Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => PoKeys => Topic started by: NeoTO on April 04, 2012, 03:30:33 AM
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We present an official PoKeys Mach3 plugin by PoLabs. The main trigger for this plugin is the new capability of the PoKeys56U and PoKeys56E devices - Pulse engine - that can be used as an external 3-axis motion controller with Mach3. This means that there is no more need for LPT port to drive small CNC machines.
However, the plugin support all the basic mapping options as listed below.
PoKeys Mach3 plugin existing functionality
- Support for PoKeys55, PoKeys56U and PoKeys56E devices
- Mapping of PoKeys digital inputs to Mach3 OEM LEDs and OEM buttons
- Mapping of Mach3 OEM LEDs to PoKeys digital outputs
- Mapping of PoKeys encoders to Mach3 DROs
- Support for matrix keyboard
- Support for kbd48CNC keyboard on I2C address 1
- Usage of PoKeys Pulse engine (available on PoKeys56U and Pokeys56E devices) as external motion controller for Mach3 – 3 axes, each up to 25 kHz step frequency
Pulse engine option must be activated before the first use. During the testing period, we will offer two free activation codes per PoKeys56 owner. Those who are interested, please send the serial number of your PoKeys56 device to support@poscope.com.
Plugin is available at http://www.poscope.com/news/?n=8 (http://www.poscope.com/news/?n=8). Also, before using the plugin, please download and install the latest PoKeys software update from www.poscope.com.
Matevž, PoLabs
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Dont have the pokeys here so cant really look at the plugin, will do tonight but in the mean time does this plugin support the high speed encoder inputs that I had previously tested with Brian?
Hood
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Dont have the pokeys here so cant really look at the plugin, will do tonight but in the mean time does this plugin support the high speed encoder inputs that I had previously tested with Brian?
Hood
Yes, this plugin does support Fast encoders (for 3 encoders). In the next release, it will support Ultra fast encoders also (it can already be enabled at the moment manually via xml settings file).
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Ok thanks, not had a chance to set things up tonight but will try it out as soon as I can.
Hood
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I am not abble to test it with the pokey-soft. There comes no output outside.I always get a STATE 101 ???
What is my Error ??
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Is posible control step/dir for 3 axis with this board ?
Similar that smoothstepper but with this board and mach3 plugin.
Thanks
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I am not able to test it with the pokey-soft. There comes no output outside.I always get a STATE 101 ???
What is my Error ??
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I missed the fact that the Pulse engine manual was not yet available. I am attaching it here now and will include all the information in the next plugin manual release.
Anyway, you have to connect pin 52 to the emergency switch (NC switch). Also, don't forget to include the additional 470 Ohm resistors on the pins 48 and 49.
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Is posible control step/dir for 3 axis with this board ?
Similar that smoothstepper but with this board and mach3 plugin.
Thanks
Yes. The PoKeys Pulse engine drives the step/dir signals as calculated by Mach3.
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Dont have the pokeys here so cant really look at the plugin, will do tonight but in the mean time does this plugin support the high speed encoder inputs that I had previously tested with Brian?
Hood
Yes, this plugin does support Fast encoders (for 3 encoders). In the next release, it will support Ultra fast encoders also (it can already be enabled at the moment manually via xml settings file).
Update to this one: Ultra fast encoder can be already enabled in current plugin. It is encoder 26 and you have to just check the 'Enable' box in the list. However, i will add a checkbox at the bottom of the window for better overview.
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So I guess with the new pokeys plug-in, Mach3 can run 9 Axis?
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So I guess with the new pokeys plug-in, Mach3 can run 9 Axis?
Have a look at the manual on page 3 in reply 8 of this thread.
Dave
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I tried the encoders out today and they seem to be fine when viewing in the pokeys software but I cant seem to get them displaying in Mach. I set a user DRO and also tried the X encoder DRO but I dont see anything in the DRO.
Any ideas?
Hood
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I tried the encoders out today and they seem to be fine when viewing in the pokeys software but I cant seem to get them displaying in Mach. I set a user DRO and also tried the X encoder DRO but I dont see anything in the DRO.
Any ideas?
Hood
Can you send me your encoder configuration in the plugin? Go to Import/Export tab, select encoders and click Export.
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Here it is, I have tried on pins 1 and 2 as well but this one is pins 8 and 12 and ultra fast encoder.
Hood
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Here it is, I have tried on pins 1 and 2 as well but this one is pins 8 and 12 and ultra fast encoder.
Hood
You mapped ultra fast encoder to OEM DRO 1003 - I don't know this one. Do you display it by yourself?
What if you try the DRO 101 - MPG 1 count DRO? Does the MPG 1 value in Mach3 change?
Matevž
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Yes 1001 to 1003 are on my test screen but they are not being written to.
I had previously tried using the X encoder DRO and have just tried with MPG1 DRO and still nothing coming through. I have also tried setting up a blank profile just in case there was something wrong in the profile I was using but still get nothing.
On another note, the Fast encoders seem to work well whilst monitoring via the Pokeys raw encoder values and my drives software. I have tested for hours on end at 4000rpm with 8000 pulses per rev (533KHz) and they never miss a beat. This is even though the warning is up that max scan rate is exceeded.
When I set up as Ultra fast encoders it is not so accurate and misses a lot of counts for some reason.
Hood
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Yes 1001 to 1003 are on my test screen but they are not being written to.
I had previously tried using the X encoder DRO and have just tried with MPG1 DRO and still nothing coming through. I have also tried setting up a blank profile just in case there was something wrong in the profile I was using but still get nothing.
On another note, the Fast encoders seem to work well whilst monitoring via the Pokeys raw encoder values and my drives software. I have tested for hours on end at 4000rpm with 8000 pulses per rev (533KHz) and they never miss a beat. This is even though the warning is up that max scan rate is exceeded.
When I set up as Ultra fast encoders it is not so accurate and misses a lot of counts for some reason.
Hood
Is your PoKeys device detected by Plugin or does the plugin states ' - not detected'? Do you use multiple application with the same PoKeys device (Mach3 and PoKeys software)? Try using only one of them.
Regarding the ultra fast encoder - this uses hardware decoder and should handle a lot higher impulse rates. We hadn't had problems with it, but will check again.
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Yes the pokeys device is detected by the plugin, I previously had another connected and it is the list as undetected but the setup is for the one that is connected. I dont see a way to remove the previous one from the list but likely I could edit the xml to remove it.
I only either have Mach or Pokeys software open and not both.
I will install Mach to a different location so that I can eliminate issues that may have been caused with my testing of Brians Alpha plugin, will let you know if that helps.
Hood
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Ok I have it working, not sure where the issue is but I think it has to do with some plugin. I installed Mach to a new location and deleted all plugins that were there and added the pokeys one and it worked. Went back to my original Mach location and renamed the plugins folder and made a new one with only the pokeys plugin in it and it too is working on MPG1. Will see if I can find which plugin is interfering and report to Brian.
Hood
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Ok it was one of Brian previous alpha plugins tha was stopping things working. Even though I didnt have it enabled it must still be getting seen by Mach and screwing things up. Not likely too many people have that so it shouldnt happen to others but just in case then if you can tell them to delete any previous PoKeys plugins it may solve the problem.
Hood
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Ok it was one of Brian previous alpha plugins tha was stopping things working. Even though I didnt have it enabled it must still be getting seen by Mach and screwing things up. Not likely too many people have that so it shouldnt happen to others but just in case then if you can tell them to delete any previous PoKeys plugins it may solve the problem.
Hood
Thank you for finding the root of the problem.
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Would there be a possibilty to write a value to the chosen DRO for the encoder on seeing a signal in on the index? What I am meaning is if for example I am wishing to use the encoder inputs to monitor machine coords. So if you homed the machine you would input a signal on 9, 11 or 27 and that would presumably zero the encoder in the pokeys? However if the home switches were not at the end of travel in Mach it is normal to have a home off value so that when you home instead of the machine coords going zero they get set to the value that is in Home Off setting and thus that is what you would want the encoder in Pokeys to be set to.
If its not an easy task it should be easy enough to do by writing to another DRO from a Brain but it adds another layer and doing in the pokeys plugin would be preferable.
Hood
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Just tried to use the index input to zero the raw values, it does but if the setting is enabled to allow that the encoder is not counting, it just jumps 0-1-0-1 etc. when the encoder should be counting.
Hood
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At the moment, encoder values are only read from PoKeys. Although the values of the encoders (except the Ultra Fast one) can be set to any value, we tried to minimize the number of commands sent to PoKeys device to improve the response times of the device. We can add a predefined fixed DRO value offset to each encoder.
I don't really understand your last question - you mean that although the index input is high, the encoder is not counting?
The 0-1-0-1 sequence also indicates that only one of the encoder inputs receives pulses - please check your connections and pins (Ultra fast encoder connects to pins 8 and 12, 13 is the index input).
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Ok if I enable the index to reset the encoder values it works fine in that it indeed zeros the encoder in pokeys.
What I have is a switch connected between Gnd and Pin 9. However as soon as I enable that setting in the pokeys software and send to device the encoders do not count, they displayed value "twitches" but does not increase or decrease with the encoder. They work fine if that Index setting is disabled so I dont think it is a wiring issue.
Hood
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I am uploading a vid to youtube to show you what I mean. Will post a link once its uploaded.
Hood
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Ok here it is, I have written a description of what I am doing below the vid.
http://youtu.be/kW8rgX5EZtg
Hood
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Let me know when you have seen it and I will delete it from youtube.
Hood
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Ok, I get it now. I will check the firmware and let you know if there will be update available.
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ok thanks.
Hood
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oh my god !!!!
today is special day for me !!!
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NeoTO just bought a new pokeys usb board to Spain.
Is for make a 3 axys control with a Mach3 software STEP/DIR
STEP/DIR of pokeys I converted to quadrature encoder A and B channel for make a "gearing" with a electronic inverter.
When receive pokeys and test all, I will write here my experience.
Thanks fot all.
Carlos
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@Hood: apparently, index signal uses 'normal' polarity - 1 should indicate a index signal and 0 no signal. I will add an additional option to invert the polarity.
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I am not really sure I follow but will wait to see what happens with the update :)
Hood
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I am not really sure I follow but will wait to see what happens with the update :)
Hood
This option was made for an encoder that outputs 1 when the index signal is present and 0 when it is not. This is the other way around from what you have when you connect index input pin to ground at the moment of the index signal.
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Yes but I have also tried connecting to 3.3v and it acts the same.
Hood
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I've tested it and it should behave like this:
- on index pin rising or falling signal front, the counter is reset. It should not keep resetting.
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I can not get it to work here. If I apply 5v to pin 9 nothing happens, if I remove 5v from Pin 9 nothing happens. I can get it to zero if I connect to Gnd but it will not count even if I remove the Gnd connection after.
Hood
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Hood, do you have one PoKeys board or is it possible that you try this on another one? Enable index inputs and turn the MPG - it must count. If you then connect the input to GND, the counter must reset. Even if you keep it at GND, the counter must then count from 0 and not reset.
Namely, we can not replicate your situation here.
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I have just tried with the USB version and it is working as it should :)
Hood
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I have also a problem with the index, encoder with Pokey 56E.
When i "Enable the encoder", the counter seems to count ok.
But when i aslo activate "Enable reset on index" the count value is not correct, is not counting enough.
When i put the pokey input to ground, then the count value is reset.
I am reading the RAW values from the pokey config program. (so at the moment without Mach3)
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This one is in the 'investigation' already.
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The old plug-in not used? How now it is possible to show DRO-1000 on the screen?
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The old plug-in not used? How now it is possible to show DRO-1000 on the screen?
What are you referring to? Give more details on what you would like to know.
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I made a pendant:
(http://shrani.si/f/30/p3/3x5xjcnO/220320114016.jpg)
using Pokeys. On old plugin i have drive LCD with macropump.
I saw that you have made new plugin, so i decide to upgrade Pokeys FW,
and install new mach3 plugin. Than i encounter problems with writing to LCD.
I have set lcd plugin to secondary pins (28-34) because of previous pendant setup.
Now the buttons and MPG are working, but i dont get any content to LCD.
I have setup plugin like that:
(http://shrani.si/f/38/os/4WLWGuOq/pins.jpg)
(http://shrani.si/f/2L/JG/3evQcnDm/lcd-settings.jpg)
(http://shrani.si/f/1K/Tj/14FJTKIs/lcd-row1.jpg)
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Hi, Milan
We are working on supporting the LCD on PoKeys55. PoKeys56 series use a new buffered LCD mode, which is used in Mach3 plugin to improve speed.
Regards,
Matevž
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Thank you Matevž.
Best regards,
Milan