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TECH & AI
GCodex — A Free G-Code Viewer & Machine Simulator for 3D Printing and Bioprinting
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I just launched something I wish existed 3 years ago.Introducing GCodex — a 100% free, fast G-Code Viewer & Machine Simulator built for both 3D Printing & Bioprinting.Open any .gcode, .nc, or .g file and instantly get:

✅ Full 3D & 2D Toolpath Visualization✅ Layer-by-Layer Inspection — slide through every detail✅ Real-time Print Analysis — extrusion, travel, retract & estimated time✅ Built-in G-Code Editor with find & replace✅ Multi-format Export: STL, OBJ, SVG, CSV, JSON✅ Universal Support: works with CNC, FDM & Bioprinters✅ Firmware Ready: supports Marlin, Klipper & more

But the real reason GCodex exists is because of bioprinting.Most bioprinter workflows today depend on modified FDM slicers and closed-source software that were never designed for bioscaffold analysis, hydrogel construct validation, or custom DIY bioprinter systems. There was no lightweight tool available to properly inspect scaffold layers, analyze construct paths, and validate biofabrication movement before printing.So we built GCodex to solve that problem.🔒 Zero uploads. Zero signups. Zero cost. Forever. Your file never leaves your device — that’s not just a feature, that’s a principle.Whether you’re a hobbyist running a Bambu Lab, a machinist verifying CNC paths, or an engineer validating tissue engineering scaffolds — GCodex was built for you.The tool is live right now. Check it out here 👇

🔗 https://gcodex.techIf this saves you even 10 minutes this week, share it with someone who’s still stuck downloading software.The maker and research community deserve better tools. This is my contribution to the craft.



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TECH & AI
AR4 Mark 5: This Open-Source 6-Axis Robot Arm Is Finally Done
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A six-axis robot arm sitting on your desk used to mean five figures and a service contract. Chris Annin’s AR4 quietly tore that idea up — and with the brand-new Mark 5 revision, he’s calling the hardware officially finished.

The AR4 is an open-source, six-degrees-of-freedom robot arm you build yourself from CNC-cut aluminum, 3D-printed parts, and off-the-shelf motors and electronics. It’s the latest in a lineage that started with the AR2 and has been refined release after release. The Mark 5 isn’t a dramatic redesign so much as a final polish: Annin says it’s the last item on his hardware to-do list, with future effort going into software and tutorials instead.

What changed in the Mark 5

The headline tweak is sensing. Joints one, two, and three now use Hall effect sensors for their calibration limit switches instead of mechanical microswitches, which meant reworking a few mounting points on the aluminum parts. Joints four, five, and six keep the small microswitches. Annin has also shipped a fresh build manual and published the arm’s modified Denavit-Hartenberg parameters — the math that describes how each joint moves — as fully worked-out spreadsheets, so the kinematics aren’t a mystery you have to reverse-engineer.

Under the hood, the AR4 runs on a Teensy 4.1 with motors that have integrated encoders for closed-loop control, a setup carried over and tightened across earlier revisions. The control electronics live inside the base of the arm, and a larger base enclosure makes room for the terminal board and the gripper control board.

Build it yourself

This is a genuine DIY kit, not a toy. You’ll want a 3D printer for the printed components, the CNC metal parts and motors (kits and downloads are on the Annin Robotics site), and a Teensy 4.1 to act as the brain. The new build manual and DH parameter spreadsheets make it one of the more approachable paths into real industrial-style robotics — and there’s even a course aimed at schools, shaped by feedback from professors already using the AR4 in their classrooms. If you’ve got a Mark 4 already, there are upgrade instructions to bring it up to Mark 5 spec.

Originally published on blog.circuit.rocks.



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