Comments

• dnewman

  August 2013

  No, there is no software to directly control the Eggbot from Corel.  While there have been a couple of other contributions to control the Eggbot by other means, they are not as polished as the Inkscape-based method and require a certain amount of sys admin type skills to set up (e.g., there was a nice Perl script to process HPGL from a terminal command line and drive the Eggbot that way using HP plotter commands).

  
  

  In the past, others have exported SVG files from Corel and then opened them in Inkscape and plotted them on the Eggbot.  Whether this will work for you depends upon what version of Corel you have and if it produces compatible SVG files.  It's worked in the past although I myself do not know the version of Corel which was being used.

  
  

  When you go the above route, you don't need to know much about Inkscape: just how to install and launch it. You also need to install the Eggbot software.

  
  

  The first time you launch Inkscape, it is slow to startup as it inventories your font collections and performs other "first run" operations that take tens or hundreds of seconds, depending upon the speed of your computer.  Once Inkscape is running and listening to you, you can open the SVG file saved from Corel and plot it via the Extensions menu item in Inkscape.  Under the Extensions menu, you should see "Eggbot..." and from that submenu select "Eggbot Control".  A window will appear which allows you to control the eggbot, including doing single pen up/pen down operations from the "Setup" tab.  The "Manual" tab allows you to spin the egg CW or CCW by a given number of steps by selecting the command "Walk Motor 2 (egg)", specifying the number of steps to "walk" the motor, and then clicking the "Apply" button.

  
  

  As to gcode, while one could in theory write a gcode to EiBotBoard board converter, no one has done that as far as I'm aware.  Or at least not a polished, user friendly converter.  (The EiBotBoard is the controller board -- the electronics -- on an Eggbot.  It does not speak gcode.)

  
  

  Dan
• Windell Oskay

  August 2013

  Let me add a bit to what Dan has said (which is all quite correct).

  
  

  First, we use our laser in almost exactly the same way that you might use the Eggbot: We do all of our design work in Inkscape, and then open it up in Corel in order to use it as a "print driver" for our laser.  If Corel is the flavor that you prefer, this certainly will work the other way for you.

  
  

  
  

  Second, if you can describe a good G-code workflow for us and provide some example output files, we can probably write a converter or driver (like Dan was describing) that takes G-code as input to drive the Eggbot directly, without using Inkscape.  While we do use CNC tools extensively at our shop (CNC router, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, computer-controlled embroidery machines), none of them actually uses G-code, so we don't presently have that workflow. 

  
  

  
  

  Third, we are presently working on some new stand-alone software (that initially will just drive the WaterColorBot), that will work as a stand-alone driver for the Eggbot as well, starting from existing vector artwork.

  
  

  -Windell