I am a brand new Shapeoko XL user, the unit is scheduled to arrive today. I would like to run the unit with my iPad Pro but I can’t seem to download the Carbide Create or Carbide Motion software to my iPad Pro. Is there a way to do this or will I be forced to get a laptop computer?
Stu
Yep…got to use a computer…but you should be able to use SideCar if you’ve got a recent laptop to control it with the ipad through the laptop.
Unfortunately, an iPad can’t be a USB host device, so can’t control a machine. Moreover, getting it into the Apple App Store would require that we send Apple one of each thing the software controls for Carbide Motion, so a budget-buster.
For CM4 it is possible to use a small computer such as a Mac Mini or Intel Compute Stick running CM4 and connect to it over a network interface running in a web browser on the iPad, but that option isn’t possible in CM5.
Some folks run small computers such as a Raspberry Pi to control the machines similarly (and we announced Carbide Connect, but that seems to have been shelved), but without Carbide Connect you’d have to use a 3rd party communication / control program.
You can use any vector editor on the iPad and export SVGs (Serif’s Affinity Designer is supposed to be nice) to import into Carbide Create on a Mac or Windows machine, and some folks use Shapr3D to make STLs for MeshCAM (again, running on a Mac or Windows machine).
Our system requirements are at: https://docs.carbide3d.com/software-faq/carbide-motion-min-requirements/
I do have an iMac as well as the iPad Pro. Would sidecar work with that combination?
Stu
Yes, it should, but please note that the Mac would need to be connected to the machine using a USB cable, and we recommend a 6’ length at most (some folks use repeaters or powered USB hubs, but we don’t support that).
I surrender! I have ordered a new MacBook laptop. Thanks for the help.
Stu
All thing being equal, I’d recommend a Microsoft Surface if you’re buying a new non-budget computer for CNC. We have far fewer problems with Windows machines and out of all the Windows machines out there, we have the best luck with Surface devices (Go, Pro, Laptop, and Book all work well).
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