Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: guynamedbathgate on January 12, 2007, 09:27:13 AM

Title: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: guynamedbathgate on January 12, 2007, 09:27:13 AM
Im sure its a noise thing but Im not sure how. My mill is running great. so i decided to add a forth axis. when i hook up the new gecko step driver and the motor. to run some tests on the motor. I started to get random estops. so i ran test on all the axis. and found that even running just one of the axis and not even the fourth axis i get estops every 10 -30 seconds of runnig. then i realized that even when i let all the motors just idle. estops. I unhook the fourth axis from power and from the board and boom everything is hunky dory. where would i even start to look for the problem. also my mill is an all servo system but the rotary table is stepper based. didnt think that could have anything to do with it but thought id just add that. I tried turning the debounce way up and that had no effect. and turned on and off the watchdog thing too. not sure where to go from here.  ???
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: Chaoticone on January 12, 2007, 08:53:45 PM
How are you powering your stepper? I would check for voltage drops and get some shielded cable.


Brett
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: guynamedbathgate on January 12, 2007, 10:04:08 PM
ive got a fairly reasonable sized power supply(I can run 3 axis symultaniousely with no problem), so i dont think its that and all of my low voltage wires are shielded. like I said Im running three other servo motors just fine. but when I connect the stepper Im tripping estops with very little movement. just simple 1 axis jogging will trip it. and it doesnt matter what axis Im jogging. Its pretty wierd. ive disconnected that driver and motor for now and its running like a dream. the stepper motor doesnt have an encoder or anything so Im at a loss for where to look for the problem. :(
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: sshneider on January 12, 2007, 10:29:20 PM
How are your Ports & pins setup?  It almost sounds like you have some kind of a conflict or something else not setup right in there someplace?  Some info on your breakout board as well as a look at your XML would be enlightening.

Sid
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: Brian Barker on January 13, 2007, 08:59:48 AM
That is odd... Look to see that you didn't move power cables next to your signal lines.
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: guynamedbathgate on January 13, 2007, 10:24:05 AM
Im using Bob Campblls board. Ill look at some of those other things later on and report back.
thanks
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: rcrabb on January 13, 2007, 10:51:29 AM
OK, You need to bypass the the breakout board on the forth axis. It sounds to my there maybe something wrong with the board. I would try to connect the forth axis directly bypassing the breakout board. Leave the other three axis going through the breakout board. It is very very very difficult the isolate a noise problem. First thing you need to do is to be sure its not one of your components (breakout board, driver, cable, motor, etc,) Of course the obvious unshelled power cable running near your control wiring can be something to think about also, but your system worked fine with three axis. I say check the board. 
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: sshneider on January 13, 2007, 02:33:02 PM
Also, I forgot to ask previously... what kind of limit switches are you using.  I had a problem with this same thing in the past.

Sid
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: guynamedbathgate on January 13, 2007, 08:35:00 PM
Im using optical limit switches.
I'm also confused. do the power cables need to be shielded too. I only have shielding on all the low voltage cables (my limit switches and encoders) as those would be the ones affected by EMI. also I'm not to keen on the idea of bypassing my breakout board as this would entail a whole bunch of unnecessary cutting and soldering. Im not saying its not the board but Im gonna wait till nothing else works before I chop the end off another printer cable. plus I kind of like the purpose the board serves.
i doubt the board is bad anyway because Im not having any trouble with it with 3 axis any way and every part on this thing is right outa the box new . If someone out there thinks this is an incorrect assumption please let me know. :-\

Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: Hood on January 13, 2007, 09:05:27 PM
you could try swapping axis on the breakout, if you get the problem with the two servos and stepper then its the stepper setup, if you dont then add the servo to the fourth axis and see what happens.
Hood
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: rcrabb on January 13, 2007, 09:06:44 PM
If bypassing your board is alot of work then try disconecting your limit switches. one by one. Maybe one is giving you a false signal. Remember you were not using the 4th axis part of the board now you are.
Title: Re: heres a good one involving the estop problem.
Post by: guynamedbathgate on January 14, 2007, 10:04:37 AM
now see thats a good idea. work smarter not harder. I will try these things and report back later in the week. right now Ive got a job to get done so im not gonaa be able to mess with it for a few days. any other suggestions before then will still be apreciated.
 ;)