Agree. Mine is significantly off center of the box even once the material height is locked in for the preview. For anything less than about an inch in size I would watch the red laser spot every time.
Dan used the word “approximate” to describe the box placement.
My take on @Dan’s explanation was that the square is big because the placement of the laser falls within a certain area around where you click, not necessarily that exact spot. I think the square shows that area. Then it leaves a smaller square showing you a little more precisely where it actually landed, so you can try again if it missed where you wanted it.
Just typed this in another thread… but, the area is approximate. The set focus box (and the crosshairs used before) are part of the design overlay, so subject to the same level of error that the design is subject to on an uncorrected image.
This is well over 0.5" in error. If only the laser had a precision motion system… Anyway on my home machine it pretty much nails it (or at least isn’t far enough off that I notice it).
Which is weird since they have the image correction (which nails it now with the new calibration tool). I now get sub-mm level accuracy, so not sure why they can’t use the same correction they already know…
Have been thinking about that. The position of the red laser spot may have an installation variance. After all it’s just a laser diode soldered on a circuit board. The spot position is not important as long as the head camera can see it. A factory calibration could take care of any installation error in S/W to ensure material height accuracy. But the actual spot position is not S/W adjustable. It is H/W fixed.
The fact that it’s fixed and points straight down, to me, is what’s supposed to make it supper-accurate. I don’t get why on Earth it would need to be an approximation. It’s a calibrated head at that point. It knows where the red laser is in relation to everything else. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
I get that it might be a “smidge” off as it’s placement on the circuit board might vary by a tiny amount, but even there we are likely talking fractions of a mm. I mean being off 0.5" is silly. And again, my home one is practically dead on, so not sure why it needs to be like this. And obviously easy for the factory to calibrate a spot to the laser diode. I mean you have 2 downward facing lasers, which is sort of the definition of things you can measure…
It doesn’t point straight down. It points at a 45 degree angle which gives an elongated spot. The length of that spot, not location, is how material height is determined. The spot location is in a completely different place for a height of zero than a height of 0.5" due to the angled projection…
Actually, I was typing tired and those words were not what was trying to say. The left/right position within the head camera image of the spot edge would determine the material height. Because it’s at an angle, as you raise and lower the material the spot will move left or right. I was intending to clarify between how lasers are most often used to measure distance directly and how it’s done in the GF with the angular method. Sorry, I mistyped.
Because the only way that can work (especially in a slanted version where you get the hypotenuse and are calculating the sides) is if you know the basic geometry of the origin. Since they have to determine the height to hundredths of an inch, seems like X,Y is critical…
I tend to think that being off 1/2" is not unusual and possibly even the norm. My measurement is taken 1/2" off the center of the Set Focus Marker even after the material height has been determined and the Preview image is perfect. If you are interested in reading how I tested it and seeing the pics…
I am sorry that we missed this thread. When you use the set focus feature it takes a measurement in the square at an approximate point. The best way to tell if it is landing at the desired point is to watch the red laser dot. If the red dot is not in the right place, move the set focus box and try again.