iModela: RML-1 driver and how to use it under Mac OS X?

[renebohne]

Maybe a second driver for the Roland iModela that does not use NC-Code, but RML-1 is an interesting alternative?

FabLab BCN uses the iModela for quite some time and they have a dedicated webpage for this device: http://wiki.fablabbcn.org/IModela

There you can find a link to the RML-1 Command Guide: http://wiki.fablabbcn.org/images/4/46/RML1_Command_GuideENVer100.pdf

FabLab BCN hosts a precompiled version of kokompe with iModela RML-1 support: http://wiki.fablabbcn.org/File:Fab-modules-imodela.zip In the zip file, this interesting file is included: path_rml_imodela.c You can see, that the command-set is similar to HPGL. It uses, e.g., PU and PD commands.

You can also learn how to activate the iModela printer driver for Mac OS X: The iModela has a printer driver. You can add it to your computer as a regular printer and select "Raw queue" on the printer drivers. That is the same setup as for the Roland Vinyl Cutter (.camm). "Raw Queue" is by default on the drivers list on Ubuntu and under the CUPS admin in Mac OS http://localhost:631 I did not manage to get this running under Mac OS X 10.8.2

Just for reference: The full source-code of the kokompe project can be found here: http://kokompe.cba.mit.edu/downloads.html