======Dental Aligners in myCNC======

Relevant articles:  
  * [[plc:plc|PLC]]
  * [[mycnc:mycnc_screen_configuration|Screen Editing and Configuration]]
  * [[mycnc:dental_mill|Dental Mill]]

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The myCNC software features a cutting mode that allows generating cutting programs with a focus on dental aligner manufacturing. In this mode, given an array of XYZ points, myCNC can generate a program that takes into account the rotary axis and the orientation of the workpiece (orienting the work part to be normal to the trajectory of the cut).  

{{:mycnc:dental-aligners-003.png}}

==== Variables ====

The following variables are used in myCNC for this application:

^ Variable name ^ Variable number ^ Description ^
| GVAR_ALIGNER_MODE | 5810 | Enable Aligner Cut generation - turn on contour generation based on an array of XYZ coordinate points | 
| GVAR_ALIGNER_ANGLEA | 5811 | Inclider angle (A) |
| GVAR_ALIGNER_OFFSETZ | 5812 | Z-axis offset for Cutting Depth Correction |

These variables can be interacted with either via Software PLC (as in the example below, via HANDLER_INIT), or via on-screen GUI elements that will be discussed in more depth later: 

{{:mycnc:dental-aligners-001.png}}

The following code is relevant to the topic of discussion:

<code C>gvarset(5810, 1);       //Enable Aligner Cut generation.
gvarset(5811, 66);     //Set Inclider Angle (A).
gvarset(5812,0-1);      //Set Z axis offset</code>

If the global variable #5810 is enabled (set to 1), then the myCNC system expects an array of XYZ points in the loaded file, which it automatically converts to G-code upon import. 

Note the way the negative Z-axis offset is inputted - due to the way negative values are calculated, it is necessary to type it out at ''0-1'' rather than simply ''-1''. 

The HANDLER_INIT functionality (a Software PLC that launches whenever the myCNC application is opened) is examined in more detail in the following video: 

{{youtube>QzMPs64QzEQ?large}}

==== GUI ====

It is also possible to add on-screen GUI elements that will display this information, such as in the screenshot below:

{{:mycnc:dental-aligners-002.png}} 

In the screenshot, the first number represents the incliner angle, while the second represents the Z-axis offset. The following XML code is used: 

<code XML><gitem where="x-3d" position="200;5" width="80" height="30"
 fgColor="##f-display" format="%d" fontSize="21"
 type="bdisplay" action="item:cnc-gvariable-5811"
 name="display-cnc-gvariable-5811"
 bgColor="##b-display" displayWidth="80" fontStyle="bold">
</gitem>

<gitem where="x-3d" position="200;40" width="80" height="30"
 fgColor="##f-display" format="%1.1f" fontSize="21"
 type="bdisplay" action="item:cnc-gvariable-5812" name="display-cnc-gvariable-5812"
 bgColor="##b-display" displayWidth="80" fontStyle="bold">
</gitem></code>

An article on editing your profile screen to include a code such as the one shown in the example above is available here: [[mycnc:mycnc_screen_configuration|Screen Editing and Configuration]]


==== Files ====

The files that are loaded into myCNC are expected to have a ''.txt'' extension. On output, a ''--CUT.nc'' label is added to the file name. 

A section of an example file that may be loaded into myCNC using this method: 

<code>-26.353647 -47.955063 10.070404 

-26.086842 -47.879990 10.351146 

-25.795347 -47.787163 10.611996 

-25.510485 -47.663895 10.861265 

-25.263590 -47.497482 11.107270 

-25.063272 -47.262436 11.374028 

-24.902113 -46.978760 11.640160 

-24.749945 -46.668941 11.888394 

-24.576611 -46.355492 12.101460 </code>

This file, when loaded into myCNC, will be transformed and will have the following section in the beginning:

<code>G90G21 G90 G0 X0 Y0 A55.0 B0
M3
G0 A55.000 B242.928 
G0 X-10.183 Y45.291 A55.000 B242.928 
G0 X-10.183 Y45.291 Z30.356 A55.000 B242.928 
G1 X-10.183 Y45.291 Z30.356 A55.000 B242.928 
G1 X-7.363 Y47.822 Z26.819 A55.000 B237.293 
G1 X-4.868 Y49.553 Z23.711 A55.000 B232.507 </code>

If the first file was named, for instance, ''test1.txt'', then the output will then be named ''test1--CUT.nc'' and will be stored in the same folder as the original.