Messages

1

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: ? Big Bed Mill Retrofit

« on: March 20, 2011, 05:07:27 PM »

If you draw a line from the center of the carousel to the Z axis screw, the sensor is pretty much on that line.  There should be a couple of #8 or 10 threaded holes in the rectangular tubing where it mounted.  With the carousel locked, the sensor lines up with the notch in the wheel and will not be over any slots.  The sensor tells the next position coming around, which switches on the motor braking and the lock cylinder.  The tool number is binary with the outer most slots being the least significant digit.  With the carousel locked at position 1, the sensor will be between 1 & 2 on the wheel.  The inner slots (5th row) were not used on my machine.  I have no idea why they put them in. 

I did pull out my wiring diagram and there is another 100 ohm resistor in the supply to the LED.  I have attached it in case you don't have it.   

I know I have one bad channel on mine, so I'm just going to replace everything.  Photosensors don't do well after 25 years and I will use the matching LEDs for whatever phototransistor I pick. 

2

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: ? Big Bed Mill Retrofit

« on: March 20, 2011, 02:00:20 PM »

Second pic.

Mike

3

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: ? Big Bed Mill Retrofit

« on: March 20, 2011, 01:58:18 PM »

I replaced the encoders because two failed.  I found some with the same mounting pattern so they were a drop-in.  My originals were 500 line and I replaced them with 1000 line units.  My mill has .200" pitch ball screws, so this puts me at 20000 counts/inch in quadrature.

Attached are a couple of pictures of the opto sensor off of the tool changer.  The top board has the IR LEDs and the bottom board is the phototransistors.  The top and bottom housings are machined to clear the PC boards and hold everything at the right spacing.  Sorry for the poor quality on the pictures, my camera did not seem to be focusing properly.  The resistors are 390 ohm, which would be limit diode current to 60ma with 24V supply.  It has five pairs of detectors, but the far left one is not used and wasn't even connected on the PC board.     

Mike

4

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: ? Big Bed Mill Retrofit

« on: March 20, 2011, 09:00:05 AM »

I kept the Servo Dynamics drives and SEM servos, but I have replaced all of the encoders.  Right now, I have the machine about 80% done.  The spindle control works fine, I have axis movement under Galil control, and all of the additional functions (coolant, tool release, master control relay, etc) are under control of the Galil + PLC. 

There is quite a bit left to do.  I have written the new PLC code for the tool changer but not tested it.  I bought a touchscreen panel that is working, but needs to be mounted and I also have a pendant to integrate.  I am also in the process of mounting limit switches for X & Y for safety and to reference the machine (limit + encoder index homing).  Will try to get a picture of the photo transistor boards today.  As I recall, it is just 2 pc boards mounted in a housing.  Like I said, very simple circuit, but it will be some work to make. 

I do have the PLC logic off of mine.  Yours is probably very close if not identical.  The main reason I changed the PLC is that it would take major programming changes to interface with the Galil as opposed to the Dynapath.  I decided that my time was better spent on a more modern, more servicable PLC.  The new PLC is a Siemens S7 series, cheap hardware and software off of ebay.  The Galil communicates things like spindle direction, coolant requests, and tool numbers to the plc which then drives relays to actually control the machine. 

5

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: ? Big Bed Mill Retrofit

« on: March 20, 2011, 12:18:02 AM »

Also, regarding the inverter, I believe that the ARNI-889A is just the control board.  The inverter should be a VT130G1 series, probably a 2055.  It was most likely using a 0-10V signal from the Dynapath and the FWD REV lines.  I am running my machine on 240 single phase using an oversized Yaskawa inverter.  The Toshiba was gone before I got the machine, but I do have the manual. 

6

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: ? Big Bed Mill Retrofit

« on: March 20, 2011, 12:00:04 AM »

It is pretty much the same as mine.  Mine has a factory 14" riser and doesn't have the full enclosure, but they are the same machine.  They were sold here as a Vulcan, but it is Kasahara iron from Japan.  NC Electronic Services imported them and probably added the control and tool changer.  I think Compumill had some dealings with Kasahara and may have eventually bought them out.

The part you are missing on the tool changer is a four channel photo diode or photo transistor board that provides binary logic for the tool changer.  The PLC takes transistor level signals, so it is a very simple circuit.  On mine, there was a separate cabinet with some extended IO modules for the PLC.  These are all for the tool changer.

I am using a Galil 2280 and use one axis for the spindle.  I am using a Siemens PLC and have enough IO between the two to communicate with simple logic.  I have two of the Omron PLC's and the programming terminal if you are interested.  I originally bought a backup, but then decided to upgrade.  The new PLC is programmed for the tool changer, but I haven't tested it yet.  If you want to keep the Omron, you should at least pull the program so that you have a backup or the logic if you need to upgrade.  There are something like 20 steps to a tool change, so its really not something you want to do from scratch. 

 

7

Galil / Re: Output Configuration

« on: November 04, 2010, 10:58:09 PM »

It can get a bit confusing, but it's not too bad.  First of all, Galil Out1-Out8 are represented by Mach pins #41-48 (port 1).  You use these pin numbers on the Output tab of the Mach Ports & Pins setup screen.  It sounds like you need four outputs and probably an Enable output.  I would map Output 1-4 to pin #41-44 and map Enable1 to pin #45.  Don't forget to enable all the outputs you are using.  Second, go to the Spindle Setup tab on the same screen and map the outputs to spindle CW, spindle CCW, Flood, or Mist as required.  For example, you can map both spindle CW and CCW to Output 1 and Flood Coolant to Output 2.  An M3, M4, or manual spindle 'on' activate Mach Output 1, which will now turn on the Galil Output 1.  Likewise, an M8 will turn on Galil Output 2 and an M9 (coolant off) will turn it back off.  Note that you can map out Mach Output to any Galil Output, but it gets confusing if you start mixing numbers.

You didn't say what function the solenoid will have, so you might have to write a Brain to control that Output.  Watch the Brain videos if you need help on this, they are very good.

Mike

8

Galil / Homing without switches

« on: October 31, 2010, 10:08:45 AM »

My old Dynapth control used marks and the encoder index pulse for homing on the X & Y axes, no homing switches.  I would like to use a similar approach with Mach/Galil.  I would like to zero at the mark, have the axis go .1" or so negative, reverse positive to the encoder index.  I tried simulating the home input with a brain (activating at -.100).  It shows to be working on the diagnostic screen, but will not reverse the axis when referencing like it should.  I suspect that the homing process is internal to the Galil, so it doesn't care what Mach sees, but I would like to know if there is a way around this.

Thanks,
Mike

9

Galil / Re: Physical override pots with Galil

« on: September 10, 2010, 09:55:32 AM »

Thanks for the help, that was easy enough.  Just one detail for the record, with the 5-8 axis 2000 series boards the analog ins are only available on the A-D cable.  I had been using the E-H axes because of some earlier troubleshooting.

Mike

10

Galil / Physical override pots with Galil

« on: September 01, 2010, 11:32:57 PM »

I would like to keep most of the physical controls from my Dynapath control (cycle start, feed hold, E-stop, feed rate override, spindle speed override).  I think I can handle the first three, but I'm not sure about the override pots.  Would I wire the wiper to an analog in on the Galil and write a brain for Mach, or is there a better way?  I though about just doing the spindle speed override with a Galil program, but I don't think this would work for feed rate.

Mike