ScottW514
e36a322ec5
Every fact in the two documents is now on the documentation site, which is the single source of truth. This repository carries no project documentation any more: it is the build and release base plus the acceptance tool, the bench tools and the fixture firmware. BRINGUP.md was the runbook, the hardware facts bank and the open-work list. CAMPAIGN-LOG.md was the dated record of how each result was obtained. What replaces them: the site for present state, and the commit message for the record of what a change did and how it was proven, so the change and its record stay together. Local open work is the developer's own file at the tree root and is not tracked here. README.md becomes an index card: what this is, build, test, and where the documentation is. The release pipeline tags the documentation. Firmware on a machine needs the documentation that agrees with it, so release.sh now tags the forgefirm-docs checkout with the same v<version> as the release, and prints the command that pushes the tag with the release. The checkout must exist and be clean, which is a new gate before the signature. FORGEFIRM_DOCS_DIR names the checkout (default: the sibling one) and FORGEFIRM_DOCS_SKIP releases without a tag, loudly, and is never the default. The tag is made at staging and pushed with the release, never before: a documentation tag for a release that never shipped is worse than no tag. No catalog consequence. release.sh is host-side and is in no image. The commission.py change is one sentence of a test description, not behavior. accel_crash_probe.py and the kas header lose pointers to the retired files. Checks: bash -n and sh -n on release.sh, and the tracked trees carry no reference to either retired file.
OpenGlow / ForgeFIRM firmware for Glowforge
BETA
ForgeFIRM is in beta. Every release below 0.1.0 is a beta release. Expect problems, and expect frequent updates. Upgrade whenever a newer release is available, and report what you find on the community forum.
Open firmware for Glowforge brand CNC lasers. ForgeFIRM replaces the cloud-dependent factory software on the stock control board, with no hardware modification, and gives the machine a local controller, a local web control panel, and a standard Grbl interface. The factory cloud experience stays available as an option.
This repository is the base of the build and of the release: the
meta-forgefirm Yocto layer, the kas configuration, the image recipes, the
install and release scripts, the acceptance tool (forgetest/), the bench
tools (scripts/bench/), the bench actuator firmware (fixture/), and the
release artifacts (releases/).
Start here
https://docs.forgefirm.org/ is the documentation, and the source of truth for every fact about the machine and the firmware.
| Read this first | Safety |
| Put it on a machine | Installation |
| Use it | Usage, LightBurn |
| How the machine works | Technical |
| How ForgeFIRM works with it | ForgeFIRM internals |
| Build, test, release | Developers |
| Downloads | Releases |
| Questions | Community forum |
What it does
Two controller modes, selected in the web panel and switchable while the machine is idle. GRBL mode runs grblHAL on the machine, speaking Grbl 1.1 over TCP port 23, so LightBurn, UGS and cncjs drive the laser directly; motion runs on the board's own hardware step engine, fed live by a local planner. Cloud mode signs in to the Glowforge web service as itself, so the phone and web apps work as they always did; it is optional and off by default. Around both sits a local web control panel: status and position, coolant and fan telemetry, safety-switch states, a live camera stream, settings, hardware diagnostics, firmware updates and boot-slot management.
The control board is common to the Basic, the Plus and the Pro, and one image covers every model. The 5 MP camera is hardware validated; the 8 MP camera of an "HD" machine has a complete path that has never run on one (Cameras).
Build
kas build kas/forgefirm-glowforge.yml
Build covers the host setup, the two images, the source variant and the debug kernel. Release flow covers the pins, the push order and the signing pipeline.
Test
cd forgetest && python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v
The acceptance catalog that gates a release, and the bench tools, are on Acceptance and The bench.
Contributing
AGENTS.md carries the rules for this repository and for the project: safety ordering, proof before done, the push order, and the writing rules. They apply to human contributors too, and Contribute is the same set on the site.
What this costs
Nothing. ForgeFIRM is free in both senses, under MIT and GPL licenses. There is no paid tier, no license key, no subscription and no Pro edition. If someone offers to sell it to you, the licenses allow it, but what you take home is their build rather than this one: get it from the source.
Safety
These machines contain a CO2 laser: it burns, blinds, and starts fires. Never defeat the lid switches or the interlock. Never leave a running job unattended. Keep a fire extinguisher within reach. Read Safety before you cut your first job, and Regulatory and legal before you install.
This is experimental software. Use of it could seriously maim or kill you or others, and it may void your warranty. Use it at your own risk.
This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Glowforge.