New Script: Import Leetro MOL files, source included

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matthiaswm
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:34 pm

New Script: Import Leetro MOL files, source included

Post by matthiaswm » Sat Jun 01, 2013 2:22 pm

Well, here is another script that I found useful.

I have a Laser Cutter with a Leetro 6515 controller in it. The machine does not understand dxf files, but requires a proprietary .MOL file that is created using their LaserCut software. This script takes .MOL files and imports them into QCad. All vectors of the artwork should be imported. Movement with the laser off generates grey vectors. Movement with the laser on is colored from dark red (slow motion) to hello (50% speed) to white (100% speed). The coloring makes the acceleration curves visible and helped understanding the file format.

What is this good for? Well, I use it for testing my .MOL file generator, but it can also be helpful to recover a lost file that may still be in the laser cutter memory. And even if you do not have a laser cutter at all, this script may be a useful base for importing binary files into QCad using only Qt Script.

Oh, and since the format is proprietary and undocumented, there may be bugs when importing.
Attachments
LeetroMolImport_1.1.zip
Unpack into the script directory (first entry is "script/"). Import MOL is in the File Menu.
(11.24 KiB) Downloaded 1468 times
LetroMolImport.png
Imported file showing the acceleration of the laser head in color (red is slow, yellow is medium, white is fast)
LetroMolImport.png (13.19 KiB) Viewed 30641 times

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andrew
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Posts: 9019
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: New Script: Import Leetro MOL files, source included

Post by andrew » Fri Jul 12, 2013 2:08 pm

I've included this script in the latest QCAD release (3.1.5) under menu Misc - Import / Export.

On github, it is checked in under:
https://github.com/qcad/qcad/tree/maste ... /MolImport

Thanks for this contribution!

cadfan
Registered Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 5:14 pm

Re: New Script: Import Leetro MOL files, source included

Post by cadfan » Thu Aug 09, 2018 5:16 pm

I am interested in the MOL importer to use with my laser. I found the 1x1cm.mol test file on the GitHub and attempted to import it but nothing seems to happen - no error message and the shape is not drawn. Is this still supported functionality?

thanks!

matthiaswm
Junior Member
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:34 pm

Re: New Script: Import Leetro MOL files, source included

Post by matthiaswm » Fri Aug 10, 2018 12:00 am

I have given up on the Leetro stuff. I was able to generate MOL files that mostly worked, but some of them jerked the laser and were not safe for production. I ended up replacing the Leetro controller with a simple Arduino based controller and grbl as the firmware which works well enough with GCode files generated by QCad. I am currently upgrading the controller to an ARM based Arduino which should give me better curves and raster images.

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