IO automation

Driving the marking cycle with the controller’s external signals: starting the burn with a foot pedal or an input GPIO port, and issuing a “mark complete” pulse on an output port — for a conveyor or a PLC. Enabled on the IO tab of Hardware Settings with the Enable IO Automation master checkbox (off by default).

Parameters

  • Input trigger: the foot pedal (the controller’s hardware input) or a “Start Mark” port (0–15) with a High/Low active level. The pedal takes priority over the port.
  • Output signal: a “Mark Complete” port with an active level and pulse duration (1–10000 ms, 100 ms by default).
  • A port set to “Disabled” skips the corresponding step.

How IO wraps the marking cycle

For every pass of the job (the Passes field on the marking panel):

  1. Before the burn — with the pedal enabled, the program waits for it (“Waiting for foot pedal…”); otherwise, if an input port is set, it waits for its active level. A waiting indicator is lit in the panel.
  2. The pass is burned.
  3. After the burn — if an output port is set, a pulse of the configured polarity and duration is sent.

Esc cancels both the trigger wait and the burn itself.

Checking the wiring

The IO tab has the Read Inputs and Pulse Output test buttons — a quick wiring check without marking (visible when the board supports extended IO).

Machine verification status

The IO wrapper is implemented through real controller commands (port reads, output pulse, the footswitch status bit) and works on the emulator; pedal and port scenarios on a real machine are not yet recorded as confirmed — when commissioning, verify the cycle on your wiring with the test buttons and a trial pass.

Limitations

  • IO is incompatible with continuous mode: any active signal switches the job to a single pass with an explicit reason message.