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Anti-Stutter and GCode Compression. Replaces G0/G1 with G2/G3 where possible.

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ARC Welder is a tool that can open many doors by unifying the operating systems of your desktop computer and your Android. It allows you to run applications native to Google’s operating system using the comfortable, integrated system of your navigator. Pros of ARC Welder.

How To Use Arc Welder

Please read the readme file in the Github Repository for installation and usage instructions. I am planning to add a complete wiki for the plugin in the near future and will link to that here when it is complete.

Please note that if you are using Python 3, you may need to install the python3-dev package before Arc Welder will install. This is detailed in the prerequisites section of the readme file linked to above.

Support Arc Welder Development

Please consider supporting my work by becoming a patron, a Github Sponsor, or by sending me beer money via PayPal. Almost all of the donations go towards offsetting the cost of development, which is substantial. Plus, it always makes my day! If you cannot afford to leave a tip or just don’t want to, that is fine too! Arc Welder is free and open source after all.

What Arc Welder Does

Arc Welder attempts to replace G0/G1 (linear move) GCodes with G2/G3 (arc move) GCodes. This can substantially compress many GCode files and may reduce stuttering caused by sending many tiny movements in rapid succession over a slower serial connection. Here is an example of the before and after of a single layer of a cylinder with archimedean infill produced by PrusaSlicer:

Each dot in the image above represents the start or endpoint of an extrusion. You can see that the After GCode above has far fewer moves. The processed GCode is 76.1% smaller with 96.4% fewer extrusion/retraction commands than the original file. Detailed statistics are created and stored for each GCode file processed:

The results above are not typical since the source file is almost entirely circular. A better real world example, the first layer of the famous 3DBenchy, sliced with PrusaSlicer using archimedean infill is shown below:

The result is a GCode file that is 56.2% smaller (2.3 compression ratio) with 75.0% fewer extrusion/retraction commands. In this case, Arc Welder shows a massive decrease in small extrusion moves between 0.01mm and 1mm in length:

How Arc Welder Works

Arc Welder reads each GCode in the source file, searching for three extrusion or retraction commands in a row. It adds adds these points to a special shape detection class that determines if the collected points can be represented by an arc command (G2/G3). Once an arc is detected, Arc Welder compares the original GCode path with the resulting arc command to ensure that any deviation is within the specified resolution (by default, +-0.025mm). Arc Welder will continue to add new points to the arc until it detects either a significant deviation from the original GCode or a change in the printer’s state (a new layer, a feedrate or offset change, etc.). It will then pull off the final point from the arc, output the altered G2/G3 command, and continue to process the file. The resulting GCode will not vary from the source file by more than half of the specified resolution, which is configurable. Here is a rudimentary illustration:

In the example above, Arc Welder has created two arcs. The first arc starts at P1 and ends at P5 on the blue line. The original path is shown in red. In this example Arc Welder first adds three consecutive points (P1-P3) to its shape detection class and determines that the generated arc does not deviate significantly from the original path. It then adds P4 and P5, again detecting no significant deviation. However, at P6, the detected deviation exceeds the maximum, so P6 is not added, and an arc is generated that replaces P1-P5. Arc Welder then starts a new arc from P5, P6, and P7 and continues the process. Note: The endpoints of every arc will ALWAYS line up exactly with the original GCode.

It is important to note that the example above is zoomed WAY in so that the deviation looks very large. It is, in fact, extremely small and almost impossible to see with the naked eye. You can customize the resolution in the plugin settings if 0.05mm (+- 0.025mm) is too large for you.

Arc Welder Plugin Features

Customizable Resolution - You control the maximum allowable deviation from the original tool path. Higher values will result in more compression but more deviation. Lower values will produce more accurate GCode but less compression. The default value of 0.05mm (+- 0.025mm) produces excellent results in most cases. I would recommend a lower value only for extreme cases, like extremely high resolution models with small nozzles and very low layer heights. Values higher than 0.05 are not recommended.
Automatic and/or Manual Processing - Arc Welder can be configured to automatically process newly added file or to allow manual processing via an integration with the OctoPrint file manager. You can enable one or both of these methods depending on your preference.
Rename or Overwrite the Source File - Choose to keep the original source GCode file or replace it entirely with the arc-welded file. You can also add a custom prefix or postfix to the output file.
Delete the Source File After Processing - You can create a new file and have Arc Welder delete the original file automatically in most cases.
See Detailed Conversion Statistics - Arc Welder creates and stores statistics for each converted file, including compression percentage and ratio, source/target file size, and line count, as well as a detailed comparison of extrusion/retraction counts at various lengths between the source and target file. You can view statistics for any arc-welded file by selecting it in the file manager or by clicking on the icon within the file manager.
Detailed Conversion Progress Bar - See real time progress info as Arc Welder processes your file, including several useful statistics. You can cancel the conversion at any time.
Enable/Disable Notifications - Tired of popup messages? Turn them off in the settings.
Advanced Logging Settings - You can control logging from within the plugin’s settings page if you run into problems. You can even delete the existing log(s) completely.
Restore Plugin Defaults - Easily restore the default settings if you run into trouble.
Receive Notifications for New Development or Maintenance Release Candidates - Get early notifications about new features and bug fixes. Help contribute to the project! Arc Welder also supports plugin-specific release channels in a future version of OctoPrint (if that feature is eventually released).

Arc Welder Library and Console Application

The core of the Arc Welder plugin is a set of libraries written in c++ based on code that was originally designed for the Octolapse plugin. This code allows Arc Welder to parse GCode and determine the printer’s position and extruder state after each command. Since the code is written entirely in c++, it is orders of magnitude faster than similar code written in Python. The complete source, as well as a console version and inverse processor (convert G2/G3 to G0/G1), can be found here. There are also pre-compiled binaries, though I’ve not gotten them to work properly in MacOS or in some flavors of Linux. There are currently no GitHub hosted runners for any Raspberry Pi. I am working on these issues.

Using the console application, it is possible to arc-weld files via most slicers as a post-processor. However, all slicers that I have tested except for Simplify 3D fail to correctly visualize the G2/G3