Hi Sage:
>>When I start up I noticed that on M4 diagnostics screen the Home switch status is in-correct. I have to trigger the home switches (manually) once to get >>the led icons to indicate the correct polarity. (according to my previous post) The Table was not on the switch so the level is high so the icon should be >>showing lit but they aren't. If I trigger the switch and let it go the icon comes on (as it should be) and it's fine from then on. (until I restart the machine >>again)
Known Bug: Reported to the M4 team awhile back, its on their list.
>>I'm confused by the Ref X,Y,Z Leds (icons).
>>With V145 the Ref Y icon is no longer stuck green like it was before.
>>When I press a Ref button the icon goes red and when the Ref is done it goes green. It stays green then even if I jog off the home switch. So I'm not >>sure what the icon is supposed to indicate since technically it's no longer Ref'd if I move off the switch. I goes red again if I ref again and back to green >>when done.
This is proper. The Green means the system is properly referenced. When you turn on the system it doesn't know its position is accurate or not, once homed the position is KNOWN to be accurate, so its green from then on. When you press Ref again, its no longer a valid known good position, until it verifies it by hitting the home switch.
>>I still can't get the value entered in M4 homing and offsets for the Y axis to transfer to the DRO when the ref is done. This used to work back in (I think) Darwin 1.1 but I've done so much messing with home settings I might have screwed it up. Problem is everything to do with homing works physically and logically so I'm not sure what settings could be changed to make that work again.
It shouldn't set the position coordinates other than to set the offset in the machine coordinates.
Consider homing this way. You turn on the system and a number appears in the DRO's. You dont KNOW its valid, perhaps the table moved while power was off. So the REF led is red to notify you of that. SO you ref. and in your settings you have told it the home switch offset is 20mm.
The axis ( lets just consider one for now..), moves to the home switch and hits it. What happens next is the REF led is turned green to notify you the Machine coordinates will now be accurate coordinates showing at all times the distance from the home switch. BUT, you've entered in the config
that your home offset is 20mm.
While darwin was homing the machine, it took note that the switch was hit at a particular spot, it also notes how long it takes to decelerate to a stop.
It then sets the Machine coordinates ( not your current work coordinates) to a value equal to your offset( 20mm in this case ) + the decel distance.
SO what would that be if the deceleration took 2mm to stop..for example as on my system. The Machine coordinates will now read -22 mm. Its unknown what your current work coordinates will read. Its also unimportant. The idea is that you will have a button in which the code "G53X0Y0" will be in.
SO you home, the machine coordinates now read -22mm. You now press that button which you'd label "Goto Home", which really tells the system to
go to a machine coordinate of 0,0,0 ( which is home..).
Your work coordinates now read any weird number..who knows. BUT..if you now zero your axis, your work coordinates now agree with your machine
coords and all is at zero. Everyones happy.
Why all this you say? Lets say your cutting a job.. but it looks as if you have lost a few steps. You pause the run. You press RefAll,
the above process happens. You dont however press any zeroing buttons, the above process will simply correct for any lost position, you can
now continue your run with the axis now accurate with any lost steps removed. Its best to have a REF system which simply makes sure that
your machine coordinates are accurate with referance to an actual origin. So the home offset is simply the distance from your home switches
to that origin. SO when you home repeatedly, nothing will seem to change.. unless you zero after homing, or tell the system to "G53X0Y0Z0" and
then home. Typically it isn't important for the current position to match the work coordinates, but it IS important for the machine coordinates
to be accurate indicators of distance to the home switch. It allows softlimits and such to be accurate.
This is why, unlike Mach3, there is no moving of the axis off the switches automatically. While that's sometimes handy, its handier to
have a ref system that doesn't disturb your current zeroing in a job..unless steps were lost in which case ref'ing fixes it on the fly.
Sorry for the verbosity..
Art