Messages

991

General Mach Discussion / Re: UC100 stopping

« on: November 29, 2021, 06:58:02 PM »

Hi,
USB is prone to electrical noise and when it does suffer it will stop as you have described.

There are any number of ideas to prevent noise and stop whatever noise is about from affecting various circuits.

Usually the most electrically noisy device in any setup is the spindle. I would suggest a big kick arse two, or even better three stage EMI filter.
I would suggest another one for the AC input to your PC.

https://nz.element14.com/schaffner/fn2060-16-06/filter-16a-multi-stage-chassis/dp/1191381

What you're trying to do is to stop the spindle/VFD combination from impressing harmonic distortion/noise onto the AC supply which can then get into
your PC/UC100 combination. Many people overlook this 'conducted noise path' and they focus instead on shielding and screening. Two or three good EMI filters,
or even a line reactor can often render all the screening and shielding un-needed.

You could also try two split ferrite rings, one at one third and the other at two thirds the length of your USB cable.

https://nz.element14.com/fair-rite/0446164181/ferrite-core-split-12-7mm-205ohm/dp/1781360

Craig

992

General Mach Discussion / Re: HELP with Excel to Mach3

« on: November 29, 2021, 06:41:11 PM »

Hi,
I have occasion to export data as a CSV file to Mach4, I've been using Mach4 for seven years.
I have written a script in Lua, Mach4's scripting language, that converts the input data stream to x,y,z triplets which then are incorporated
into the job.

I imagine you can do the same with CE, Mach3's scripting language, but I doubt NEARLY as easily as Lua.

Craig

993

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Can i enter my own jog increment in Mach4?

« on: November 28, 2021, 11:11:41 PM »

Hi,
yes you can set the increments.

Open the Control plugin and the General Tab, there you can set the increments as you wish.

Craig

994

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Clearpath Servo Feedback Displays

« on: November 26, 2021, 07:03:18 PM »

Hi,
Mach4 is a buffered motion control solution so you cannot rely on the feedback data from the servo to be realtime.

For example the ESS has a default cycle rate of 40Hz. Thus there could be a delay of up to 25ms between the servo uploading
data until the time Mach4 gets it. You can increase this rate, I've heard of some people with quick PCs running at 200Hz and thus the delay
would come down to 5ms, but even a 5ms delay is not realtime if you want an alarm type instantaneous response.

In the other direction the ESS has a default motion buffer length of 180ms. Thus any movement instruction could be delayed by up to
180ms before the servo actually does something. Again I have heard that some people with quick PCs have reduced the motion buffer to 30ms
but even 30ms is not realtime.

Provided you are aware of the potential delays in an 'around the loop' communication and that delay does not compromise your intended
purpose....then yes monitoring the output would be possible.

Craig

995

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 hangs after G31 probe with no contact using AXBB-E motion controller

« on: November 24, 2021, 05:22:21 PM »

Hi,
I have and use an ESS and use probing extensively for making circuit boards.

I have a software utility (Autoleveller) that generates a Gcode job to probe the PCB blank and record the z position of the surface. It will probe a PCB
50 or more times in a grid fashion. If the probe for whatever reason does not make contact before it reaches the end of travel as programmed by the G31
code then the program halts......that's what I would expect.

You have issued an instruction 'go to location z=nnnn and stop on contact and report the z position', if it does not make contact within its given range is that not a fault?
What would you expect Mach to do?.

In the case of my PCBs, if Mach just carried on and entered a -1mm z ordinate, -1mm being the max z extent of the G31 move, then my levelling program would fail miserably
by virtue of poor data.

Craig

996

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: MDI Tab missing

« on: November 22, 2021, 05:33:31 PM »

Hi,
are you anticipating that your machine is going to lose steps?

Craig

997

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: MDI Tab missing

« on: November 22, 2021, 03:26:49 PM »

Hi,

but where can I find the "verify" button to check for position errors?

What exactly do you mean? I've been using Mach4 for seven years and Mach3 before that and I don't recall seeing any
'verify' button that can magically check for position errors. To my knowledge that would require an absolute linear encoder
or perhaps a multi turn absolute rotary encoder on the servos/steppers.

It has always been the complaint that Mach is essentially an open loop system, whereby Mach directs the machine to a given location
and Mach ASSUMES that it got there correctly. Mach is not capable , at least in realtime, to accept  feedback data to establish whether
the machine is in error.

If you have linear scales say, you could once Mach has directed the machine to move to a given location  and stop, then Mach could read the linear
scales and thereby determine is the machine has faithfully executed the move....but only once its stopped.

Craig

998

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4: How do I get my Auto Oiler to turn on and off automatically?

« on: November 21, 2021, 03:30:57 PM »

Hi,
I suspect all of 1) to 4) are doable.

May I suggest we tackle one at a time.

As far as the oiler goes would it be acceptable to have the oiler running ONLY when the spindle is running? In which case we could use:
rpm, rc = mc.mcSpindleGetMotorRPM(   number mInst) if the rpm is non zero we would turn the oiler on.

Another possibility:
dir, rc = mc.mcSpindleGetDirection(number mInst) this API tells us when the spindle direction is forward, reverse or off. Clearly if the spindle is either running forward
or backward then you'd want the oiler running.

Another idea along the same lines is to monitor Mach signals OSIG_SPINDLE_ON, OSIG_SPINDLE_FWD, OSIG_SPINDLE_REV and turn the oiler on whenever one or more of these
signals is active.

Another idea is to turn the oiler on when and only when you are moving the axes, say:
velocity, rc = mc.mcMotorGetVel(number mInst,    number motor), we could monitor each of the axis motors and if one or more of the motor has non zero motor speed, ie
the axis is moving then turn the oiler on.

A less comprehensive but easier way would be to monitor OSIG_RUNNING_GCODE. This signal would be active ONLY when running Gcode, ie doing a job. It would not be
active if you are jogging or MDIing, would that be acceptable?

As you can see I've come up with a number of ways to have the oiler turn on....and I feel sure many more could be devised. A straight out timer so the oiler turned on
for a minute every five minutes say.

Do any of these ideas appeal?

Craig

999

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 PWM stability under Windows

« on: November 19, 2021, 06:19:30 PM »

Hi,
PWM stability is pretty good if you use an external motion controller like an ESS, but not so good with a parallel port.

PWM is handled by dedicated hardware with an external motion controller whereas a parallel port is relying on a interrupt driven timer.
Windows makes extensive use of interrupts for its internal use and consequently interrupt driven timers fare poorly.

Craig

1000

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Machine / Production State

« on: November 19, 2021, 04:25:34 PM »

Hi,
 until recently I had an even earlier version of Mach4 on my machine PC, and it has an API, and always has had it.

Look in Mach4Hobby/Docs folder for Mach4CoreAPI.chm. Open it and there you have Machs API. You can also open it from
the Help Docs button from Machs screen.

Use this API:

Code: [Select]

LUA Syntax:
mcState, rc = mc.mcCntlGetState(
MINSTANCE mInst)


It will return the numeric value of the machine state.......easy.....one line......easy!.
If you wish to communicate that to another device or PC or to the internet or whatever then use one of the comms protocols provided.

Modbus is one of the simplest and one that I am most familiar with. The machine state is loaded to a register and that register is communicated over Modbus.....easy.

Craig