Topics

1

Modbus / arduino mega to mach3 prototype

« on: October 30, 2010, 12:21:31 PM »

read 'explain' file for details. if there are questions, i will just answer them.

2

Brains Development / brain code for if . . then . . else ?

« on: October 05, 2010, 08:38:56 AM »

How do i create an     if . . then else . . loop ?

I  have two outputs. When one of when one is activated the other must be deactivated. I have tried 2 brain rungs, one that sets Out2 low when Out1 goes high , and a second to set Out1 low when Out2 goes high, but as you would guess they turn each other on and off like a strobe light. not sure how to latch and exit in brains.  in vb i would use an  if then else loop, is there a simple way to mimic that in a brain ?

thanks for any input.

3

Modbus / Current state of mod bus and changes with V4 ?

« on: September 14, 2010, 09:35:47 AM »

Are the mod bus vb script calls from the wiki still operational with serial plugin enabled  ?  I refer to functions listed on wiki such as setmodoutput( , ) and other calls.

I am working with a adruino mega , using a public domain mod bus rtu slave program. I have serial plugin enabled. Great results with analog in in particular ,  


 I have studied the videos, but I am not sure on several points. For example if I set output 1 as port 0 pin 22 in ports and pins config, do I then need a braiin to transfer the signal, or is it set up in serial plugin config ?

I would hate to do all the work and then have it not work in V4 ! Will mod bus be changed for V4 ?

4

Modbus / Arduino Mega with MACH3

« on: August 31, 2010, 09:59:48 AM »

I just ordered an Arduino Mega. When I saw the amount of public open source code, and hobby/robotics accessories available I had to try.

I found some MODBUS software, and the MACH3 can 'open' the board.
I am not a good programmer at all, but I want to try to get them talking. 
My plan is to try every combination of setting and jumpers on the board,and in MACH3  until I get some response.
If anyone has any better ideas or resources I am very interested

5

VB and the development of wizards / Can someone post some use examples of the new 'Include" additions for VB

« on: May 10, 2010, 08:59:52 AM »

News of the upgrade was posted one or two weeks ago but no docs or examples were posted ?

6

PoKeys / How to use 0-3.3 volt analog output to control 0-10 Volt VFD ?

« on: August 13, 2009, 09:25:07 AM »

I don't know what circuit or device to use to interface the Pokeys analog output to a 'standard' VFD. The VFD requires 0-10 Volts to go from stopped to full speed.

Thanks in advance !

CNC4PC has a model C14 0-5 volt converter which can deliver a output of 0-10 volts  , (For only $12.28) , but my pokeys unit only goes to 3.3 volts ?

7

PoKeys / trying to set PWM from vb script

« on: July 24, 2009, 06:33:30 PM »

I would like to use the PWM outputs from VB. I have had some success in reading the pokeys data and setting outputs from vb script , but I can't figure out how to pass a PWM array to pokeys from VB script. I suspect its a syntax error , but EVEN after reading the manuals , I can't figure it out. I am attaching  the offending lines below.  I have also attached the whole vb script in case it is necessary to check the whole script.

' before these lines run, the pokeys unit is initialized , the build date is read in , the arrays are dim(ed) and
' start values are assigned. full details in attachment. script needs 8 userlabels and a button.

' here are problem lines.  I tried many different syntax combos ?
' when the 2 lines below run , the vb scripts stated error is
' class does not support automation or does not support expected interface

b = device.SetPWMOutputs (channel() ,Period() ,duty() )
b = device.GetPWMOutputs (channel() ,Period() ,duty() )

thanks in advance

8

SmoothStepper USB / how bad is this ?

« on: July 19, 2009, 05:07:05 PM »

My smoothstepper is not working. Only the blue LED comes on , When I plugged it into several different computers  ( usb ports ) , the computers do not make a sound , and 'smoothstepper' does not appear in their device manager listing. I have the voltage jumper set to USB power. It worked fine at first. It was hooked up through a CNC4PC breakout board. I emailed this data to Warp9, several days ago , have not heard back at all. I am amazed that  there are still no trouble shooting docs, just blank pages ! Any information or suggestions appreciated.

9

PoKeys / Pokeys and VB6

« on: January 19, 2009, 11:46:21 AM »

I am an 'amateur' VB6 Programmer. I quess many Mach3 VB guys are amateur's also. What I want to do is control POKEYS55 from VB6. This is because the MACH/Cypress VB system truly sucks. ( I am not a diplomat ).  I downloaded and opened  file http://www.poscope.com/uploads/files/VisualBasicDemoScript.zip. I have copied the code to the bottom of this transmission appendix a.  I entered the code into Visual Basic 6 and it ran ! ! ! !  . it could tell if there was a device connected , at least. I was so happy ( for a minute )

I looked everywhere for a list off all the other ' magic chants ' ( or keywords or methods/properties  ) , I even read all the manuals !  But could not find them anywhere. I tried spying on the dll. and extracting the keywords from the .dll TLB file , with a text editor , there are about 30 of them.  but they do not work. a sample of the code taken from 'notepad' is in appendix b. there are little runes at the end of the keywords. I tried many variations of calling conventions and varible types , but could only get one to work "getbuilddate" . 

If there is anyone who knows how to fully harness the pokeys dll in VB6 It would be most helpfull. I tried to find a program  to read the dll/tlb file , no results. i tried to 'read' the pokeys specifications PDF , but its all in 'Greek' (usa humor).






appendix a  , code from pokeys file  these work !

' Example on using PoKeys communication DLL via VB scripting

set device = CreateObject("PoKeysDevice_DLL.PoKeysDevice")

if device.EnumerateDevices() = 0 then   ' Enumerate devices
   msgbox "No PoKeys55 devices found!"
else

   device.ConnectToDevice 0   ' Connect to PoKeys55

   device.SetPinData 0, 4, 0, 0     ' Set pin 1 as output
   
   device.SetOutput 0, false   ' Set pin 1 output OFF

end if



appendix B
 
Appendix B is the dll / tlb file from  the pokeys55 folder , opened with notepad and cleaned up a little. (formatting)

GetDeviceIDWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Ô¿
serialNumberÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ }-
firmwareVersionWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ AŒ
pinNumWW    ÿÿÿÿ ´'
GetDeviceIDExWWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ®—
firmwareVersionMajorÿÿÿÿ4    €Ú
firmwareVersionMinor    ÿÿÿÿ -I
GetBuildDateÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ    µà
buildDateWWW    ÿÿÿÿ    äe
GetUserIDWWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ jÑuserIDWW    ÿÿÿÿ    ”À
SetUserIDWWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ    !ínewUserIDWWW    ÿÿÿÿ
 –K
SetPinDataWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ¶pinIDWWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ‚J
pinFunctionWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Üpull
UpDownResistorWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ    Ü
invertPinWWW    ÿÿÿÿ ªL
SetPinData_2    ÿÿÿÿ
 ¨
GetPinDataWWÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ²A
pinPossibleFunctions    X   ¡—
GetPinData_2    ˆ
   ´
SetPinKeyMappingÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ

10

VB and the development of wizards / button to bring up "edit button script" and also OLE questions.

« on: November 16, 2008, 07:32:15 AM »

It  would be nice to have a button or other trick to bring up edit mode without having to mouse / scroll . I hope this is not simple to do , because I can't figure out how to do it. I spend so much time re-editing over and over , I know there are bigger things to worry about but . . . .


Also I have a question about OLE usage.  Does Mach3 have any OLE properties or methods that I could view and control from VB6 ? How would that be done ?