Feachr.it uses the camera position as its authoritative position. The tool position is measured as an offset from the camera. These two positions describe where the camera and cutter are over the work surface at the same moment.

Camera position and tool position

Camera position is the reference at the center of the camera view, shown by the red crosshair. Use it when locating a visible feature on your workpiece.

Tool position is where the cutter is positioned, taking the calibrated camera-to-tool offset into account. Use it when locating geometry beneath the cutter or commanding the cutter to a destination.

The camera and tool are physically separated, so their X and Y coordinates normally differ even while the machine is stationary. Changing the selected reference does not move the machine.

In this example, the displayed positions are:

Reference X Y Z
Camera -0.854 1.752 2.000
Tool 0.473 4.350 2.000

At the displayed precision, the tool is +1.327 in X and +2.598 in Y from the camera. These are this setup’s example values, not calibration values to copy into another machine.

Center a Point feachr on either position

A Point feachr represents a single position in 2D. Its Point Xy field can copy either current position.

  1. Select the Point and open the editor using the square editor icon in the Feachrs toolbar.
  2. Find Point Xy and click the vertical ellipsis beside its coordinates.
  3. Choose the camera icon to copy the current camera X/Y, or the tool icon to copy the current tool X/Y.

Point Xy menu: camera [-0.85, 1.75] and tool [0.47, 4.35]. Menu values are rounded more than the parameter readout.

Point Xy menu: camera [-0.85, 1.75] and tool [0.47, 4.35]. Menu values are rounded more than the parameter readout.

Use the current camera position

Choosing the camera entry sets Point1 to X -0.854, Y 1.752. The green Point crosshair aligns with the red camera crosshair at the corner of the gauge block.

Point centered at the current camera position. The geometry moves to the camera center.

Point centered at the current camera position. The geometry moves to the camera center.

Use the current tool position

Open the same menu and choose the tool entry. Point1 changes to X 0.473, Y 4.350. Its green crosshair appears above and to the right of the camera center, showing the tool’s offset in this view.

The same Point centered at the current tool position. The red camera crosshair stays at the gauge block corner.

The same Point centered at the current tool position. The red camera crosshair stays at the gauge block corner.