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Author Topic: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)  (Read 213908 times)

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Offline smurph

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Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #120 on: February 15, 2012, 12:44:56 PM »
Hmm...  i would have though the hitting a limit, the Galil would have shut down the axis allowing no further movement in that direction.  Regardless of the movement type (jog or otherwise).  I don't have a controller setup to test at the moment.  The only thing I have left is a 1425.  I'll set that up and see if I can duplicate.

Steve
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #121 on: February 22, 2012, 02:19:50 PM »
Hello Steve,

I have a seat of Mach3 and am going to set up a brush-less servo system.  My compatibility question has to do with a dmc-1842 or 1840 card and A-M-C amplifiers BD30A8B. 

These amps use a pwm and direction but the datasheet says the user has to monitor the current and close the current loop:  "PWM & Direction (Direct) - Products with 'DD' and 'BD' in the model number - The user's PWM & Direction signals translate directly to the output. This means the user has direct control of the output duty-cycle and switching frequency. This type of control has the fastest response of all of our products since there are no gain stages or integrators. Since the drive doesn't close the current loop and current limiting is rudimentary (bang-bang current limiting rather than a smooth fold-back) it is up to the user to monitor the current and close the current loop."

The datasheet is here:  http://www.a-m-c.com/download/datasheet/bd30a8.pdf

1)  Is there facility in the galil cards to do this sort of current control or is it done with position feedback?  Or should I look for other amps with an analog 10v input?

2)  Is there an big difference in the two cars, 1842 vs 1840?

3)  will the Mach4 plugin work with either card?

Thank you,

Mark
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #122 on: February 26, 2012, 09:56:44 PM »
Hello,

I found out that the dmc-18x0 and 18x2 cards have a facility to control the amperage but those particular amps have a lower rated pwm frequency than what the cards put out so they are not compatible.

Mark
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #123 on: March 07, 2012, 03:47:45 PM »
I have my CNC machine built up using Galil 4143 and Mach3 but have some problems. I have trouble with the following.

1.   Homing.  This is not a very frequent problem.
At times the Y-axis overshoots and passes the homing and limit switch during homing routine. Reducing the homing speed to 10% seems to have reduced the problem to certain extent.

2.   Work Offset.
Once the G55 is set, if I home it and send a G55 command I get unreliable results.
a.   X overshoots and hits limit. This occurred if my G55 command is part of the program.
b.   If I use MDI to send G55, the X does go to G55 but it is off by around .004 to .005 inches.

3.   Tool wear offset.
It does not have any effect on the profile.

Please advise.

Thanks,
A
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #124 on: March 07, 2012, 04:03:15 PM »
I have two thoughts for your problems.  I have not set my machine up yet so no direct experience but remember reading in the plugin doc that there is a command buffer rate or amount that one can adjust.  If its large, there may be a delay during the homing that lets it get by the switch, or the acceleration is low and it does not decelerate fast enough to stop withing the switch hysteresis.

I don't think the work coordinate system issue is in the Galil card, they can be hard to manage in the cnc control.  I've only set the g54 g55 etc on the offsets screen, but move to locations withing a work system with gcode.

Hope this helps,

Mark
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #125 on: March 09, 2012, 09:40:28 PM »
Retuning the motors through Galil took care of homing issue. Also the acceleration and deceleration helped too.

But the problem with the work offset still exists. Also, the tool wear offset doesn't work either.

Thank you.
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #126 on: October 30, 2013, 10:05:45 AM »
Does the DMC-40X0 controller work with Mach 3? Any restrictions?
I wrote this in another thread, but here it is in a quickly accessible place...

Any current Accelera controllers will work.  Stick with the version 7 Galil drivers though.

Any bus based or ethernet Optima controllers will work.  This includes the DMC1700, DMC1800, DMC2100, and DMC2200.  In theory, the DMC2000 (USB) may work as well.  I just don't know if there would be any issues with USB.  But it has all of the other necessary things to work.  Use the version 7 Galil drivers that come with SmartTerm for these controllers.  Older drivers will cause you big time headaches.

The DMC-18x2 econo controllers will also work.  But they don't support binary commands and this will slow things down a bit.  It takes about 350 microseconds for a Galil controller to process an ASCII command.  This time is saved if the controller can accept binary commands.  The Galil plug-in takes advantage of binary commands if the controller is capable.

The DMC-21x3 are like the DMC-18x2 controllers.  They might not work with the Galil plug-in because of the way they handle Data Records.  Big question mark here.
EDIT:  The DMC-21x3 controller will work fine as long as they don't have the 31x3 distributed mode firmware loaded.  If you have a 31x3, simply install the latest and greatest 21x3 firmware and you are good to go.  Also these controllers, while labeled "Econo", will accept binary commands.

There is also an older version of the DMC-21x3 called the DMC-21x2.  The difference is that the x2 controllers use the 100 pin SCSI connector instead of DB base interconnect modules for the x3 models.  So you will have to have ICM-2900s for the DMC-21x2 controllers.

The DMC-3415 and DMC-3425 controllers will not work.  These are 1 or 2 axis ethernet controllers that can be "chained" together to make a distributed controller that has as many as 8 axes.  But the way they do this is through a modified Data Record which is not compatible with the Data Record that the Galil plug-in will want to see. The Data Record is what Mach looks at (via the plug-in) to see if the state of I/O pins and DRO.

DMC-1415 and DMC-1425 controllers will work.  But they are 2 and 1 axis, respectively.

A DMC-3425 can be updated with DMC-1425 firmware and it will work.  But you are stuck with a 2 axis machine.  Same with the 3415 except you will have a 1 axis machine.

The DMC1000 ISA controllers will NOT work.  This is because these controllers do not have a Data Record at all.  They also do not support binary commands.  The Galil plug-in could be modified to support these controllers, but they would most likely be in the SLOW department.  Don't waste your time or money on these controllers for Mach use.

None of the VME based controllers will work.  e.g. the DMC-1300, DMC-300, or DMC-13x8 controllers.  The DMC-300 is ancient and should be discarded immediately.  The DMC-1300 suffers the same "no data record" as the DMC-1000's do.  The DMC-13x8 is an Optima controller, but the Galil windows drivers have no support for these cards at all.  Plus, unless you have a very industrial PC, you will not even have a VME bus, much less a VME bus driver.  I did, however, make a DMC-1348 controller work.  It's just that it's not feasible unless you have a bunch of VME hardware lying around.

None of the DMC-700 series or DMC-1500 series controllers will work.  They are serial communication controllers and they also don't have Data Records.  They would be good for making tool changers though.  Perhaps driven by I/O logic.

Also be aware that many of the Galil controllers that are floating around are special controllers made for an OEM.  Galil provides no support for these controllers.  Most of the time, a firmware update is all that is required to get the controller to work like a normal Galil controller.  But if there is special hardware mods, you will loose.

Steve

Offline smurph

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Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #127 on: October 30, 2013, 01:07:58 PM »
Does the DMC-40X0 controller work with Mach 3? Any restrictions?

At the time I wrote that compatibility synopsis, the 40x0 and 41x3 controllers were not here yet.  But to answer your question, the 40x0 and 41x3 controllers work fine with no restrictions.  In fact, I run my Matsuura mill on a 4080.  It is poetry in motion.

Steve
Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #128 on: October 30, 2013, 01:25:38 PM »
Steve,
       I'm looking to use the Mach 3 software but I guess it goes to over to Mach 4 software shortly. Will the Galil plugin work with Mach 4 software. Does the plugin get downloaded to the DMC-40x0 and the Mach software run on a Windows based computer?

Ray

Offline smurph

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Re: Galil controller compatability (what works with the plugin)
« Reply #129 on: October 30, 2013, 06:53:09 PM »
Nothing is downloaded to the controller in the normal case.  The plguin is a Windows DLL that drives the Galil controller.  So yes, Mach3 is all Windows. 

Mach4 will have a Galil plugin eventually.  However, it will not be at the time of the Mach4 release.  I actually have a semi-working Mach4 plugin.  But it will take a while to get it as fully functional as it is under Mach3.  But I can say with certainty that the Mach3/Galil combination is a good one for a 3 axis mill.  It blows away the old YASNAC controller that was on my machine.  Puts it to shame.  The Galil plugin supports gantry type machines.  But I don't have a gantry machine so the code may not be the best for gantry systems.

Steve