1. Components

Most of the commands in the following list have their own dedicated man pages. Some will have expanded descriptions, some will have limited descriptions. From this list you know what components exist, and you can use man name on your UNIX command line to get additional information. To view the information in the man page, in a terminal window type:

man axis

The one or other setup of a UNIX system may require to explicitly specify the section of the man page. If you do not find the man page or the name of the man page is already taken by another UNIX tool with the LinuxCNC man page residing in another section, then try to explicitly specify the section, as in man _sectionno_ axis, with sectionno = 1 for non-realtime and 9 for realtime components.

Note
See also the Man Pages section of the docs main page or the directory listing. To search in the man pages, use the UNIX tool apropos.

1.1. User Interfaces (non-realtime)

1.1.1. Machine Control

axis

AXIS LinuxCNC (The Enhanced Machine Controller) GUI

axis-remote

AXIS Remote Interface

gmoccapy

Touchy LinuxCNC Graphical User Interface

gscreen

Touchy LinuxCNC Graphical User Interface

halui

Observe HAL pins and command LinuxCNC through NML

mdro

manual only Digital Read Out (DRO)

ngcgui

Framework for conversational G-code generation on the controller

panelui

Short description

pyngcgui

Python implementation of NGCGUI

touchy

AXIS - TOUCHY LinuxCNC Graphical User Interface

1.1.2. Virtual Control Panels (VCP)

gladevcp

Virtual Control Panel for LinuxCNC based on Glade, Gtk and HAL widgets

gladevcp_demo

GladeVCP - used by sample configs to deonstrate Glade Virtual_demo

gremlin_view

G-code graphical preview

moveoff_gui

GUI for the moveoff component

pyui

Utility for panelui

pyvcp

Virtual Control Panel for LinuxCNC

pyvcp_demo

Python Virtual Control Panel demonstration component

qtvcp

Qt based virtual control panel

1.1.3. Vismach Virtual Machines

5axisgui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

hbmgui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

hexagui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

lineardelta

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

maho600gui

hexagui - Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

max5gui

hexagui - Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

puma560gui

puma560agui - Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

pumagui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

rotarydelta

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

scaragui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

xyzac-trt-gui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

xyzbc-trt-gui

Vismach Virtual Machine GUI

1.2. Motion (non-realtime)

io

iocontrol - interacts with HAL or G-code in non-realtime

iocontrol

Interacts with HAL or G-code in non-realtime

iov2

Interacts with HAL or G-code in non-realtime

mdi

Send G-code commands from the terminal to the running LinuxCNC instance

milltask

Non-realtime task controller for LinuxCNC

1.3. Hardware Drivers

1.3.1. VFD & Communication Interfaces (non-realtime)

elbpcom

Communicate with Mesa ethernet cards

gs2_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for Automation Direct GS2 VFDs

hy_gt_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for Huanyang GT-series VFDs

hy_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for Huanyang VFDs

mb2hal

MB2HAL is a generic non-realtime HAL component to communicate with one or more Modbus devices. Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP are supported.

mitsub_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for Mitsubishi A500 F500 E500 A500 D700 E700 F700-series VFDs (others may work)

monitor-xhc-hb04

Monitors the XHC-HB04 pendant and warns of disconnection

pi500_vfd

Powtran PI500 modbus driver

pmx485

Modbus communications with a Powermax Plasma Cutter

pmx485-test

Modbus communications testing with a Powermax Plasma Cutter

shuttle

control HAL pins with the ShuttleXpress, ShuttlePRO, and ShuttlePRO2 device made by Contour Design

svd-ps_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for SVD-P(S) VFDs

vfdb_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for Delta VFD-B Variable Frequency Drives

vfs11_vfd

HAL non-realtime component for Toshiba-Schneider VF-S11 Variable Frequency Drives

wj200_vfd

Hitachi wj200 modbus driver

xhc-hb04

Non-realtime HAL component for the xhc-hb04 pendant

xhc-hb04-accels

Obsolete script for jogging wheel

xhc-whb04b-6

Non-realtime jog dial HAL component for the wireless XHC WHB04B-6 USB device

1.4. Mesa and other I/O Cards (Realtime)

hal_ppmc

Pico Systems driver for analog servo, PWM and Stepper controller

hal_bb_gpio

Driver for beaglebone GPIO pins

hal_parport

Realtime HAL component to communicate with one or more PC parallel ports

hm2_7i43

Mesa Electronics driver for the 7I43 EPP Anything IO board with HostMot2. (See the man page for more information)

hm2_7i90

LinuxCNC HAL driver for the Mesa Electronics 7I90 EPP Anything IO board with HostMot2 firmware

hm2_eth

LinuxCNC HAL driver for the Mesa Electronics Ethernet Anything IO boards, with HostMot2 firmware

hm2_pci

Mesa Electronics driver for the 5I20, 5I22, 5I23, 4I65, and 4I68 Anything I/O boards, with HostMot2 firmware. (See the man page for more information)

hm2_rpspi

LinuxCNC HAL driver for the Mesa Electronics SPI Anything IO boards, with HostMot2 firmware

hm2_spi

LinuxCNC HAL driver for the Mesa Electronics SPI Anything IO boards, with HostMot2 firmware

hostmot2

Mesa Electronics driver for the HostMot2 firmware.

max31855

Support for the MAX31855 Thermocouple-to-Digital converter using bitbanged SPI

mesa_7i65

Mesa Electronics driver for the 7I65 eight-axis servo card. (See the man page for more information)

mesa_pktgyro_test

PktUART simple test with Microstrain 3DM-GX3-15 gyro

opto_ac5

Realtime driver for opto22 PCI-AC5 cards

pluto_servo

Pluto-P driver and firmware for the parallel port FPGA, for servos

pluto_step

Pluto-P driver for the parallel port FPGA, for steppers

serport

Hardware driver for the digital I/O bits of the 8250 and 16550 serial port

sserial

hostmot2 - Smart Serial LinuxCNC HAL driver for the Mesa Electronics HostMot2 Smart-Serial remote cards

thc

Torch Height Control using a Mesa THC card or any analog to velocity input

1.5. Utilities (non-realtime)

hal-histogram

Plots the value of a HAL pin as a histogram

halcompile

Build, compile and install LinuxCNC HAL components

halmeter

Observe HAL pins, signals, and parameters

halcmd

Manipulate the LinuxCNC HAL from the command line

halcmd_twopass

Short description

halreport

Creates a report on the status of the HAL

halrmt

Short description

halrun

Manipulate the LinuxCNC HAL from the command line

halsampler

Sample data from HAL in realtime

halscope

Software oscilloscope for viewing real time waveforms of HAL pins and signals

halshow

Show HAL parameters, pins and signals

halstreamer

Stream file data into HAL in real time

haltcl

Manipulates the LinuxCNC HAL from the command line using Tcl

image-to-gcode

Converts bitmap images to G-code

latency-histogram

Plots histogram of machine latency

latency-plot

Another way to view latency numbers

latency-test

Tests the realtime system latency

pncconf

Configuration wizard for Mesa cards

setsserial

Utility for setting Smart Serial NVRAM parameters. NOTE: This rather clunky utility is no longer needed except for flashing new smart-serial remote firmware. Smart-serial remote parameters can now be set in the HAL file in the normal way.

sim_pin

GUI for displaying and setting one or more HAL inputs

stepconf

Configuration wizard for parallel-port based machines

1.6. Signal processing (Realtime)

1.6.1. Logic and Bitwise

and2

Two-input AND gate. For out to be true both inputs must be true. (and2)

bitwise

Computes various bitwise operations on the two input values

dbounce

Filter noisy digital inputs Details

debounce

Filter noisy digital inputs Details Description

demux

Select one of several output pins by integer and/or or individual bits

edge

Edge detector

estop_latch

E-stop latch

flipflop

D-type flip-flop

logic

General logic function component

lut5

5-input logic function based on a look-up table Description

match8

8-bit binary match detector

multiclick

Single-, double-, triple-, and quadruple-click detector

multiswitch

Toggles between a specified number of output bits

not

Inverter

oneshot

One-shot pulse generator

or2

Two-input OR gate

select8

8-bit binary match detector.

tof

IEC TOF timer - delay falling edge on a signal

toggle

Push-on, push-off from momentary pushbuttons

toggle2nist

Toggle button to nist logic

ton

IEC TON timer - delay rising edge on a signal

timedelay

Equivalent of a time-delay relay.

tp

IEC TP timer - generate a high pulse of defined duration on rising edge

tristate_bit

Places signal on an I/O pin only when enabled, similar to a tristate buffer in electronics

tristate_float

Places signal on an I/O pin only when enabled, similar to a tristate buffer in electronics

xor2

Two-input XOR (exclusive OR) gate

1.6.2. Arithmetic and float

abs_s32

Computes the absolute value and sign of the input signal

abs

Computes the absolute value and sign of the input signal

biquad

Biquad IIR filter

blend

Perform linear interpolation between two values

comp

Two input comparator with hysteresis

constant

Uses parameter to set the value of a pin

counter

Counts input pulses (deprecated). Use the encoder component.

ddt

Computes the derivative of the input function.

deadzone

Returns the center if within the threshold.

div2

Quotient of two floating point inputs.

hypot

Three-input hypotenuse (Euclidean distance) calculator.

ilowpass

Low-pass filter with integer inputs and outputs

integ

Integrator

invert

Computes the inverse of the input signal.

filter_kalman

Unidimensional Kalman filter, also known as linear quadratic estimation (LQE)

knob2float

Converts counts (probably from an encoder) to a float value.

lowpass

Low-pass filter

limit1

Limits the output signal to fall between min and max.
[When the input is a position, this means that the position is limited.]

limit2

Limits the output signal to fall between min and max. Limit its slew rate to less than maxv per second.
[When the input is a position, this means that position and velocity are limited.]

limit3

Limit the output signal to fall between min and max. Limit its slew rate to less than maxv per second. Limit its second derivative to less than MaxA per second squared
[When the input is a position, this means that the position, velocity, and acceleration are limited.]
.

lincurve

One-dimensional lookup table

maj3

Compute the majority of 3 inputs

minmax

Tracks the minimum and maximum values of the input to the outputs.

mult2

Product of two inputs.

mux16

Select from one of 16 input values (multiplexer).

mux2

Select from one of two input values (multiplexer).

mux4

Select from one of four input values (multiplexer).

mux8

Select from one of eight input values (multiplexer).

mux_generic

Select one from several input values (multiplexer).

near

Determine whether two values are roughly equal.

offset

Adds an offset to an input, and subtracts it from the feedback value.

sample_hold

Sample and Hold.

scale

Applies a scale and offset to its input.

sum2

Sum of two inputs (each with a gain) and an offset.

timedelta

Component that measures thread scheduling timing behavior.

updown

Counts up or down, with optional limits and wraparound behavior.

wcomp

Window comparator.

weighted_sum

Convert a group of bits to an integer.

xhc_hb04_util

xhc-hb04 convenience utility

1.6.3. Type conversion

bin2gray

Converts a number to the gray-code representation

bitslice

Converts an unsigned-32 input into individual bits

conv_bit_float

Converts from bit to float

conv_bit_s32

Converts from bit to s32

conv_bit_u32

Converts from bit to u32

conv_float_s32

Converts from float to s32

conv_float_u32

Converts from float to u32

conv_s32_bit

Converts from s32 to bit

conv_s32_float

Converts from s32 to float

conv_s32_u32

Converts from s32 to u32

conv_u32_bit

Converts from u32 to bit

conv_u32_float

Converts from u32 to float

conv_u32_s32

Converts from u32 to s32

gray2bin

Converts gray-code input to binary

1.7. Kinematics (Realtime)

corexy_by_hal

CoreXY kinematics

differential

Kinematics for a differential transmission

gantry

LinuxCNC HAL component for driving multiple joints from a single axis

gantrykins

Kinematics module that maps one axis to multiple joints.

genhexkins

Gives six degrees of freedom in position and orientation (XYZABC). The location of the motors is defined at compile time.

genserkins

Kinematics that can model a general serial-link manipulator with up to 6 angular joints.

gentrivkins

See trivkins

kins

Kinematics definitions for LinuxCNC.

lineardeltakins

Kinematics for a linear delta robot

maxkins

Kinematics for a tabletop 5 axis mill named max with tilting head (B axis) and horizontal rotary mounted to the table (C axis). Provides UVW motion in the rotated coordinate system. The source file, maxkins.c, may be a useful starting point for other 5-axis systems.

millturn

Switchable kinematics for a mill-turn machine

pentakins

pumakins

Kinematics for PUMA-style robots.

rosekins

Kinematics for a rose engine

rotatekins

The X and Y axes are rotated 45 degrees compared to the joints 0 and 1.

scarakins

Kinematics for SCARA-type robots.

tripodkins

The joints represent the distance of the controlled point from three predefined locations (the motors), giving three degrees of freedom in position (XYZ).

trivkins

1:1 correspondence between joints and axes. Most standard milling machines and lathes use the trivial kinematics module.

userkins

Template for user-built kinematics

1.8. Motion control (Realtime)

motion

Accepts NML motion commands, interacts with HAL in realtime

1.9. Motor control (Realtime)

at_pid

Proportional/integral/derivative controller with auto tuning.

bldc

BLDC and AC-servo control component

clarke2

Two input version of Clarke transform

clarke3

Clarke (3 phase to cartesian) transform

clarkeinv

Inverse Clarke transform

encoder

Software counting of quadrature encoder signals, see Description.

pid

Proportional/integral/derivative controller, Description.

pwmgen

Software PWM/PDM generation, see Description.

stepgen

Software step pulse generation, see Description.

1.10. Other (Realtime)

comp

Build, compile and install LinuxCNC HAL components.

classicladder

Realtime software PLC based on ladder logic. See ClassicLadder chapter for more information.

threads

Creates hard realtime HAL threads.

charge_pump

Creates a square-wave for the charge pump input of some controller boards. The Charge Pump should be added to the base thread function. When enabled, the output is on for one period and off for one period. To calculate the frequency [Hz] of the output: 1/(period time in seconds x 2). For example, if you have a base period of 100,000 ns that is 0.0001 seconds and the formula would be 1/(0.0001 x 2) = 5,000 Hz or 5 kHz.

encoder_ratio

Electronic gear to synchronize two axes.

feedcomp

Multiply the input by the ratio of current velocity to the feed rate.

gladevcp (Realtime)

displays Virtual control Panels built with GTK / GLADE

gearchange

Select from one of two speed ranges.

joyhandle

Sets nonlinear joypad movements, deadbands and scales.

sampler

Sample data from HAL in real time.

siggen

Signal generator, see Description.

sim_encoder

Simulated quadrature encoder, see Description.

sphereprobe

Probe a pretend hemisphere.

steptest

Used by StepConf to allow testing of acceleration and velocity values for an axis.

streamer

Stream file data into HAL in real time.

supply

Set output pins with values from parameters (deprecated).

threadtest

Component for testing thread behavior.

time

Accumulated run-time timer counts HH:MM:SS of active input.

watchdog

Monitor one to thirty-two inputs for a heartbeat.

1.11. Not categorized (auto generated from man pages)

anglejog

Jog two axes (or joints) at an angle

axis

axistest

Used to allow testing of an axis. Used IN PnCconf.

carousel

Orient a toolchanger carousel using various encoding schemes

debuglevel

sets the debug level for the non-realtime part of LinuxCNC

emccalib

Adjust ini tuning variables on the fly with save option

enum

enumerate integer values into bits

eoffset_per_angle

Compute External Offset Per Angle

hal_input

control HAL pins with any Linux input device, including USB HID devices

hal_manualtoolchange

HAL non-realtime component to enable manual tool changes.

histobins

histogram bins utility for scripts/hal-histogram

homecomp

homing module template

inivar

Query an INI file

latencybins

comp utility for scripts/latency-histogram

lcd

Stream HAL data to an LCD screen

limit_axis

Dynamic range based axis limits

linuxcnc

LinuxCNC (The Enhanced Machine Controller)

linuxcnc_info

collects information about the LinuxCNC version and the host

linuxcnc_module_helper

controls root access for system hardware

linuxcnc_var

retrieves LinuxCNC variables

linuxcnclcd

LinuxCNC Graphical User Interface for LCD character display

linuxcncmkdesktop

create a desktop icon for LinuxCNC

linuxcncrsh

text-mode interface for commanding LinuxCNC over the network

linuxcncsvr

Allows network access to LinuxCNC internals via NML

linuxcnctop

live LinuxCNC status description

matrix_kb

Convert integers to HAL pins. Optionally scan a matrix of IO ports to create those integers.

mesa_uart

An example component demonstrating how to access the Hostmot2 UART

message

Display a message

motion-logger

log motion commands sent from LinuxCNC’s Task module

moveoff

Component for HAL-only offsets

mqtt-publisher

send HAL pin data to MQTT broker periodically

ohmic

LinuxCNC HAL component that uses a Mesa THCAD for ohmic sensing

orient

Provide a PID command input for orientation mode based on current spindle position, target angle and orient mode

plasmac

A plasma cutter controller

qtplasmac-cfg2prefs

Convert plasma parameters.

qtplasmac-materials

Create a plasma materials file.

qtplasmac-plasmac2qt

Migrate a PlasmaC configuration.

qtplasmac-setup

Switch a QtPlasmaC installation type.

rs274

standalone G-code interpreter

rtapi_app

creates a simulated real time environment

scaled_s32_sums

Sum of four inputs (each with a scale)

schedrmt

telnet based scheduler for LinuxCNC

scorbot-er-3

to link the Intellitek Scorbot educational robot to LinuxCNC

sendkeys

send input events based on pins or scancodes from HAL

sim-torch

A simulated plasma torch

sim_axis_hardware

A component to simulate home and limit switches

sim_home_switch

Home switch simulator

sim_matrix_kb

convert HAL pin inputs to keycodes

sim_parport

A component to simulate the pins of the hal_parport component

sim_spindle

Simulated spindle with index pulse

simple_tp

This component is a single axis simple trajectory planner, same as used for jogging in LinuxCNC.

simulate_probe

simulate a probe input

spindle

Control a spindle with different acceleration and deceleration and optional gear change scaling

spindle_monitor

spindle at-speed and underspeed detection

teach-in

jog the machine to a position, and record the state

thcud

Torch Height Control Up/Down Input

thermistor

compute temperature indicated by a thermistor

tooledit

tool table editor

tpcomp

Trajectory Planning (tp) module skeleton

update_ini

converts 2.7 format INI files to 2.8 format

xyzab_tdr_kins

Switchable kinematics for 5 axis machine with rotary table A and B

hal_ppmc

pluto_servo

pluto_step

2. HAL API calls

hal_add_funct_to_thread.3hal
hal_bit_t.3hal
hal_create_thread.3hal
hal_del_funct_from_thread.3hal
hal_exit.3hal
hal_export_funct.3hal
hal_float_t.3hal
hal_get_lock.3hal
hal_init.3hal
hal_link.3hal
hal_malloc.3hal
hal_param_bit_new.3hal
hal_param_bit_newf.3hal
hal_param_float_new.3hal
hal_param_float_newf.3hal
hal_param_new.3hal
hal_param_s32_new.3hal
hal_param_s32_newf.3hal
hal_param_u32_new.3hal
hal_param_u32_newf.3hal
hal_parport.3hal
hal_pin_bit_new.3hal
hal_pin_bit_newf.3hal
hal_pin_float_new.3hal
hal_pin_float_newf.3hal
hal_pin_new.3hal
hal_pin_s32_new.3hal
hal_pin_s32_newf.3hal
hal_pin_u32_new.3hal
hal_pin_u32_newf.3hal
hal_ready.3hal
hal_s32_t.3hal
hal_set_constructor.3hal
hal_set_lock.3hal
hal_signal_delete.3hal
hal_signal_new.3hal
hal_start_threads.3hal
hal_type_t.3hal
hal_u32_t.3hal
hal_unlink.3hal
intro.3hal
undocumented.3hal

3. RTAPI calls

EXPORT_FUNCTION.3rtapi
MODULE_AUTHOR.3rtapi
MODULE_DESCRIPTION.3rtapi
MODULE_LICENSE.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_ARRAY_INT.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_ARRAY_LONG.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_ARRAY_STRING.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_INT.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_LONG.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_STRING.3rtapi
intro.3rtapi
rtapi_app_exit.3rtapi
rtapi_app_main.3rtapi
rtapi_clock_set_period.3rtapi
rtapi_delay.3rtapi
rtapi_delay_max.3rtapi
rtapi_exit.3rtapi
rtapi_get_clocks.3rtapi
rtapi_get_msg_level.3rtapi
rtapi_get_time.3rtapi
rtapi_inb.3rtapi
rtapi_init.3rtapi
rtapi_module_param.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_ARRAY_INT.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_ARRAY_LONG.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_ARRAY_STRING.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_INT.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_LONG.3rtapi
RTAPI_MP_STRING.3rtapi
rtapi_mutex.3rtapi
rtapi_outb.3rtapi
rtapi_print.3rtap
rtapi_prio.3rtapi
rtapi_prio_highest.3rtapi
rtapi_prio_lowest.3rtapi
rtapi_prio_next_higher.3rtapi
rtapi_prio_next_lower.3rtapi
rtapi_region.3rtapi
rtapi_release_region.3rtapi
rtapi_request_region.3rtapi
rtapi_set_msg_level.3rtapi
rtapi_shmem.3rtapi
rtapi_shmem_delete.3rtapi
rtapi_shmem_getptr.3rtapi
rtapi_shmem_new.3rtapi
rtapi_snprintf.3rtapi
rtapi_task_delete.3rtpi
rtapi_task_new.3rtapi
rtapi_task_pause.3rtapi
rtapi_task_resume.3rtapi
rtapi_task_start.3rtapi
rtapi_task_wait.3rtapi