PRIME MOTIONConnecting to your machine
Two things must be true before the machine will do anything: Prime Motion must know what machine it is, and it must be connected to it. Homing then tells it where the machine is.
1 · A machine profile
A profile describes your machine: its travel, its homing corner, its spindle and its accessories. Wizards → Machine Setup creates one. See Machine profiles and the setup wizard.
2 · The cable
Connect the controller's USB port to the tablet's USB-C port, with an adapter or a USB-C cable as your controller needs, and switch the machine on.
The first time a controller appears, Android asks whether Prime Motion may use the USB device. Allow it. Prime Motion then opens the connection on its own; there is no Connect button to press. It does this because Auto-Connect on Startup in Settings → Connection is on, as it is by default. With that switch off, the link stays down.
3 · Check that the link is up
Look in two places:
- Settings → Connection → Live connection reads CONNECTED in green. DOWN in red means no controller is connected.
- On Control, the state tag at the right of the position readout changes from Offline to the controller's own state, such as Idle or Alarm.
The Firmware row in Settings → Connection shows the family and version, with Live from controller when they come from this connection. Last read from or Catalog seed identifies a reference instead. The row agrees with Settings → Firmware. Prime Motion works out whether the controller runs Grbl 1.1, grblHAL or FluidNC from what it answers; see Supported controllers.
If the link does not come up, work through Connecting to a machine: cable, power, the permission prompt, then the baud rate.
4 · Home
Homing is what makes every coordinate mean something. On Control, tap Home in the command rail, check the drawing in the Home all axes drawer, and tap Home.
When the cycle finishes, Projects, Macros and History respond, and the jog controls come alive. A machine without homing switches skips this step: the Notes card says No homing switches and the machine is ready as soon as it connects. See the homing gate.
No machine yet?
You can still do most of the work. Design is never gated: model a part, plan its toolpaths and post the program with no machine connected. Connecting and homing are needed only when it is time to cut.