Hey folks, I’m excited to share some of the work the gSender team has been doing that’ll be coming down the pipeline as Edge releases soon.

gSender 1.6.3 was recently released, but maintenance is not the only thing the team has been working on – we’re continuing to develop new features on our internal builds to expand our capabilities or meet the needs of common customer requests.

Today, I’d like to show some previews of just some of these new features, available soon for testing as 1.7.0-Edge-1.

Visualizer Improvements

Philosophy

The visualizer has long been the centerpiece of gSender’s interface, letting users see their position, explore their toolpath and tool changes, and connect what’s happening on screen with the physical machine. That said, while it’s received a number of improvements over the years, it’s largely been the same component library.

With this upcoming release, we’ve rewritten the existing library for massive performance improvements and new functionality.

New Visualizer Features

We’ve added so many new functionalities we’ve had to add a new config section just to handle it all, with more to come! That said, let’s go through some of the new features:

Bounding Box and Labels

gSender has long included dimensions of your toolpath as part of the file information section. However, it’s not always visible and some users might want to see it represented in the visualizer itself. We’ve added an optional bounding box and labels, to show dimensions in the visualizer itself. This includes min and max values for all 3 axes.

We’ve added a number of new color themes to the visualizer to spice up how your toolpaths look. We plan to expand this with community offerings in the future.

Sharper View

We’ve overhauled how toolpath lines are visualized along with webGL materials used. We’ve reduced the number of axis ticks to cut down on visual clutter and improve performance by reducing the number of sprites. Lines themselves should also look crisper than the previous implemenetation.

We’ve also added smoother camera controls, a fully 3d aware camera cube that lets you easily jump to faces, and better motion control on touch – which adds up to a much nicer experience when interacting with the visualizer.

Better SVG Visualization

SVG visualization should be more performant, due to us aggressively deduping XY coordinates at different Zs. We’ve added a bounding box, and a reference point for where the toolpath zero is located, which is information that was missing in the previous implementation. It’s also now theme aware and includes tool change colors for any files with M6 commands.

On top of that, a simple crosshair now tracks position when running a job – so it’s not just a static image anymore, its a fully usable option when interacting with your CNC.

Machine Boundary and Keepout Indicators

One of the more confusing aspects for new CNC owners is the distinction between workspace coordinates and machine coordinates. With the new machine bed outline and trimming grid options, your visualizer is now a much closer representation of your machine in 3d space.

If your CNC has homing capabilites, when setting a zero, your visualizer will update to show where the toolpath will cut according to your max travel values, making it much more obvious if you run the risk of going outside your limits.

On top of this, if you have an ATC, the keepout area is highlighted, so you’re more aware of the potential to run into that before it happens.

Bringing the visualizer closer to the machine’s actual 3D workspace should make positioning and machine limits much easier to understand, especially for newer CNC users.

3D Visualization

Not ready for Edge-1 but in the works is an even newer way to view your toolpaths – fully 3D! Know what your toolpath should look like before you cut a single chip. We’re not 100% sure where this will integrate yet, but we’re likely looking at a way to step through your file and see the end/in-progress results ahead of time.

Plugins

Philosophy

One of the hardest parts of developing software such as gSender is determining which features we want to add next. Sometimes, functionality is so commonly requested that working on adding it just makes sense. Other times, it’s determined by engineering projects in-house, such as the ATC, which lead to a host of features in gSender. The hard part is determining how and when to tackle the lesser requested features – because not every feature is useful to every user and we don’t want to stray too far from the core value of gSender as an easy-to-use sending software.

Due to this, we’re adding a Plugin system to gSender. A plugin is a standalone tool, usable within gSender, to accomplish any goal the developer sees fit. Plugins are shareable, letting users pick and choose what they want in their sender software.

This also lets the community at large develop features at their discretion for their specific use cases.

One major benefit is that this means functionality can be added to gSender outside the boundaries of major or minor releases – so both community and in-house plugins can become available more often than our normal release schedule.

We’re still honing the user experience, but the goal is to have installing (or removing) a plugin as easy as point and click within gSender, with the ability to disable and remove a plugin with no further issues. Installed plugins are accessible via the Tools page, and managed via the plugins tool.

We’re excited to see what the community at large can developer for gSender plugins – but we also have some samples to show off.

Sample Plugin – Simple Line and Shape CAM

3D Printing has Benchy as a first project, but CNC doesn’t really have an equivalent. You’ve setup your machine, installed your software, and have no easy way to enjoy the fruits of your labour without a massive context switch to some design software. It’d be nice if you could setup a simple project that you can run right away.

The basic cam plugin lets you do this. Setup a triangle, maybe some text, and you’ve got a basic sign – all from within gSender.

We’re going to continue to expand this tool to add a few more options (text coming, for example), but that’s the vibe and philosophy behind it. We hope other plugins that generate more complex g-code will be developed and shared by the community.

Sample Plugin – Simple Sign Maker

One of the problems with onboarding CNC users vs 3D printing users is the context switch from setting up your hardware and software to designing and exporting something to actually cut to see your machine in action.

This plugin hope to address it by making it easy to add some text to a shape for a simple sign – so you can make chips fly and see the results of your efforts, and in the end get a little piece of wood with your name on it.

Pick a preset shape, pick your text and fonts, and you’re ready to carve.

Adding or removing tabs is as simple as clicking on the profile – and they can be dragged around based on your workholding requirements

… And yes, we have a benchy

Pendant UI

Philosophy

gSender has been a Raspberry Pi-friendly application since inception. That said, it’s primarily a desktop application, and has historically required a fair amount of processing power to run well.

With recent optimizations, we’re looking at exploring alternative ways to interact with gSender, and are working on a pendant-style view. Designed from the ground up with touch focus in mind, this new pendant view is an entirely new user experience that runs well on integrated CM4 modules.

Featuring noticeably larger buttons, a SVG visualizer, and newly reorganized tools in expandable drawers, it’s the same old gSender in an all new responsive, and touch-forward view.

We hope to have this specific configuration available as both a standalone application and usable within main gSender proper for those who prefer it using an opt-in configuration.

We are internally exploring providing a bespoke CM4/touchscreen offering as a more affordable alternative to the gControl panel computer in the future using this specific application. That said, the application itself will always be free – and installable/usable on the gControl if you already own one and prefer this form factor.

Pendant in Action

Connection and Job Loading

Connection has been redesigned to be touch focused – one click to list, one click to connect, and you can hold to disconnect.

Machine status has been redesigned to be less intrusive, and includes a number of new animations depending on firmware state.

The visualizer itself is smaller, and limited to a top down view – but you still get important information like the origin and location as the job runs, along with various toolchanges.

Tool Drawers

Most of the functionality has been moved into expandable drawers that are only visible when you need them. Drawers have 2 states – partial and fully expanded.

Partially expanded should be the quick info and actions you need. For example, for the file tab it’s the file info like name and bounding box.

For the fully expanded, it’s more rare configuration options or other functionality. As an example, when the file drawer is expanded with no file loaded, you get a full list of recent files. If a file is loaded, you get the contents of that file and the g-code editor.

Same philosophy for the probe drawer – partial expanded shows your current probe configuration and lets you just hit go. When fully expanded, you get a touch friendly guided process to configure your probe diameter, probe corner, and check continuity before running.

Other Small Things

There’s a number of other features you may notice in the upcoming Edge release.

We’re expanding the helper to better tie into our resources, so if you get an error or alarm you’re better equipped to deal with it.

A number of new config options, including probe retract speed and backup settings directories are added.

Remote mode now will automatically connect to an open Desktop connection – so no need to reconnect a second time on your remote client be it your phone, tablet, or a shop PC

There’s an added benefit to this for remote users – imagine designing something in a plugin connected remotely on your desktop PC, and with one click of “Load to gSender” it’s already loaded on the desktop client of your shop PC, ready to carve!

We’ve also made a host of bug fixes, UX improvements, and tweaks to dark mode. There will be a more comprehensive list of changes and new features in the official post on release.

…And Much Much More

This is a quick overview of some of the features you can expect in the upcoming Edge-1 release. We also have a number of future improvements and features we can’t wait to share with you – but that’ll have to wait until the next blog post.

We’re really looking forward to the community getting their hands on this version and giving us their feedback. No firm date, but mid-August seems likely for public release – although everything is available on Github for testing now, if you’re technically inclined.

1.6.0 was well received (thanks for all the feedback), but a few issues and edge cases popped up across different setups that we wanted to address quickly. 1.6.1 is focused on tightening things up, improving consistency, and smoothing out some rough edges.

Changes

• Added option to skip the first tool change when using fixed strategy, with a prompt to confirm
• Added application scaling support for larger monitors and devices (Config → Accessibility)

• Rapid Position and Park buttons now enable correctly after homing on grbl controllers
• Spindle Delay config now properly reads $392 on older firmware versions
• Go To flyout can now move in machine coordinates (MCS) when homing is enabled
• Go To flyout now uses the same safe height logic as other Go To actions
• Machine defaults selector will now prompt to apply changes where needed
• Gamepad Park shortcut now works as expected
• Gamepad Fixed Rapid Position shortcut using stale position data
• Macro keybinds should persist again
• Continued improvements to rotary time estimation
• Fixed issue where tool table was assumed as compiled in from PRB: output (not always present on some grblHAL setups)
• Laser test now calculates max values using $30 (grbl) or $730 (grblHAL) instead of local state
• Added iOS application icon support for better branding on handheld shortcuts
• Added option to toggle probe type directly in the Probe drawer for quicker swapping of probe block types
• Improvements to Automations editor (variables dropdown + general UX tweaks)
• Added option to disable Electron power saving (allows screen blanking)
• Lite mode toggle is now more obvious when enabled/disabled
• Macros now show again in Remote Mode
• Updated 3D Probe instructions to better match the selected probe type

Download

All versions of gSender can be found on Github:

https://github.com/Sienci-Labs/gsender/releases/tag/v1.6.1

After several months of Edge releases, testing, and community feedback, gSender 1.6.0 is here.

This release represents a large step forward for gSender. Much of the work throughout the Edge cycle focused on building out deeper tooling workflows, expanding controller capabilities in order to support newer versions of grblHAL, and improving performance and stability across the application.

A huge thanks goes out to everyone who tested the Edge builds and provided feedback along the way — many of the improvements below came directly from that input.

Below is a look at the biggest changes that made it into 1.6.0.

Firmware Compatibility

This release expands compatibility with newer grblHAL firmware cores. Updates were made across the communication and configuration layers to better align with recent firmware changes and ensure gSender can properly take advantage of all new features in more recent grblHAL versions.

These improvements help maintain compatibility as the grblHAL ecosystem continues to evolve, allowing gSender to work more reliably with newer controller firmware, updated settings structures, and additional capabilities exposed by newer firmware releases.

Performance and Infrastructure Improvements

Several foundational improvements were made for 1.6.0:

Faster Startup Times

Startup performance has been significantly improved in this release.

A number of internal optimizations were made to the application initialization process, reducing the amount of work that needs to happen before the UI becomes usable. These changes include improvements to module loading, background initialization, and general application startup flow.

In practical terms, this means gSender launches noticeably faster, especially on systems where startup time was previously a concern.

For many users the application should now feel much more responsive when opening, getting you connected to your machine and ready to work sooner.

Build System Improvements

The internal build pipeline was updated, resulting in:

• Faster development builds
• Smaller packaged application size
• Improved overall maintainability
• Mac silicon version now provided and added signing for both Mac releases

Built-in G-code Editor

gSender now includes a built-in G-code editor for inspecting and modifying files directly inside the application.

The editor includes:

• Syntax highlighting
• Search functionality
• Quick navigation to specific terms or lines
• Basic editing and saving capabilities

The editor also acts as an additional progress indicator while running jobs, highlighting which lines have been processed.

SD Card File Management

SD card functionality has been expanded significantly.

gSender can now interact directly with files stored on the controller’s SD card for grblHAL devices. It uses yModem protocol for USB connections, and FTP when connected over ethernet.

You can:

• View files on the SD card
• Upload files
• Run files
• Delete files

Files can be uploaded using drag-and-drop or file selection, making it easy to move jobs onto the controller.

When running jobs from the SD card, gSender now displays progress feedback similar to streaming jobs directly from the application.

Automatic Tool Changer (ATC) Support

One of the largest areas of work this cycle was full ATC workflow support.

gSender now includes an integrated system for managing tools, tracking tool changes, and working with the Sienci ATC more easily.

Tool Table

A new Tool Table allows you to manage all tool-related information in one place.

You can now:

• Store tool offsets
• Assign nicknames to tools
• Probe individual tools or complete racks

This makes it much easier to maintain consistent tool setups across jobs.

Tool Timeline

Tool changes during a job are now represented in a Tool Timeline, giving a clear view of when tool changes occur and which tool is currently active.

This helps users quickly understand multi-tool programs and track job progress more easily.

Tool Remapping

Tool remapping allows you to adapt a G-code file’s tool numbers to your machine setup without editing the file itself.

This is particularly helpful when:

• CAM tool numbers don’t match rack positions
• You want to run the same job with a different tool configuration
• Tool racks change between jobs

Remapping can now be configured directly inside gSender before running a job.

ATC Workflow Controls

New controls were added to support day-to-day ATC operation.

You can now:

• Load tools – both manually and using the rack
• Unload tools – both manually and using the rack

These actions tie directly into ATC macros and make managing tool states much easier during operation.

Accessory Installation Tool

To make getting started with an Automatic Tool Changer easier, gSender now includes an ATC setup tool that helps guide users through the initial configuration process.

The setup tool walks through the core steps required to configure an ATC system, including importing macro templates, defining rack size and behaviour, and writing the required configuration files to the controller’s SD card. This removes much of the manual setup that was previously required and helps ensure the necessary macros and configuration files are installed correctly.

The goal of the setup tool is to simplify the process of bringing an ATC system online, reducing the chances of configuration mistakes and making it easier for users to get up and running with automated tool changes.

We’ve already also implemented a spindle install tool, to help users with setting up their spindle accessory on arrival.

Improved Visualization

Visualization has seen several improvements in this release.

Rotary Visualization Improvements

Rotary jobs are now visualized more accurately, with fixes to geometry rendering and preview alignment. This provides a much closer representation of the final machined result.

Tool-Based Visualization

Tool changes are now visually separated by colour, making it easier to follow complex multi-tool jobs directly in the visualizer. What colour represents which tool is indicated in the tool timeline.

Processed Line Display

A new option allows you to hide processed lines entirely instead of greying them out.

For long jobs this can make the preview significantly easier to read.

Improved visualization speed

Visualization parsing had significant improvments on both speed and memory usage. The end result is that users should be able to visualize larger files faster.

Benchmarks indicate about a 50% increases in visualization and a 35% reduction in memory used.

EEPROM Editor

Advanced users now have access to a new EEPROM editor.

This tool allows you to:

• View EEPROM values
• Modify configuration parameters
• Search for specific settings

This replaces the older legacy firmware tool and provides a more flexible interface for working with controller settings. You can find it in the Config section of gSender.

Check Mode File Validation

A new Check Mode automation feature makes it easy to validate jobs before running them.

With this option enabled, on job load, you will be prompted if you want to check. If you select yes, gSender will:

1. Enable GRBL check mode
2. Run the loaded file
3. Report any errors found

This helps catch issues before starting a real job.

Additional Improvements

Alongside the major features above, this release also includes a wide range of smaller improvements and fixes.

Some highlights include:

• Custom Ethernet ports are now supported
• Improved outline behaviour and new outline options (Rapidless square – generate a square that ignores G0 movements and just reflect cutting movements)
• Ethernet auto-reconnect improvements
• Better portrait mode space usage (larger buttons!)
• Remote mode – config is now accessible, settings are now synched between the main app and remote clients
• Config tool performance adjustments
• Improved job time estimates when feed overrides are active
• Improved rotary job time estimation
• Option to backup settings over specific time periods.
• M0 / M1 pauses now properly display associated comments
• Better application responsiveness on small resolutions
• Better application responsiveness/use of space on portrait mode
• Remote mode configuration access improvements
• Updated library dependencies
• Numerous bug fixes and stability improvements
• Better Config reactivity when updating options that allow new options.
• File associations so you can load a gcode file by double clicking it in your file explorer of choice.
• Functions that require the machine to have been are disabled until homing is reported by the firmware for grblHAL devices.
• Gamepad options and configuration updates – some new behaviours related to jogging.
• A number of other behaviour and performance tweaks and fixes

Thank You

This release wouldn’t have been possible without the community members who tested the Edge builds, reported issues, and provided feedback throughout the cycle.

Your input helped shape many of the features and refinements included in 1.6.0.

As always, if you run into any issues or have ideas for improvements, we’d love to hear from you.

Download

https://github.com/Sienci-Labs/gsender/releases/tag/v1.6.0

gSender 1.6.0 Edge-4 is now out, bringing a solid round of improvements, fixes, and general polish.

We’re officially in the part of the Edge cycle where the focus shifts away from big new features and toward testing, optimization, and cleanup. A lot of this release is about making things faster, smoother, and more reliable based on feedback from everyone testing Edge so far.

If you’ve been waiting to try Edge, this is a really good time to jump in. As always, reports from early testers are extremely valuable.

---

Visualizer parsing improvements

This release includes a major rewrite of the file parsing and visualization worker used when loading G-code files.

Performance gains:

• ~55% faster visualization time for most files
• ~75% faster visualization for rotary files
• ~35% less memory usage for typical files
• ~86% less memory usage for rotary files

What this means in practice:

• Bigger files load faster
• Less RAM usage while previewing
• Much better handling of large jobs

For reference, we successfully loaded an 85 MB / 5.5 million line file, which wasn’t possible in previous versions.

If you want the full breakdown of what changed:

https://brash-elf-7d6.notion.site/gSender-Edge-4-Visualizer-Parsing-Improvements-30979195bff08056abcaf978c3db5cee

---

Connection and Alarm handling flow improvements

• Connection process is generally smoother and more reliable
• Better handling of reconnect scenarios
• No resets in the connection workflow
• Should reduce Alarm 14 and error 1s on connection and clearing alarms
• We no longer assume ethernet is always grblHAL, so fluidNC/non-vanilla grbl users connecting over ethernet should properly fallback to grbl if configured as such

Responsiveness

• Better support for smaller screens
• Wide-but-short resolutions (like ~13xx × 7xx) should no longer cut off UI elements
• Fixed some Remote Mode responsiveness regressions
• Cleaner spacing in the top bar on smaller displays

Packaging

• Fixed slow startup on AppImage builds caused by ASAR compression
• Continued build pipeline cleanup
• Smaller installs overall
  • Example: Mac .app size reduced from ~550 MB → <400 MB

ATC – status updates and other

• Probed, unprobed, and off-rack/manual states are now separate statuses
• You can always see both offset status and manual/off-rack state when applicable
• Tool Timeline received a visual refresh for better clarity and information layout
• Tool nicknames are now included anywhere a tool number is shown in the UI
• Config and Templates moves into Accessory Installation Wizard
• Extremely professional placeholder images added to ATC Installation wizard while we wait for marketing

New machine profiles & grblHAL Core support

• Updated AltMill 4×8 machine profile
• Added support for new/remapped firmware values and keys for grblHAL Core
• Config automatically adapts based on firmware version
• Affects EEPROM-related areas including:
  • Restore Defaults
  • Config Tool

Outline improvements

• Outline process improved – should be faster, should work better for all types of files. Travel direction is always consistent.
• Added new option – Rapidless Square – which computes a bounding box of only the cutting movements (G1/G2/G3) and ignores G0.
• Can now configure outline to use custom feed rates and G1 rather than G0 (Thanks, kieraneglin)
• Inner islands no longer considered when generating hulls for details outline – so file outline should be more consistent overall

Config updates

• Various logic changes to config area to improve performance
• You should notice the population of entries and search to be more performative
• No delay when connecting on the config page

Various improvements & fixes

• Selecting the current jog preset now resets values back to configured defaults
• Config imports are validated before being applied
• Diagnostic PDF now clearly shows when disconnected data isn’t available
• Improved Run Check on Load workflow:
  • Prompts before enabling check mode and running the file
  • Probe corner can now be changed directly in the Run Probe dialog
• Warning shown when using a non-default corner (no more probing the wrong spot)
• Improved grblHAL flashing UX
• Spindle selection now updates correctly when configurations change
• Fixed connection widget interaction issues when dropdown menus are open
• Alarm descriptions now pulled directly from grblHAL firmware
• Various Dark Mode polish improvements
• Fixed diameter parsing for DeskProto rotary files (for real this time). This must be toggled on inside the config section under “Rotary Diameter offset”
• grbl Rotary – can now pass A through natively rather than always hijack Y when rotary mode switched off. This is mostly for compatibility with fluidNC/non-standard grbl variations that natively support A axis commands.
• Camera cube added to visualizer in surfacing and rotary surfacing tools
• No longer show the special animation for spindle/coolant when disconnected and spindle/coolant state is indeterminate

---

Download

gSender Edge is beta software, so expect the occasional rough edge. You can safely install gSender and gSender Edge side-by-side.

Huge thanks to everyone testing Edge and sending feedback — it directly helps shape the final 1.6.0 release.

You can find our Edge releases on GitHub:

https://github.com/Sienci-Labs/gsender/releases/tag/v1.6.0-Edge-4

gSender 1.6.0-Edge-3

gSender 1.6.0-Edge-3 is rolling out with a solid set of improvements and long requested fixes.

We are approaching the feature freeze for 1.6.0, so most remaining work before the March release will focus on stability, polish, and small behaviour adjustments. It’s likely we have one more Edge release that’ll prioritize various bugs and remaining improvements. If you have been waiting to try Edge, this is a good moment to jump in. As always, reports from early testers are extremely valuable.

This update includes several notable enhancements, including major gains in load time and improvements to remote mode.

Faster load and install times

Significant changes to the packing system and build process have produced much faster startup across all tested devices.

A load time of roughly 25 seconds or longer has been reduced to about 4. Similar improvements appear on every device, including gControl.

This has been one of the most common complaints about gSender, so we are pleased with the progress and expect further gains.

Check out the load time comparisons below:

1.5.7 on PC (~25 seconds)

Edge on PC (~5 seconds)

Edge on gControl (~7 seconds)

Installation is also noticeably faster.

Silicon Mac builds, Mac Signing, and new Electron version

We’ve updated the Electron version for packaging to the latest release, which means dropping support for earlier macOS versions. The minimum OS requirements are now as follows:

• macOS: Monterey (v12, released 2021) and up
• Windows: Windows 10
• Linux:
  • Ubuntu 18.04 and newer
  • Fedora 32 and newer
  • Debian 10 and newer
• We are building and providing both an Intel (universal) build and now a Silicon (ARM64) version of gSender for macOS. Silicon users should notice a performance improvement.
• We are now also signing our macOS builds, so hooray! Coming soon to an app store near you!

Better portrait mode

We continue refining layout behaviour to make better use of space across different display configurations.

• Larger, clearer buttons in portrait mode and elsewhere
• Improved spacing and alignment
• More adjustments planned throughout the Edge cycle
  

ATC installation tool / Accessory Installation Tool

A new guided installation tool walks users through setting up supported CNC accessories.

• First supported workflow is ATC setup
• Future plans include spindle, laser, and first time CNC setup guides

ATC configuration

The ATC configuration tool has been streamlined.

• Combined and reorganized options
• Improved flow and clarity
• Updated interface for a smoother configuration experience

ATC Visualization and Tool Table

• Updated colours to a designated set of 12 for better toolpath distinction. It’s now funky fresh
• Tool table tool nicknames are now selectable from a database of common bits, which includes search and still the ability to type in a custom note for a specific T command.

SD and FTP support

• FTP support added, allowing uploads over Ethernet instead of USB only
• Simplified workflow with a single refresh/list button
• Automatic SD mount attempts when the tool opens
• Dark mode and portrait mode updates
• Progress bar improvements
• Safety checks to disable the tool when connected to grbl or grblHAL devices without Ymodem or FTP support

EEPROM and configuration improvements

• Added support for new settings in the upcoming grblCore release
• EEPROM tool now handles all reported EEPROM settings, not only those surfaced in Config

Rotary time estimation

Time estimation for rotary jobs is now more accurate. Travel distance calculations now correctly account for A axis rotation, bringing estimates closer to real world results. Accuracy is approaching within 10 percent, with more refinement planned.

Visualization for rotary files has also improved. DeskProto typically sets Z to the surface and stores workpiece diameter in comments. gSender now uses that information to produce correct visualizations. Most gcode viewers cannot do this without explicit diameter data, so this is a meaningful improvement.

Remote mode

• Updated look and feel
• Settings now sync between desktop and remote clients, ensuring consistent preferences such as jog speeds, probe type, and units

Gamepad Updates

• Fixes to certain shortcuts on gamepad firing twice, specifically the park button and probe popup
• Added a new feature to disable dynamic speed and use a fixed value for thumbstick jogging
• All these changes were done by a community member. Thank you for your contribution Kesmit13!

Various fixes and improvements

• ATC functionality updates
• Fixed issues where tool offset was being incorrectly zeroed out on board reset
• $SpindleESH now sent correctly on spindle select for core firmware
• Gamepad jogging improvements, including fixed speed jogging
• TLO probe offsets captured mid toolpath to keep UI elements current
• Error and Alarm descriptions populated by grblHAL firmware
• Helper accessible across all gSender tools, not only the carve page
• Optional prompt on program close to prevent accidental exits
• AltMill 4X8 machine profile added
• Now using grblHAL error and alarm descriptions throughout the application
• AltMill ZxY plus Spindle configurations removed
• Added probe profile for BitZero 2 probe block (thanks Krudoy)

Download

gSender Edge is beta software, so expect occasional instability. You can install both gSender and gSender Edge side by side.

Thank you to everyone testing Edge and sending feedback. Your reports help shape the final 1.6.0 release.

You can find our Edge releases on GitHub:

https://github.com/Sienci-Labs/gsender/releases/tag/v1.6.0-Edge-3

We’re excited to announce the release of gSender v1.5.7, a version focused on refining performance, fixing long-standing quirks, and adding new functionality to make your CNC workflow smoother than ever.

Check below for a full list of changes. Updates are available via Github or follow the update prompts in-app on gSender startup.

v1.5.7 Changelog

• Fixed issue with start job shortcut not firing in some situations.
• Park shortcut now persists between sessions.
• Unlock button now has same logic as large Alarm unlock button for Alarm 10 and 17 where it will reset and unlock for you.
• Corner selection hidden for Z-only probe type.
• Squaring tool calculations for custom distances are now correct.
• Added support for Teensy boards in recognized devices.
• Error line reporting mismatch fixed.
• Stopping on start event codes should now correctly clear the planner and reset the board.
• Added cut depth validation to Surfacing tool.
• Auto-reconnect should work for Ethernet again.
• Added import/export functionality for gamepad profiles.
• Homing location now shows correctly on stats page.
• Fixed issue with terminal history order.
• Added new config option to run check on a file when it’s loaded in.
• Fixed issue with rapid position shortcuts not memoizing positions.
• GRBL spindle max/min again correctly updates the eeprom on change.
• Config search behaviour updates to be more consistent with modified flag enabled.
• Probe shortcut no longer causes an error 2 due to stale distance modal.
• Rapid position shortcut no longer has a stale homing location value.

Download

gSender v1.5.7 can be downloaded from Github:

https://github.com/Sienci-Labs/gsender/releases/tag/v1.5.7

gSender 1.4.0 is now released, officially supporting grblHAL, rotary cutting and much much more!

The official theme for this update was fundamentals, which means improving and iterating on existing features to address any shortcomings, reliability issues, or add long requested functionalities.

As always, thank you to everyone involved in using, testing and giving feedback on Edge releases over the past 4 months. We’ve been working hard to address your feedback and are excited to bring these new features over to the general userbase!

Without further ado, let’s get into this update!

A New Spin on Carving – Rotary Support

Turning to some positive news, we’re finally bringing support for Rotary axes on both grbl and grblHAL based controllers into gSender! Whether you own the Sienci Vortex or some other rotary solution, gSender has you covered in everything you might want to do.

Once enabled in preferences, the user is able to control, probe, surface and carve using the A axis!

We’ve also updated the visualizer to better show the final result – so you can see your A-axis carving in all it’s glory!

Pushing Your Buttons – Better Gamepad Functionality

We’ve expanded and changed how gamepad works to give the user a whole host of new options for controlling their machine.

Joysticks are now able to jog the machine along any axis with variable speeds based on how far you’re moving the joystick.

We’ve added a new MPG mode which will let the user jog in a specific direction by rotating the joystick similar to physical MPG units.

There is also new alt modifiers for gamepad buttons, letting you map multiple functionalities to a specific button. Users are also able to assign a lockout button, preventing any gamepad buttons from firing until it is unlocked again.

Finally, we’ve altered the workflow for setting up a gamepad, letting the user map an action to a button instead of the opposite. We hope this lets users set up their new controllers quickly and easily and get back to cutting.

What did I just do? In-depth Job Stats and Maintenance Reminders

We’ve greatly expanded the job stats section to give you even more information about past jobs. Not only do we now track time run per com port, there is more in-depth tracking of individual jobs and any problems encountered.

We’ve also added maintenance reminders to keep you on track for keeping your machine in tip-top shape. Reminders are set up with expected run time before needing completion, and once you’ve approached that warning you’ll start to get reminders. Maintenance reminders are entirely customizable – set up your own tasks to keep on top of anything personal to your workflow.

Some Old Favourites and New Favourites

We’ve brought back code blocks for tool change to much fanfare!

Remote mode has received a number of improvements, including workflow controls and unit selection on the remote interface on phone screen size and a QR code in-app for easier navigation on your handheld device.

We’ve also added an easier way to go to a specific location – clicking the Go To button will now let you select a incremental or absolute position to move your machine to.

Touch Wherever You Want – Multi-corner Probing

No longer a one-trick pony, gSender now supports probing off any corner of your workpiece using both standard and auto-zero touchplates!

Selecting which corner you want is as easy as clicking a button – simply press the corner selector and the probe routine will automatically update offsets to both run and set the zero correctly at the selected corner!

Technical Notes – 32 bit no longer supported

We are officially dropping support for 32bit versions of gSender. It was a hard decision but continuing to support 32bit was a security concern for several libraries we use and we can’t be shackled long term to out of date libraries without alternatives. Version 1.2.2 should continue to work fine for the small subset of users (sub 1%) that we show as using 32 bit operating systems.

Firmware options – grblHAL Firmware Support

Our first non-grbl firmware officially supported is grblHAL – an up-and-coming solution that works on a wide variety of hardware.

Firmware flavour is selectable in the connection dropdown – by default most users will continue to use grbl, but swapping controller types is a simple click away.

We’ve updated the UI in a number of places to support all the new functionality available in grblHAL – including single axis probing, ethernet connectivity and more.

USB is no longer the only way to interact with your machine using grblHAL – so we’ve added a way to connect and run jobs using ethernet, which is more reliable overall.

grblHAL is also a bit more fluid when it comes to EEPROM options – so the firmware tool has been rebuilt to dynamically support all options are reported by the firmware itself and rebuild the table so you’ll always be able to easily update your EEPROM configuration no matter which plugins you have installed.

This is just a taste of new updates we’ve added – for all the details and changes, full notes can be found below!

Release Notes

• Added Rotary Mode
  • gSender is now able to run 2+1 axis files on grbl and 4 axis files on grblHAL
  • Visualizer updated to support 4 axis rotations
  • A-axis DRO and jogging
  • Rotary probing
• Added grblHAL controller support
  • Connect to and run jobs as normal on any grblHAL device
  • Connect over ethernet where hardware is supported
  • New grblHAL specific firmware tool that is dynamically generated based on reported settings
  • New UI elements where appropriate to support new functionality such as single axis homing
• Gamepad improvements
  • Restructured logic and mapping of buttons to actions
  • Add secondary functionality to buttons
  • Added joystick MPG mode
  • Added lockout button to deactivate gamepad when needed
• Improved job time estimation
  • Significantly improved initial time estimation algorithm based on machine acceleration and max speeds
  • Mid-job estimation uses initial estimate per line for more accurate remaining duration
• Multi-corner probing – touch off any corner using both standard and auto-zero touchplates
• Added Go To UI button to quickly go to an absolute or relative workspace coordinate
• Clearer distinction on planned lines vs cut lines – planned lines show up as a (customizable) yellow instead of the default cut gray
• Remote mode improvements
  • Added QR code for easier navigation to remote address on phone
  • Added workflow controls and unit selection to remote mode UI
• Added preference to prompt on Zero to prevent accidentally resetting zero on any axis
• Code block toolchange again supported
• Firmware active modals now displayed in diagnostic tab
• PRB values available to use in macros
• Files are now parsed once per run time
• Fix for DRO precision in some situations
• Improved job stats area – now tracks jobs per com port, more information about each job run and the number of problems encountered
• Maintenance reminders – set up and customize maintenance reminders to prompt tasks after specific run time totals have occured
• Improved alarm and error recording

Download gSender 1.4.0

As always, releases can be found on Github!