Installing the Webcam on the CNC-6040

The webcam is mounted along the Z axis. It moves on X and Y, but not Z.
My first idea was to install the webcam on the spindle mount so that it can be moved down to a short distance from the workpiece (too have a large image). However, as the spindle motor height can be adjusted in the mount, it was difficult to find a safe and suitable position for the webcam. So, I went back to the Z axis solution.

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Next step is the vertical alignment of the webcam with Z axis. I used piece of paper (with some writings) attached to a armĀ  mounted in the spindle. Thanks to this configuration, I can move the target up and down. ThenĀ  I tuned adjustments screws of the webcam so that the crosshair center remain on the same point of the target for any Z position. When this is achieved, the webcam axis is perfectly vertical.

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Here, the target at bottom position as seen by the webcam

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And the same target at top position. No noticeable drift => the alignment is ok.

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Next step is the measurement of the offset between the webcam crosshair and the spindle.
I have used a small V-Cutter tool to make a very small hole in a AU4G workpiece. The X/Y position is recorded. The hole as been filled with black color thanks to a soft pencil.

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Then I have moved the X/Y axis to get this hole at the center of the crosshair. The delta with the recorded position is the offset to be configured in LinuxCNC.

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The optical resolution of the webcam at this distance is about 0.1mm per point. I have tried few pointings and achieved an accuracy better than 0.05mm. Surprisingly, that is better than pixel resolution. I think that is possible because we can see when the hole stands between 2 pixels.