Machsupport Forum
Third party software and hardware support forums. => HiCON Motion Controller => Topic started by: steveD on September 28, 2015, 09:28:30 AM
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I am having an isue setting up me X,Y,Z limit switches in the mach3 softwear. im not 100% sure on which input in the software it would be but i do know from the documintation from integra the port is 11 and the pins are 0-3. can anyone please explain this for me. also I am having questions on what is the properway to do the spindal control.
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Hello,
You can set up the limit switches by going to "config->Ports and Pins->Inputs". On the inputs tab of the ports and pins config, it lists a variety of input signals for Mach3. The axis limit switches are among them.
The spindle setup can be found on page 16 of the HiCON Mach3 software integration manual.
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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Hi Marc I ja e figured out the limits but in my homing the X and Y axis will hit the switch and back off the Z axis on the other hand will hit the switch and stop it will not back off and clear the switch could you help me with that
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Hello,
What did you configure for the Z homing in the plugin config?
If the Axis is set to use a "Home Sensor", then it should back off the home switch to the point where it gets deactivated. Perhaps the Homing setting was set to "Use Index Pulse Only"?
There is also the off chance that the sensor may be experiencing some noise which causes the Motion Controller to read the signal as deactivated when it shouldn't be. You can try going to "Config->General Config". On this window, look to the upper right corner for the "Debounce Interval" setting and set this to something like 10-50 (this value is in milliseconds even though the window says "x40 us"). This setting controls the debounce for the digital inputs in order to filter out some noise.
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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I have checked the settings and they are configured to home sensor and I have also done the debounce. I have noticed that it does travel down off the sensor some but not enough causing the sensor to flash in the diagnostic page. is there away to increase the amount of travel of the sensor in the homing sequence?
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Hello,
What is your homing speed % set to? Maybe this value is too high? We typically use somewhere around 5-10%. Slower speeds produce more precise results.
If that still doesn't work, then try temporarily setting the debounce to a higher value like 200 to see if it makes a noticeable change in the behavior, in which case you may have to resolve the noise issue.
Let me know what happens.
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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I set the debounce value to 100 and it seems to be working now thanks! Im still not finished with the setup I might be bugging you again soon if you do not mind
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No problem. But 100ms is a little too high for a debounce value (and this debounce affects all digital inputs). At this value, the inputs could be a bit unresponsive.
Our engineer recommended a maximum value of 50ms for the sensor debounce value. Another thing he recommended is to make sure that the power supply negative (0V/GND) have a proper connection to the earth ground in order to reduce the occurrence of electrical noise.
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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I actually just fixed that and set my debounce back to 30. I am having the ishue of axis calibration now I move the axis 7 inces but it thinks it moved 10
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Hello Steve,
Hmmmm, perhaps you need to take a look at the axis counts per unit in the the motor tuning config and verify if the value is accurate. You may also have some working offsets?
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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I started with the steps per unit at 1600 on all 3 axis that was the factory setup for this machine I played with the number some and at 2600 steps per unit it is almost spot on but it will blow by the limit sensors for some reason at that setting it has me confused
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Hello,
I'm having a little trouble understanding your description. What do you mean by it blowing by the limit sensor? Do you mean that the axis triggers the limit sensor when it shouldn't?
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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no it goes by the limit switches and dosnt stop however i have fixed this situation and am now working on calibration. Im also lost at this aswell I have figured me revalutions per unit im hoping I got my math right
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I am know having ishues with the limits I try to run the axis out 10 inches it travels about an inch and a half and then trips a estop saying that it has exceeded on axis 0 and disarmes I set the limitsa to the size of the table which is 144 inches the dro read out says 1.5 when it stops is there another limit setting that im missing somewhere? I would like to add that if I manualy control the axis with the mpg it goes past that point and dosnt trip the code but if I run it in set step unit or in the MDI screen it stops and gives me that error.
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Hello,
Hmmm, try checking your soft limits to see if you have configured them correctly, or if you currently have them enabled.
Limit switches will always disarm the system regardless of what kind of motion is being performed, or even if the machine is idle. Because MPG jogging works, then it may be something different.
As a side note, the only exceptions where limit switches are ignored are as follows:
1. When a limit switch is also configured as a home switch and the machine is homing.
2. "Limit override" is enabled in Mach.
If the soft limits don't work, then please post, in exact words, the error that you were given.
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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On the X axis the soft limit max is 144 and the soft limit min is 0. On the Y axis the max is 80 and min is 0. On the z axis the max is 0 and min at -10. thye error coad is, ERROR:Following Error Limit Exceeded on axis 0. servo disarmed the command code I am using is G0 X10
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I have also noticed that if I go into the plugin confige and open the hicon plugin I can get the axis to move however I think my steps per unit is off bad I enter for the X axis to move 10 inches and it moves 11 inches in that
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That isn't an error with the limits. It's an error that's generated when the difference between the actual position and the command position goes beyond the configured threshold. This is most likely due to an axis configuration error in the plugin config. Verify that the "Axis Feedback Type and Index" are correctly set, as well as the "Max Following Error".
Another error could be your Motor tuning config. Check that your motors can actually handle the velocity and acceleration that you had configured there.
Please consult page 25 of this manual on how to correctly set up the axis config in the plugin tab.
http://www.vitalsystem.com/portal/motion/hicon/HiCON_Mach3_Software_Integration.pdf
EDIT: Oh, and make sure that you're using the latest Mach3 plugin and firmware available from our website.
-Marc
Vital System Inc.
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my max following error is set at 1000 that was the default setting how would I figure this properly I seen the manual but it is still confusing to me
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can you send the log on the black debug window? it will help narrow down the issues.
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im not sure hoe to do that could you walk me though tha t please.
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on the plugin system tab, there is an option to enable debug window. then restart mach. you will see a black window show up.
EDIT: This issue was resolved by a Mach3 plugin and firmware update