Fixed minor bugs in planner. Increased max dwell time. Long slope bug stop-gap solution note.

- Fixed the planner TODO regarding minimum nominal speeds. Re-arranged
calculations to be both more efficient and guaranteed to be greater
than zero. - Missed a parenthesis location on the rate_delta
calculation. Should fix a nearly in-perceptible issue with incorrect
acceleration ramping in diagonal directions. - Increased maximum dwell
time from 6.5sec to an 18hour max. A crazy amount more, but that's how
the math works out. - Converted the internal feedrate values to mm/min
only, as it was switching between mm/min to mm/sec and back to mm/min.
Also added a feedrate > 0 check in gcode.c. - Identified the long slope
at the end of rapid de/ac-celerations noted by stephanix. Problem with
the numerical integration truncation error between the exact solution
of estimate_acceleration_distance and how grbl actually performs the
acceleration ramps discretely. Increasing the
ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND in config.h helps fix this problem.
Investigating further.

config.h

@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@
 
 // The temporal resolution of the acceleration management subsystem. Higher number
 // give smoother acceleration but may impact performance
+// NOTE: Increasing this parameter will help remove the long slow motion bug at the end
+// of very fast de/ac-celerations. This is due to the increased resolution of the 
+// acceleration steps that more accurately predicted by the planner exact integration
+// of acceleration distance. An efficient solution to this bug is under investigation.
+// In general, setting this parameter is high as your system will allow is suggested.
 #define ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND 40L
 
 #endif

gcode.c

@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@ static void select_plane(uint8_t axis_0, uint8_t axis_1, uint8_t axis_2)
 
 void gc_init() {
   memset(&gc, 0, sizeof(gc));
-  gc.feed_rate = settings.default_feed_rate/60;
-  gc.seek_rate = settings.default_seek_rate/60;
+  gc.feed_rate = settings.default_feed_rate;
+  gc.seek_rate = settings.default_seek_rate;
   select_plane(X_AXIS, Y_AXIS, Z_AXIS);
   gc.absolute_mode = true;
 }
@@ -180,13 +180,14 @@ uint8_t gc_execute_line(char *line) {
     unit_converted_value = to_millimeters(value);
     switch(letter) {
       case 'F': 
+      if (unit_converted_value <= 0) { FAIL(STATUS_BAD_NUMBER_FORMAT); } // Must be greater than zero
       if (gc.inverse_feed_rate_mode) {
         inverse_feed_rate = unit_converted_value; // seconds per motion for this motion only
       } else {          
         if (gc.motion_mode == MOTION_MODE_SEEK) {
-          gc.seek_rate = unit_converted_value/60;
+          gc.seek_rate = unit_converted_value;
         } else {
-          gc.feed_rate = unit_converted_value/60; // millimeters pr second
+          gc.feed_rate = unit_converted_value; // millimeters per minute
         }
       }
       break;
@@ -213,7 +214,7 @@ uint8_t gc_execute_line(char *line) {
   // Perform any physical actions
   switch (next_action) {
     case NEXT_ACTION_GO_HOME: mc_go_home(); clear_vector(gc.position); break;
-    case NEXT_ACTION_DWELL: mc_dwell(trunc(p*1000)); break;   
+    case NEXT_ACTION_DWELL: mc_dwell(p); break;   
     case NEXT_ACTION_SET_COORDINATE_OFFSET: 
     mc_set_current_position(target[X_AXIS], target[Y_AXIS], target[Z_AXIS]);
     break;

motion_control.c

@@ -29,13 +29,21 @@
 #include "stepper.h"
 #include "planner.h"
 
-#define N_ARC_CORRECTION 25    // (0-255) Number of iterations before arc trajectory correction
+// Number of arc generation iterations with small angle approximation before exact arc
+// trajectory correction. Value must be 1-255.
+#define N_ARC_CORRECTION 25 
 
 
-void mc_dwell(uint32_t milliseconds) 
+// Execute dwell in seconds. Maximum time delay is > 18 hours, more than enough for any application.
+void mc_dwell(double seconds) 
 {
-  st_synchronize();
-  _delay_ms(milliseconds);
+   uint16_t i = floor(seconds);
+   st_synchronize();
+   _delay_ms(floor(1000*(seconds-i))); // Delay millisecond remainder
+   while (i > 0) {
+     _delay_ms(1000); // Delay one second
+     i--;
+   }
 }
 
 // Execute an arc in offset mode format. position == current xyz, target == target xyz, 

motion_control.h

@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ void mc_arc(double *position, double *target, double *offset, uint8_t axis_0, ui
   uint8_t axis_linear, double feed_rate, uint8_t invert_feed_rate, double radius, uint8_t isclockwise);
 #endif
   
-// Dwell for a couple of time units
-void mc_dwell(uint32_t milliseconds);
+// Dwell for a specific number of seconds
+void mc_dwell(double seconds);
 
 // Send the tool home (not implemented)
 void mc_go_home();

planner.c

@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@ static double previous_nominal_speed;   // Nominal speed of previous path line s
 
 static uint8_t acceleration_manager_enabled;   // Acceleration management active?
 
-#define ONE_MINUTE_OF_MICROSECONDS 60000000.0
-
 
 // Returns the index of the next block in the ring buffer
 // NOTE: Removed modulo (%) operator, which uses an expensive divide and multiplication.
@@ -62,8 +60,8 @@ static int8_t next_block_index(int8_t block_index) {
 
 // Returns the index of the previous block in the ring buffer
 static int8_t prev_block_index(int8_t block_index) {
-  if (block_index == 0) { block_index = BLOCK_BUFFER_SIZE-1; }
-  else { block_index--; }
+  if (block_index == 0) { block_index = BLOCK_BUFFER_SIZE; }
+  block_index--;
   return(block_index);
 }
 
@@ -197,9 +195,9 @@ static void planner_forward_pass() {
 // This converts the planner parameters to the data required by the stepper controller.
 static void calculate_trapezoid_for_block(block_t *block, double entry_factor, double exit_factor) {
   
-  block->initial_rate = ceil(block->nominal_rate*entry_factor);
-  block->final_rate = ceil(block->nominal_rate*exit_factor);
-  int32_t acceleration_per_minute = block->rate_delta*ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND*60.0;
+  block->initial_rate = ceil(block->nominal_rate*entry_factor); // (step/min)
+  block->final_rate = ceil(block->nominal_rate*exit_factor); // (step/min)
+  int32_t acceleration_per_minute = block->rate_delta*ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND*60.0; // (step/min^2)
   int32_t accelerate_steps = 
     ceil(estimate_acceleration_distance(block->initial_rate, block->nominal_rate, acceleration_per_minute));
   int32_t decelerate_steps = 
@@ -356,42 +354,38 @@ void plan_buffer_line(double x, double y, double z, double feed_rate, uint8_t in
   delta_mm[Z_AXIS] = (target[Z_AXIS]-position[Z_AXIS])/settings.steps_per_mm[Z_AXIS];
   block->millimeters = sqrt(square(delta_mm[X_AXIS]) + square(delta_mm[Y_AXIS]) + 
                             square(delta_mm[Z_AXIS]));
-	
-  uint32_t microseconds;
+  double inverse_millimeters = 1.0/block->millimeters;  // Inverse millimeters to remove multiple divides	
+  
+  // Calculate speed in mm/minute for each axis. No divide by zero due to previous checks.
+  // NOTE: Minimum stepper speed is limited by MINIMUM_STEPS_PER_MINUTE in stepper.c
+  double inverse_minute;
   if (!invert_feed_rate) {
-    microseconds = lround((block->millimeters/feed_rate)*1000000);
+    inverse_minute = feed_rate * inverse_millimeters;
   } else {
-    microseconds = lround(ONE_MINUTE_OF_MICROSECONDS/feed_rate);
+    inverse_minute = 1.0 / feed_rate;
   }
+  block->nominal_speed = block->millimeters * inverse_minute; // (mm/min) Always > 0
+  block->nominal_rate = ceil(block->step_event_count * inverse_minute); // (step/min) Always > 0
   
-  // Calculate speed in mm/minute for each axis
-  double multiplier = 60.0*1000000.0/microseconds;
-  block->nominal_speed = block->millimeters * multiplier;
-  block->nominal_rate = ceil(block->step_event_count * multiplier);  
-  
-  // This is a temporary fix to avoid a situation where very low nominal_speeds would be rounded 
-  // down to zero and cause a division by zero. TODO: Grbl deserves a less patchy fix for this problem
-  if (block->nominal_speed < 60.0) { block->nominal_speed = 60.0; }
-
   // Compute the acceleration rate for the trapezoid generator. Depending on the slope of the line
   // average travel per step event changes. For a line along one axis the travel per step event
   // is equal to the travel/step in the particular axis. For a 45 degree line the steppers of both
   // axes might step for every step event. Travel per step event is then sqrt(travel_x^2+travel_y^2).
   // To generate trapezoids with contant acceleration between blocks the rate_delta must be computed 
   // specifically for each line to compensate for this phenomenon:
-  double step_per_travel = block->step_event_count/block->millimeters; // Compute inverse to remove divide
-  block->rate_delta = step_per_travel * ceil(                        // convert to: acceleration steps/min/acceleration_tick    
-    settings.acceleration*60.0 / ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND );    // acceleration mm/sec/sec per acceleration_tick
+  // Convert universal acceleration for direction-dependent stepper rate change parameter
+  block->rate_delta = ceil( block->step_event_count*inverse_millimeters *  
+        settings.acceleration*60.0 / ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND ); // (step/min/acceleration_tick)
 
   // Perform planner-enabled calculations
   if (acceleration_manager_enabled) {  
   
     // Compute path unit vector                            
     double unit_vec[3];
-    double inv_millimeters = 1.0/block->millimeters;  // Inverse millimeters to remove multiple divides
-    unit_vec[X_AXIS] = delta_mm[X_AXIS]*inv_millimeters;
-    unit_vec[Y_AXIS] = delta_mm[Y_AXIS]*inv_millimeters;
-    unit_vec[Z_AXIS] = delta_mm[Z_AXIS]*inv_millimeters;  
+
+    unit_vec[X_AXIS] = delta_mm[X_AXIS]*inverse_millimeters;
+    unit_vec[Y_AXIS] = delta_mm[Y_AXIS]*inverse_millimeters;
+    unit_vec[Z_AXIS] = delta_mm[Z_AXIS]*inverse_millimeters;  
   
     // Compute maximum allowable entry speed at junction by centripetal acceleration approximation.
     // Let a circle be tangent to both previous and current path line segments, where the junction