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UGS AutoLeveler — PCB Milling Workflow

PROMPT: can you give me a step by step in structions for doing the height map in UGS.. and then give me your sources

Then I added some of my own notes where I wanted to augment what CLaude provided.

Before You Start — What You Need

  • Z-probe (a piece of copper clad or metal plate + alligator clip wired to your machine's probe input)
  • Your board taped down with double-sided tape
  • G-code file already loaded in UGS

Step 1 — Connect and Home

  1. Open UGS Platform, select your port and baud rate (usually 115200), click Connect
  2. Click the Home button or send $H in the console if your machine has limit switches
  3. If no limit switches, jog to your starting position manually

Step 2 — Set Work Zero (X, Y, Z)

  1. Jog the bit to the bottom-left corner of your board
  2. Lower Z until the bit just touches the copper surface
  3. Click Reset Zero (sets X=0, Y=0, Z=0 at that point)
  4. Raise Z back up a few mm

Step 3 — Load Your G-code File

  1. File → Open → select your .nc file
  2. Confirm it looks correct in the visualizer

Step 4 — Open the AutoLeveler Plugin

  1. Go to Window → Plugins → AutoLeveler
  2. Click "Use loaded file" — this auto-sizes the height map grid to match your board dimensions

Step 5 — Configure the Height Map

  • Set Z axis range: -2mm to 2mm (Note: this is the max it will go down looking for your board or up - its also the height it comes back up between passes - so if it's high it makes your mappig take a really long time.. so just go alittle higher than you think the variation of your material might be.)
  • Set resolution: ~10mm (meaning it probes every 10mm across the board)
  • Make sure your Z-probe is connected — clip one alligator to the bit, other to the copper board surface

Step 6 — Run the Height Map

  1. Click Start AutoLeveler
  2. The machine will probe a grid of points across the board, touching down at each one
  3. Wait for it to complete — save the height map when done (useful if UGS crashes). Note: UGS saves as *.xyz which I was surprised by - Candle does a .map file which I was used to.

Step 7 — Mill the Board

  1. Disconnect the height probe and click Return to Zero
  2. Make sure "Apply to Gcode" is checked in the AutoLeveler panel
  3. Click Send (play button) — the spindle will move up a little; click Send again to actually start milling

Step 8 — Inspect

  • Inspect the board — it may be necessary to run the process again if some tracks look incomplete
  • Do not run AutoLeveler again after milling — once copper is