Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: Rimmel on August 30, 2024, 12:30:49 PM

Title: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: Rimmel on August 30, 2024, 12:30:49 PM

Ok so I want to upgrade to servos (I have a little experience in  servos) but has anyone got Mach4 set up with the Clearpath servos?? Anyone got settings for then? Howto?

Note: the reason I want to use Clearpath is that they come in Nem34 size and have an 1/2in shaft. My steppers are currently Nema34 with a 1/2in shaft, so mechnically it should almost be "plug n play".

thanks

Title: Re: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: Bill_O on August 30, 2024, 01:00:50 PM

We use the Clearpath on some of the machines.
They need to be set up for your machine.
Anyone else's settings will not necessarily work on yours.
They can remote in to the pc and help set the motors up.

Title: Re: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: Rimmel on August 30, 2024, 01:14:10 PM

Quote from: Bill_O on August 30, 2024, 01:00:50 PM

We use the Clearpath on some of the machines.
They need to be set up for your machine.
Anyone else's settings will not necessarily work on yours.
They can remote in to the pc and help set the motors up.

Wow  - I would never let anyone remote into my machines... but anyway the PC doesn't have tinterweb access, it's used to machine control, not browsing or email.

So you can set the resolution/steps of the Clearpath?

Title: Re: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: Bill_O on August 30, 2024, 01:17:18 PM

Well if you don't want to let them temporarily get on a computer hooked up to the motor you will need to tune them yourself.
Yes you can set the resolution in their software.

Title: Re: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: Rimmel on August 31, 2024, 06:41:34 AM

Quote from: Bill_O on August 30, 2024, 01:17:18 PM

Yes you can set the resolution in their software.

and we go full circle   back to the question I asked initially.

Title: Re: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: Steve Stallings on August 31, 2024, 07:16:31 AM

Clearpath servo motors are configured using the MSP software which you can download after a quick online registration. This software talks to the drive using a USB connection.

The full manual describes the process for setting up the drive using this software. Since you will want to use the Step and Direction mode, the description starts on page 151 of the manual that you can download without having to register. The download link is:

https://teknic.com/files/downloads/clearpath_user_manual.pdf

The Clearpath drives support Autotune which will work for most applications.

Title: Re: Mach4 pokeys7cnc clearpath servos (settings)
Post by: thosj on August 31, 2024, 10:39:15 AM

Steve, as usual, is right on. These are very easy to setup with their software to auto tune for your setup. I did my BP clone with 4 motors years ago and it was pretty much self explanatory with their downloaded manual and software.

You'll need a bit of code to get their HLFB working. That's error detection that will trip your machine out on servo error, not strictly necessary, but nice. Searching here should find that as I've participated in threads discussing it.