Universal GcodeSender is a Java based GRBL compatible cross platform G-Code sender. Use this program to run a GRBL controlled CNC machine.

Online documentation available here: http://winder.github.io/ugs_website/

Documentation contributions can be made here: https://github.com/winder/ugs_website

To run simply unzip the .zip file and double click the .jar file. On some platforms you will need to run an included start script.

Note for MAC users: For version 1.0.8 and earlier you may need to create a "/var/lock" directory on OSX to fix a bug in the serial library. To do this open the Terminal application and run the following two commands:
sudo mkdir /var/lock
sudo chmod 777 /var/lock

Downloads

2.0 Nightly builds build status:

• Requires Java 8 or higher.
• Currently under heavy development, feedback and suggestions are helpful!
• classic GUI - The classic UGS interface.
• classic GUI - Somewhat stable build classic UGS interface.
• UGS Platform - Universal Gcode Platform, the next generation platform-based interface
• UGS Platform - Somewhat stable build Universal Gcode Platform, the next generation platform-based interface (Requires Java 8)

Stable builds
1.0.9
1.0.8
1.0.7 - Requires Java 7 or higher.
1.0.6 - Requires Java 6 or higher.
Older releases can be found on the downloads page

Screenshots from the Platform version of UGS

Customizable panel layout

Menu actions with customizable keybindings

One of many plugins

Technical details:

• JSSC for serial communication (RXTX was used up through v1.0.8)
• JogAmp for OpenGL.
• Developed with NetBeans 8.0.2 or later.
• Built with Netbeans Platform

Development

For development the Maven build tool is used.

Run main class from command line

mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.willwinder.universalgcodesender.MainWindow"

Execute all tests

mvn test

Just build a self-running uber-jar:

mvn package

Build a UniversalGcodeSender.zip release file

mvn package assembly:assembly

Changelog

1.0.9 -> 2.0

• Constant memory! Optimized every part of UGS to run in a fixed amount of memory, no more slowness because a file is too large.
• 'Cancel' now issue a feed hold and soft reset to stop the machine faster.
• Macro substitutions. Use {machine_x/y/z} {work_x/y/z} to substitute the current machine/work coordinates, {prompt|name} can be used to ask for values in a popup dialog.
• UGS now queries GRBL for its current state and settings in order to configure itself in a more intelligent manner. (Thanks Phil!)
• Improved gcode parser. Heavily refactored and validated with a new suite of unit tests, the gcode parser is now much more powerful than before and can be augmented customizable command processors.
• Controllers can now be added and configured with a JSON file, see resources/firmware_config
• Added restore default buttons on settings pages.
• Plane selection support: G17, G18, G19

1.0.8 -> 1.0.9

• Many performance improvements.
• New serial library: JSSC
• Updated 3D library.
• Maven build script (Thanks nitram509!)
• TinyG support enabled.
• XLCD support.
• Bug fixes: INCH/MM jog units, visualizer fixes (crashes and OSX support), "Null stream" error, localization crashes,
• Translations: French, Greek, Dutch, Italian

1.0.7 -> 1.0.8

• PendantUI server - connect to UGS with your smartphone or tablet. (jvabob)
• Translations: German, Spanish, Italian, Afrikaans
• Many bugfixes and stability improvements.

1.0.6 -> 1.0.7

• Many improvements to code architecture to allow future support for multiple firmwares (TinyG, Marlin, Smoothie, etc).
• New menu bar! Now new features can be added and existing features are more configurable.
• Additional on-the-fly gcode command preprocessing:
• • truncate and round long decimals to configurable length.
• • enforce max command length.
• • remove whitespaces.
• • expand small arcs to G1 commands.
• New option to save preprocessed gcode file to a file.
• Visualizer navigation controls - pan and zoom with the mouse wheel. (michmerr)
• Visualizer Support for radius arcs (phlatboyz sketchup plugin gcode now displays correctly)
• New single-step mode.
• New colored status indicator.
• Many bugfixes, thanks to UGS contributors

1.0.5 -> 1.0.6

• 3D gcode visualizer!
• • color coded line segments
• • real time tool position
• • real time gcode buffer position
• Due to popular demand, RaspberryPi support.
• Complete all-in-one release, 32 and 64 bit linux/windows/mac + RaspberryPi
• Settings saved between runs (thanks lazyzero)
• Advanced GRBL control, new buttons for GRBL 0.8c features (gcode check mode, homing, etc)
• Major backend refactoring to make code more stable and testable.
• Unit tests added, over 1300 lines of unit test code.

1.0.4 -> 1.0.5

• Job duration estimate now displayed when running a file.
• Real-time machine position display for GRBL v8.0c.
• Display for most recent GcodeComment.
• Bug fixes - no more dropped commands!
• Overhauled the GUI to display more information.

1.0.3 -> 1.0.4

• The step size spinner now goes to less than 1.
• New buttons on the manual control page for common functions.
• Manual X/Y coordinates can now be modified with arrow keys.
• New start scripts added to release zip files.
• Changed speed override to a percentage rather than absolute.
• Bug fixes.

1.0.2 -> 1.0.3

• Manual jogging mode, control machine with buttons in the UI.
• Automatically skip blank lines and comments when sending a file.
• Bug fixes.

1.0.1 -> 1.0.2

• Grbl version checking.
• Real-time pause/resume commands used for Grbl v0.8.
• Comment filtering - parses out comments before sending commands.
• Bug fixes.

1.0 -> 1.0.1

• New distribution jar - Application no longer requires RXTX to be installed!
• Added table view for file streaming.
• Added Pause/Resume button.
• Usability improvements.
• Many bug fixes.
• Renamed package to com.willwinder.universalgcodesender.