Messages

181

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: The machine can jog around, but nothing happens from MDI or GCode

« on: April 08, 2021, 04:12:43 AM »

There is an inhibit motion (like a program running), inhibit jog, and inhibit MPG.  If you implement a safety light curtain, you would typically route it to all three of those signals at once to stop everything.

Steve

182

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Rtx64

« on: April 08, 2021, 01:07:22 AM »

Ahh...  here we go.  https://www.automationtechnologiesinc.com/products-page/mach4-ethercat-system  Those are packages.  One of probably many out there. 

Steve

183

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Rtx64

« on: April 08, 2021, 01:03:39 AM »

All IntervalZero sells is the RTX64/EtherCAT master.  That gets installed on your PC.  For everything else, you will need to buy extra.  And it will need to be EtherCAT compatible.  As in, you will need to buy servo or stepper drives and any and all I/O modules.  There are literally 100s from which to choose. 

But again, you can't just use any I/O board that would hook to Ethernet.  It HAS to be EtherCAT. 

You would be wise to do a lot of research on EtherCAT before you jump headlong into it.  Mainly because it can get expensive!  It is the newest of the industrial technologies and thus comes with a higher price.  But the prices are getting better and better.  There may be some economical packages out there now.  I just don't know.  But doing your research will help you find the best value.

Steve

184

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Rtx64

« on: April 08, 2021, 12:33:19 AM »

EtherCAT is purely an Ethernet Topology.  Each EtherCAT device (servo module or I/O module) will have two Ethernet ports, one in and one out.  Each module will have discrete terminals with which to wire.  So basically, with the RTX64/KINGSTAR product, you just run an Ethernet cable from your PC to your first module and daisy chain your modules from there.



Steve

185

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4/LUA Ethernet Explicit Messaging

« on: April 08, 2021, 12:24:21 AM »

Mach4 comes with the LuaSockets module that can do what you want. 

http://w3.impa.br/~diego/software/luasocket/reference.html

Warning: It isn't for the feint or heart.    But it is possible.

Steve

186

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 hogging CPU time

« on: April 08, 2021, 12:13:45 AM »

Try running Mach with the Simulator plugin as the motion device.  The stock profile Mach4Mill using Sim uses .2% on my PC.  So it will be the motion plugin that is using most of the CPU.  And that stands to good reason.  The ESS uses a default 50Hz (20ms) loop interval and implements a default cycle time of 1 millisecond.  All of this is going one regardless of if the drives and motors are enabled or not.  There is a LOT going on under the hood. 

But the good news is that it isn't hogging 100% of the CPU.  And it still runs fine on my D2700MUD Atom board.

Steve

187

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Rtx64

« on: April 07, 2021, 11:57:43 PM »

Yes, Mach 4 works with RTX64.  There is a Mach 4 plugin that runs KingStar EthernCAT Master on top of RTX64 .  RTX64 and KingStar are both IntervalZero products.

Steve

188

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Does anyone have experience with KFLOP motion controllers?

« on: April 07, 2021, 12:23:18 AM »

Roger,

I'm glad you found the issue! 

Also, unless you are running stepper motors, the loop is closed on your servo drive.  I used to really dislike the loop being closed on the servo drive because only Yaskawa seemed to do it right and not every project justified the cost of the Yaskawa drives/motors.  But now days, the other drive manufacturers have it pretty much figured out too.  And they actually do a decent job!  And it is soo much easier for the servo tuning challenged among us to work with the digital/position controlled servo drives.  As close to plug and play as you can get. 

Steve

189

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 uninstall problem

« on: April 04, 2021, 09:41:57 PM »

I made some changes to the macros that generated some problems, I decided to uninstall mach4 and reinstall it but the problems remained anyone knows why?

Delete all of the .mcc files in the macros directory.  The try to compile each one until you find the problem.  Uninstalling Mach4 will not clean your macros directory if you added or changed something.  So the errant macro is probably still there. 

Steve

190

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 Threading , Spindle Position and ESS

« on: April 04, 2021, 09:38:46 PM »

You might try the Warp9 forum and see what Andy has to say.  This really shouldn't be an issue, as ESS threads beautifully.  Now, chasing an existing thread is probably not going to happen.  But again, ask Warp9. 

Steve