Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => PoKeys => Topic started by: macona on October 08, 2009, 04:28:22 PM
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Got my Pokeys installed and running on my Hercus lathe. They keyboard mapping works great. Resurrected the original 23 year old keyboard by rewiring it into a 8x8 matrix.
Like other have mentioned the MPG sucks. Horribly laggy. And something weird. In step mode it goes back and forth randomly as I turn the wheel. Looked at the encoder read out in the pokeys app and it shows a steady increase if I turn the wheel one way and steady decrease if I go the other. But in mach the axis just goes back and forth at random. In velocity mode it travels the right way.
Another thing I have notice is the response from normal buttons is delayed. I have to hold the button for at least a half second to make sure it catches the key press. The keyboard response is great though. Just like a real keyboard.
Another thing is I see there is another screen for the pokeys. How do I get to it in MachTurn? I need to set up additional inputs for OEM keys and have ran out of the 15 available.
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Do you have the latest software and latest plugin? Both can be downloaded from product page on www.poscope.com
After omplementing 32 bit counters for encoders many users reported that it is OK now.
regards
Boris
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Make sure you got the latest plugin. You may also have a configuration problem with the MPG,l Maybe this configuration instructions for our pendants can help: http://cnc4pc.com/Tech_Docs/guide_for_MPG2_On_PoKeys.htm.
I have found that the easiest way to map discrete I/Os into mach3 is to treat them LEDs.
I agree with you, the matrix keypads work great, please check out the keypads we are coming out with: http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=54&products_id=238. You can combine them for up to 8x8, using 16 pins and getting 64 inputs.
Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com
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Checked out the link and i have everything set up like in the instructions and every thing is still herky jerky.
Running plugin 4.12 and firmware 2.0.5.
I need to start figuring out how to use the brains. Any good tutorials?
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The MPG is exactly the same for me, when I talked to Scott Schaefer I got the impression it worked only in step mode but could be wrong about that however it certainly doesn't work for me unless in step mode.
Hood
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Could you guys post or send me your configuration files, I will test it here. My email is: aduncan@cnc4pc.com
I think I will need: xml and pokeys configuration file
Thanks,
Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com
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What config files do you want?
I suspect this issue may be due to using the SmoothStepper but maybe not.
Hood
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Hood,
The XML and Pokeys configuration files.
Thanks,
Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com
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Two things:
1). I have asked Boris to add a "Tick" counter to the pokeys for velocity synching, he said he would.
2). USB has some random delays, to avoid this as much as possible, put the PoKeys on its OWN USB
root hub, where nothing else shares that root with it, (I.e. no other USB devices), as devices are added,
the bandwidth gets shared and depending on each devices needs you get random polls.
Step Mode works
Velocity, from my understanding of it, the Tick counter is needed for this, so mach can figure out speed over time. Even if velocity doesnt work with a tick, just use step mode, or if you JUST got to have velocity, go with a direct serial, PP, or Motion board interface.
scott
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Step mode is the one I am having the most issues with. The slides move back and forth at seemingly random when I turn the MPG.
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Please upgrade PoKeys to latest version.
Do you have PoKeys connected to your computer directly without any USB hubs?
regards
Boris
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OK, I will install it tomorrow.
Yep, its hooked directly to the motherboard.
-Jerry
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hmmm,
soundsl like you have noise on your MPG, try the MPG Tuning subsystem in M3
scott
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Nope, no noise as far as I can tell. The pokeys encoder part of the app keeps track of the position of the encoder perfectly.
I did make a mistake in my description of the issue though. In single step it move one increment and stops. it wont move any further in that direction. In multistep mode it moves randomly.
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It is not working like that on other systems. It would be interesting to do these tests:
- Doing the same setup on another PC with mach3 and nothing else configured. There could be something creating a conflict.
- Test your configuration files on a different PC (look for corrupted XML files).
Arturo Duncan
http://cnc4pc.com
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Found the jitter problem. It was because of the development version of mach installed. Went back to the lockdown and all is good on that front.
The MPG still sucks though.
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Understood,
Boris is having his programmer add a "Tick Timer" to the pokeys, when that is done and a new version firmware comes out. I will update the plugin to use the Tick timer as well.
Boris is also adding (at some point soon), a single Super fast MPG channel, still waiting on niews on that front.
Both will be added to the plugin as they become avail, I suspect that "Velocity" mode will have to have a Tick Timer available so Mach can calculate movement over time.
Scott