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> # ⚠️ IN DEVELOPMENT — NOT YET RELEASED
>
> **ForgeFIRM has no public release yet.** No images are published, nothing here
> is installable, and there is no supported way to put this on a machine. The
> documentation describes the firmware as it is being built and validated on the
> bench — it is here to be read, not followed.
>
> If you come across a file claiming to be a ForgeFIRM image, it did not come
> from this project.
> # What this costs
>
> Nothing. It cost nothing yesterday, it costs nothing today, and if anyone
> ever charges you for it, it wasn't this project.
>
> ForgeFIRM is free in both senses: free as in beer, free as in speech. All of
> it is public. The image, the build layers, the kernel module, the control
> daemon, the grblHAL driver, the cloud client, down to the brackets you print.
> The licenses (MIT and GPL) are the standard ones, and any lawyer will tell
> you they're not a trap. Read it, build it, change it, pass it on.
>
> No paid tier. No license key, no subscription, no activation, no Pro edition,
> no feature parked behind a paywall. Nothing is held back for a rainy day,
> mostly because there's no plan for a rainy day.
>
> The work happens in public, including the parts that don't work yet, which
> are written up with more candor than flatters anyone. There's no product
> page. No waitlist, no pre-order, no backer, no launch, nothing to buy. Anyone
> who spends their evenings deleting sales pitches has earned the reflex to
> suspect one more, so don't take a stranger's word for it. Ten minutes with
> the licenses and the commit log settles it, which beats trust on both cost
> and accuracy. Questions are welcome at
> [the community forum](https://community.openglow.org).
>
> If someone offers to sell you this firmware, the licenses allow it and
> nobody's calling it theft. Just note that you'd be paying for something
> that's given away, and that what you take home is their build, not this one:
> a stranger's code, running a laser that has no opinion about what it burns.
> Get it from the source. Same price everywhere, and here you get to read what
> you're running.
> **ForgeFIRM has no public release, yet.** Nothing here
> is installable.
> The documentation describes the firmware as it is being built
> and validated on the bench. It is here to be read, not followed.
> The first public release is expected in September 2026. If you are interested in being an early tester, please reach out to the developer.
Open-source firmware for Glowforge brand CNC lasers. ForgeFIRM replaces the
cloud-dependent factory software on the **stock control board** — no hardware
@@ -54,7 +21,7 @@ panel, and a standard Grbl interface.
* [How cooling and airflow work](https://github.com/ScottW514/forgefirm/blob/master/docs/COOLING.md)
* [The cameras and the video stream](https://github.com/ScottW514/forgefirm/blob/master/docs/VIDEO.md)
* [How the laser safing works](https://github.com/ScottW514/forgefirm/blob/master/docs/SAFETY.md)
* [How a release is accepted](https://github.com/ScottW514/forgefirm/blob/master/docs/ACCEPTANCE.md)
* [How a release is tested before being accepted](https://github.com/ScottW514/forgefirm/blob/master/docs/ACCEPTANCE.md)
* [Community Support](https://community.openglow.org)
## What it does
@@ -62,32 +29,23 @@ panel, and a standard Grbl interface.
**Two controller modes, selected in the web panel and switchable while the
machine is idle:**
* **GRBL mode** — [grblHAL](https://github.com/grblHAL) runs on the machine and
speaks Grbl 1.1 over TCP port 23, so LightBurn, UGS, and cncjs drive the
* **GRBL mode**: [grblHAL](https://github.com/grblHAL) runs on the machine and
speaks Grbl 1.1 over TCP port 23, so LightBurn, UGS, cncjs, etc... drive the
laser directly. Motion runs on the board's own hardware step engine (SDMA +
EPIT), fed live by the planner. M3/M4 dynamic laser power, coolant-flow
EPIT), fed live by a local planner. M3/M4 dynamic laser power, coolant-flow
verification, over-temp holds, and an operator button press to arm the laser
for each job.
* **Cloud mode** — the machine presents itself as a stock Glowforge to the
* **Cloud mode**: The machine presents itself as a stock Glowforge to the
Glowforge web service, so the phone and web apps work as they always did.
Optional, and off by default. GRBL mode jogs and cuts without it; the one
GRBL-mode function that still reaches the Glowforge service is
camera-referenced homing (below), until limit-switch homing lands.
**Around both modes:**
* A **web control panel** on port 8080: machine status and position, coolant
and fan telemetry, safety-switch states, camera view, machine settings,
hardware diagnostics, firmware updates, and boot-slot management.
* A **web control panel**: Machine status and position, coolant
and fan telemetry, safety-switch states, live camera stream, machine settings, hardware diagnostics, firmware updates, and boot-slot management.
* **Camera-referenced homing**: `$H` from any sender runs the factory-style
camera homing cycle through the Glowforge service (a Glowforge account and a
live service session are required for `$H`; everything else in GRBL mode
runs without them), and the machine records where it is.
* **Cameras only capture with the lid closed.** The lid camera faces the room
once the lid is raised, so ForgeFIRM refuses every capture — live view,
snapshot, and anything the Glowforge service asks for in cloud mode — until
the enclosure is shut, and stops a running stream the moment the lid opens.
See [the cameras and the video stream](https://github.com/ScottW514/forgefirm/blob/master/docs/VIDEO.md).
runs without them).
## Hardware
@@ -95,21 +53,35 @@ The control board is common to Glowforge Basic, Plus, and Pro. The 5 MP
(OV5648) camera modules are fully supported and hardware-validated. The 8 MP
(OV8856) modules found in "HD" units have a complete capture path — the kernel
patches, device tree and sensor-aware capture profile they need are all in the
build, but it has never run on an 8 MP machine, so treat it as untested; see
`docs/BRINGUP.md` (Next work, cameras) and the headers of kernel patches
0011-0013 in `meta-glowforge-bsp`.
build, but it has never run on an 8 MP machine, so treat it as untested.
## What this costs
ForgeFIRM is free in both senses: free as in beer, free as in speech. All of
it is public and released under MIT and GPL licenses. Read it, build it,
change it, use it, pass it on.
The work happens in public, including the parts that don't work yet, which
are written up with more candor than flatters anyone.
No paid tier. No license key, no subscription, no activation, no Pro edition,
no feature parked behind a paywall. Nothing is held back for a rainy day,
mostly because there's no plan for a rainy day.
If someone offers to sell you this firmware, the licenses allow it and
nobody's calling it theft. Just note that you'd be paying for something
that's given away. Get it from the source. Same price everywhere, and here
you get to read what you're running.
## Safety
**These machines contain a CO₂ laser: it burns, blinds, and starts
fires.** Never defeat the lid switches or interlock. Never leave a
running job unattended — keep a fire extinguisher within reach. Read
[Before you cut — safety](docs/LIGHTBURN.md#before-you-cut--safety-read-this-first)
before your first job, and the
[Regulatory and legal](INSTALL.md#regulatory-and-legal) section before
installing. [How the laser safing works](docs/SAFETY.md) describes the hardware
safety chain and the software gates ForgeFIRM stacks on it.
running job unattended. Keep a fire extinguisher within reach. Read [this](docs/LIGHTBURN.md#before-you-cut--safety-read-this-first) before you cut
your first job, and read this [regulatory and legal](INSTALL.md#regulatory-and-legal) section before installing. [This](docs/SAFETY.md) document describes the hardware safety chain and the software gates ForgeFIRM stacks on it.
**A very important warning: this is experimental software. Use of this software
could seriously maim or kill you or others, and voids your warranty. It is not
affiliated with or endorsed by Glowforge. Use it at your own risk.**
**THIS IS EXPERIMENTAL SOFTWARE
Use of this software
could seriously maim or kill you or others, and could void your warranty.
Use it at your own risk.**
This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Glowforge.