EPJ Web of Conferences 68, 0 00 32 (2014)

DOI: 10.1051/epjconf / 2014 6800032


C Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014

Development of Fractal Pattern Making Application using L-System for

Enhanced Machine Controller
Alexander A S Gunawan1, Jimmy Linggarjati2, and Yandi Wijaya1
1
Mathematics Department, School of Computer Science, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia
2
Computer Engineering Department, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia
Sent offprint requests to: [email protected]

Abstract. One big issue facing the industry today is an automated machine lack of flexibility for
customization because it is designed by the manufacturers based on certain standards. In this research, it is
developed customized application software for CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) machines using open
source platform. The application is enable us to create designs by means of fractal patterns using L-System,
developed by turtle geometry interpretation and Python programming languages. The result of the application
is the G-Code of fractal pattern formed by the method of L-System. In the experiment on the CNC machine,
the G-Code of fractal pattern which involving the branching structure has been able to run well.

1 Introduction geometry implemented using Iterated Function System,

and the solutions have not been implemented in
Smid [1] stated that the CNC (Computer Numerically application software.
Controlled) machines are the development of manual To generate the fractal design patterns, actually many
machines which using a microprocessor to control it. methods that can be applied, one of them is L-System
CNC machine itself is a machine tool which is capable of method, which can be implemented easily in
automatically forming a pattern of computer-assisted programming by the help of the turtle geometry
design. The CNC machines use command code of the interpretation. By above reasoning, this research is
computer and no longer use human power to run it. intended to developing customized application software
Equipped by CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) for CNC machines which can be used to create design
software, CNC machines can make the drawing design of patterns using fractal geometry automatically based on
objects, created by the help of CAD software (Computer input from users.
Aided Design). Nevertheless Bovill [2] stated in
conceptual design stage, the initial design stage, in which
the process is characterized by uncertain idea, CAD 2 Enhanced Machine Controller
(Computer Aided Design) is rarely used application. At
Enhanced Machine Controller or abbreviated as EMC ref.
the conceptual design stage, designers usually create
[4] is computer software for controlling CNC machines
many ideas and turn it into a drawing sketch by only the
such as milling machines, lathes, plasma cutters, cutting
help of a paper and pencil. CAD (Computer Aided
machines, robots, hexapods, and others. EMC is open
Design) is rarely used at this stage because it requires a
source software which licensed under GNU General
complete definition, concrete, and precise for geometric
Public License and GNU Lesser General Public License
design that is usually done at a later stage. Therefore, it
(GPL and LGPL).
should be sought the solution to integrate the conceptual
EMC2 is the progress of EMC software. There are
design stage with CAD software to create drawing sketch
four major components to the EMC2 software, namely:
of desired design using computer directly.
motion controller, controller I/O discrete modules to
One solution, proposed by Soo [3], is integration of
coordinate controllers and graphical user interface. And
the conceptual design stage with CAD into one
especially in EMC2, there is a facility called the HAL
application software. This solution is come from the
(Hardware Abstraction Layer) ref. [5] which allows
observation that many jewellery products are adopting
adjustment without recompiling EMC2 configuration so
attractive pattern of natural objects, which can be
that it will simplify the interface to the hardware. Because
designed by fractal geometry. The proposed solution by
of the nature of open source, the EMC2 facilitate the
Soo [3] is only for rapid prototyping, which the fractal

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article available at http://www.epj-conferences.org or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/20146800032

 EPJ Web of Conferences

customization process for developing specific application 2.3 G-Code

software.
Figure 1 shows a simple block diagram showing the G-Code ref. [4] is a programming language for CNC
EMC2 system for 3-axis machine. The diagram shows machine which is closely related to graphics and vector.
the stepper motor system. PC with Linux as the operating This language is used as a connector between the
system is used to control the stepper motors drive by machine tool and CNC software that resides on computer.
sending a signal through the printer port (parallel). The The machine will follow the movements of the design
signals (pulses) make the drive stepper motors moving. which written in G-Code. G-Code programming language
is written in a file with the extension *.ngc (Numerical G-
Code). Here are some examples of G-Code language
along with their respective functions:

Code Description
G0 Rapid motion
G1 Coordinated motion ("Straight feed")
G2, G3 Coordinated helical motion ("Arc feed")
G4 Dwell (no motion for P seconds)
G38.2…G38.5 Straight probe
G80 Cancel motion mode
G81, G82 Drilling cycle without (with) dwell
G83, G73 Peck and Chip-break drilling cycles
G85, G89 Boring cycle without (with) dwell
G33 Spindle-synchronized motion
G33.1 Rigid tapping
G76 Multiphase lathe threading cycle
Fig. 1. EMC2 Controlled Machine

2.4 Specification of CNC Machines

2.1 AXIS Interface
Specification of the used CNC machines is as follows:
AXIS interface is one of the display interfaces of EMC2.
AXIS is the default interface to EMC2 which is actively Minimum Track Width 0.5 mm
developed by its users. AXIS interface can be Minimum Isolation Width 0.5 mm
reconfigured by adding the Virtual Control Panel to Minimum Drill Hole Diameter 0.6 mm
adjust the shape of the display when running the EMC2 Working Area (X/Y/Z) 500 mm x 400 mm x 50 mm
Resolution 0.1 mm
program to suit the needs of the user. AXIS can be seen Travel speed (max) 200 mm per second
in figure 2 below: X positioning system dc-servo motor
Y/Z positioning system 5-phase stepper motors
Dimensions (W x H x D) 600 mm x 500 mm x 1500 mm
Weight 300 kg
Power supply 220 V, 60 Hz/500 VA

The used CNC machine can be seen in figure 3 below:

Fig. 2. AXIS Interface

2.2 Python Programming Language 2.6

Application software for L-System methods is developed
using Python programming language 2.6. Python run on
EMC2-AXIS over Ubuntu Linux operating system. Fig. 3. The used CNC machine
Python ref. [6] is a dynamic programming language that
supports object-oriented programming. In addition, the
language is easy to use because it has a clear structure
and grammar and also has extensive libraries. Besides
Python language can be integrated with other languages
such as C / C + + and Java.

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3 L-System Methods
In addition to the symbols contained in Table 1 and Table
According to Mandelbrot [7], fractal derived from the 2, the turtle will not interpret into anything and just stand
Latin adjective "fractus" which means crushed or cracked still when seeing the other symbols.
and then he defines a fractal as "the set which the
Hausdorf dimension exceed its topological dimension".
L-System is one of techniques for implementing fractals. 4 Implementation
Furtehrmore Prusinkiewicz [8] explains that the main
For the implementation of the application software
concept of the L-System is rewriting. Rewriting
requires several steps ref. [10]:
mechanism in the L-System was introduced by Aristid
Lindenmayer in 1968. The L-System consists of: symbols 1. Developing Virtual Control Panel, integrated with
which can be used to create string, collection of AXIS through PyVCP. This step produces a file with
production rules for transforming symbols to string, the extension *.xml
initial string value for the start of construction called as 2. Connecting PyVCP with EMC2 through the facilities
Axiom, and mechanism for translating the resulting string of HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer). This step
into the geometric structure. For the translation stage to results in file with extension *.hal
the geometric structure, the developed application use 3. Resetting the configuration file axis_mm.ini of CNC
turtle geometry interpretation ref. [9]. machine in order to read the *.xml and *.hal files,
produced in (1) and (2). Modification is performed
3.1. Turtle Geometry on PYVCP and POSTGUI_HALFILE.
4. Developing the L-System program in the Python
Prusinkiewicz [8] explain that the turtle is defined as a programming language, which generate G-Code in a
triplet (x, y, α) where the Cartesian coordinates (x, y) file with the extension *.ngc
represents the position of the turtle and the angle α
5. Executing *.ngc file from AXIS Interface.
indicates the direction for the turtle. If given step length d
and angle δ, the turtle can interpret the symbols in Table These steps are explained further in the following section:
1 below:
Table 1. Interpretation Turtle Table
4.1. Developing Virtual Control Panel
Developing the L-System GUI as in figure 4 required
Symbol Interpretation creation *.xml file to set the GUI display. PyVCP
(Python Virtual Control Panel) is required to perform a
Moving forward as d steps. virtualization panel on EMC2. The virtualization panel is
Status of the turtle turned into
needed because EMC2 only recognize the panel as an
(x', y', α), where x'= x + d cos α
F, X object. In our approach, the virtualization panel
and y' = y + d sin α. Line
between the point (x, y) and (x', developed by PyVCP is used as connector between the
y') is drawn. EMC2 to the main program of L-System. Modification
Moving Forward as d steps related this step in *.xml file is by adding <pyvcp> tag
f and closed with the </ pyvcp> tag.
without drawing a line.
Rotates to the left as δ.. The next
status turtle to (x, y, α + δ).
+
Positive orientation is rotated
clockwise.
Rotates to the right as δ.. The
–
next status turtle to (x, y, α - δ).

According to the above rules, the turtle interprets the

character string as a sequence of line segments. However,
the plant or tree pattern is dominated by the branching
structure ref. [8], so that two new symbols are introduced
to define a branch that is '[' and ']' which their means
described in Table 2:
Table 2. Interpretation of Symbol '[' and ']' Fig. 4. L-System GUI

Symbol Interpretation 4.2. Connecting PyVCP with EMC2 using HAL

(Hardware Abstraction Layer)
Saving the current position and
[ HALUI (Hardware Abstraction Layer User Interface) is a
starting a new branch.
function in EMC2 used to make a signal and port, so that
Retrieving the last saved position
] the GUI made by PyVCP can connect with the CNC
and moving again from there.
machine. For this purpose, it is created *.hal file in order

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to the connecting signal through specific ports on EMC2 After *.ngc which contains G-Code created then it can be
can get to CNC machine. invoked via MDI commands in HALUI (Hardware
Abstraction Layer) and execute G-Code commands:
O101 ... O199 (Call subroutines). To do this, the user can
4.3. Resetting the configuration file of CNC
simply click the Run button in figure 4 L-System GUI.
machine
In EMC2-Axis software, there is *.ini (initial) files which
5 Results
storing and calling all existing settings for initiating the
EMC2-Axis software. This file can be accessed and
modified by the user. For the implementation of the For simulation, there are eleven fractal design patterns for
application software, it is used axis_mm.ini file and testing the application, which running well. The
modifies this file. Modification is mainly intended to following table are some examples of fractal design
allow EMC2 software can read the *.xml and *.hal patterns obtained after running L-System program using
produced in previous steps. This modification is the specified rule in Table 3 below:
performed on PYVCP and POSTGUI_HALFILE.
Table 3. Results of Program Testing
4.4. Developing the L-System Program
Fractals Type Result
L-System methods are implemented via Python Box
programming language 2.6 in Ubuntu Linux operating (n = 3)
system. In addition, it is used Tkinter ref. [11] for
creating Python GUI to input the data on L-System. Axiom:
Further EMC2-Axis is calling a Python program through F-F-F-F
MDI facility commands on HALUI (Hardware
Abstraction Layer) and then executes the G-Code Rule:
command: M101 M199 (User-defined M-codes). F→FF-F-F-F-FF

The L-System program generates file in the form of G-

Code (file with extension *.ngc). In the implementation,
the L-System program is named as M101 and the result is Dragon Curve
101.ngc file whose contents can be viewed as follows: (n = 10)

O101 Sub Axiom:

G20 FX
F8.0
G1 X 0.000000 Y 0.000000 Rule:
(Coordinats in the G-Code depends X→X+YF
on design pattern) Y→FX–Y
G1 X 1.000000 Y 1.000000 F→F
O101 Endsub
M2

In figure 5, it can be seen L-System program developed Island And Lakes

with Python and Tkinter. (n = 2)

Axiom:
F+F+F+F

Rule:
F→F+f–
FF+F+FF+Ff+FF
– f+FF– F– FF–
Ff–FFF
f→ffffff

For testing in CNC Machine, it has been done three

fractal design patterns, which have average time making
about 9 minutes. Here in Table 4 is the result of fractal
Fig. 5. L-System Program pattern, which involving the branching structure. It is
obtained after L-System program running on the CNC
4.5. Executing G-Code from AXIS Interface machine that is:

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Table 4. Results from CNC Machine World Academy of Science, Engineering and
Technology 34 (2007)
Fractals Type Result
Bushy Tree 10. A.A.S Gunawan, J. Linggarjati, Pengembangan
(n = 3) Program Aplikasi Enhanced Machine Control
dengan Python untuk Metode Interpolasi Newton,
Axiom : F Jurnal ComTech, Vol 03 / No 01 / June 2012

Rule: F -> FF-[- 11. J.W. Swipman, Tkinter 8.4 Reference: a GUI for
F+F+F]+[+F-F-F] Python, Mexico: New Mexico Tech (2010)

Time making:
25.6 menit

6 Conclusions
From the results of the application software, some
conclusions are obtained as follows:
a. EMC2 can be used to run CNC machines well and
because it is open source, users can make the
customization to adjust EMC2 according to their
needs.
b. L-System methods with the help of turtle geometry
interpretation can be used to form a fractal design
patterns. The design patterns are useful in conceptual
design stage which consuming time and cost.

References
1. P. Smid, CNC Programming Handbook 2nd Edition,
New York: Industrial Press Inc (2003)
2. C. Bovill, Fractal Geometry as Design Aid, Journal
for Geometry and Graphics Volume 4 No 1, 71-78
(2000)

3. S.C. Soo, K.M. Yu, Rapid Prototyping Using Fractal

Geometry, 424-431 (2001)

4. The EMC Team, User Manual V 2.4.

http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/EMC2_User_Manual.
pdf (2011)

5. T. Starovešk, D. Brezak, T. Udiljak, D. Majetić,

Implementation of A Linux-Based CNC Open
Control System, 12th International Scientific
Conference on Production Engineering – CIM
(2009)
6. D. Ascher, A. Martelli, A. Ravenscroft, Python
Cookbook, USA: O’Reilly (2005)

7. B.B. Mandelbrot, The Fractal Geometry of Nature,

New York: W.H. Freeman And Company (1983)

8. P. Prusinkiewicz, A. Lindenmayer, The Algorithmic

Beauty of Plants, New York: Springer-Verlag (2004)
9. I. Zammouri, B. Ayeb, Fractal Shapes Description
with Parametric L-systems and Turtle Algebra,

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