine.

2. Configure the core¶

Copy core/picnicd.example.toml and set at least:

[machine]
driver = "marlin"
profile = "lumenpnp-v4.1"
speed_scale = 0.25         # quarter speed while you check the machine

[machine.marlin]
port = "/dev/ttyACM0"

If the probe showed vacuum readings only in the vacuum-24bit variant, also set variant = "vacuum-24bit" under [machine.marlin].

3. First motion¶

Start the core with your config and open the Studio, then work through this checklist:

• Keep a hand on the machine's physical E-stop.
• Check the Studio shows the "Slow 25%" badge.
• Home, and watch that every axis reaches its switch. After homing, Z should read 0.
• Jog X and Y by 1 mm, then 10 mm. Check the head moves the way the arrows point.
• Jog each nozzle down 1 mm and back up. Check N1 and N2 move the right way.
• Turn each light, pump, and valve on and off from the Head inset.
• Press STOP during a slow 50 mm move. Note whether it stops at once, and what it takes to recover: Reset in the Studio, the board's reset button, or a power cycle.

4. Cameras¶

Add the cameras to your config (see the [cameras] section of the example), using the stable paths under /dev/v4l/by-id/ that the probe listed. Then check:

• Jog right: the top camera's picture slides left. Jog back: it slides down. If not, adjust flip_x, flip_y, or rotation.
• Visual home in the Calibration panel finds the datum fiducial and reports a correction of well under a millimeter.
• Camera scale reports a size close to the profile's field of view.

5. Full speed¶

When everything above checks out, remove speed_scale (or set it to 1.0) and restart the core.