CNC Machines (GRBL, Marlin) + ASI Biont: Smart G-code Automation Without a Control Panel

{
"title": "CNC Machines (GRBL, Marlin) + ASI Biont: Smart G-code Automation Without a Control Panel",
"content": "# CNC Machines (GRBL, Marlin) + ASI Biont: Smart G-code Automation Without a Control Panel\n\n## Introduction\n\nYour CNC machine spends most of its day doing exactly what it is told — one G-code line at a time. The problem: the person feeding those lines still manages everything manually. ASI Biont is an AI agent that talks to your GRBL or Marlin machine over the same serial cable, MQTT, or OctoPrint, and lets you control it from a chat window. You describe the goal; the agent speaks G-code, watches responses, and alerts you when the job is done. This is a practical integration recipe for engineers who want their shop floor to talk — not a device review.\n\n## Why GRBL and Marlin?\n\nGRBL is the de-facto firmware for Arduino-based CNC routers and laser engravers. Marlin is equally popular on 3D printers and small routers. Both are open source, both speak a line-based protocol over USB serial. That simplicity is also a weakness: there is no built-in 'what should happen next?' decision layer. An AI agent is the missing decision layer, and it fits between you and the machine without touching the motion controller firmware.\n\n## Connection architecture\n\nASI Biont does not require rewriting firmware. For a machine connected directly via USB, use the Hardware Bridge: a small Python script downloaded from the ASI Biont dashboard. Run it on the PC that physically owns the COM port:\n\n python bridge.py --token=XXX --ports=COM3 --baud=115200 --rate=10\n\nThe bridge has no HTTP API — it uses the agent's native transport, so all communication goes through industrial_command(). For machines attached to a Raspberry Pi with OctoPrint, ASI Biont uses the OctoPrint HTTP API. Industrial PLC-based CNCs can be addressed with Modbus/TCP or OPC-UA through the same chat interface.\n\n## Sending G-code to GRBL\n\nTell ASI Biont 'home the machine',