Coming from robotics, I'm used to coordinate systems using the right-hand rule.
But when I created below small NC program in the Codesys CNC editor, I noticed that the axis triad's Z-axis is flipped (see attached screenshot), resulting in left-hand rule.
Is there a setting to change this? Or am I misunderstanding something in the CNC world?
the coordinate systems used in SoftMotion CNC are all right-handed.
The CNC editor uses isometric projection. This can be confusing, as in your example. The y-axis seems to point into the screen, away from the viewer. However, this is just an optical effect.
If you turn on the (experimental) perspective projection (must be added to the CNC tool bar using tools->customize), you can see that the coordinate system is in fact right-handed.
Hello,
Coming from robotics, I'm used to coordinate systems using the right-hand rule.
But when I created below small NC program in the Codesys CNC editor, I noticed that the axis triad's Z-axis is flipped (see attached screenshot), resulting in left-hand rule.
Is there a setting to change this? Or am I misunderstanding something in the CNC world?
Last edit: bertus 2026-01-02
Hi bertus,
the coordinate systems used in SoftMotion CNC are all right-handed.
The CNC editor uses isometric projection. This can be confusing, as in your example. The y-axis seems to point into the screen, away from the viewer. However, this is just an optical effect.
If you turn on the (experimental) perspective projection (must be added to the CNC tool bar using tools->customize), you can see that the coordinate system is in fact right-handed.
Best regards,
Georg
Ok that explains things, thanks.