Topics

1

VB and the development of wizards / VB to change accel and de-accel for G0 and G1

« on: March 20, 2015, 03:50:55 PM »

Good day all

I did a retrofit on a commercial Italian cnc router last year as the pc packed up and there are no more support for these machines. My client has two of these, one is still running the factory fitted pc and software. What I have noticed is that when the machine (running under old software) executes a G1 movement it uses exact stop with a slow de-accel, for g02 and g03 it operates under CV mode and when G0 gets executed, the machine has a very high accel and de-accel.

Machine running Mach, when running under CV mode, it seems to be very jerky unless I trim the accel way down but becomes an issue when running in CV mode. (rounded corners etc)

My idea is to have a macro to increase the accel and de-accel by say 50% when a G0 move is executed and uses the pre-set accel for both G1 and G03/G02 moves (motor tuning settings). I can then use CV tolerances to cancel CV mode for angles say larger that 30 degrees. It works very well on the old machine as at the end of each G1 move the machine comes to a gentle stop and then start the next move without any rounded corners when not needed (even at very high feedrates), arc moves are smooth as they flow into each other and falls within CV mode, even with the tolerance set up.

The AC Servo's and drives fitted to these machines are very powerful and can handle very high speeds and accelerations so this won't be an issue.

Can someone please help me with such a Macro or even basic macro which I can modify if need be? I must ad that I only started doing basic VB last year so do apologize upfront if I don't understand all the lingo.

Kind regards

2

CS-Lab / IP-a inputs all active after machine powered up

« on: April 29, 2014, 05:07:10 PM »

Hi there. Have any one come accros this problem. When I power up the machine after a few hours being shut down, all the inputs are active; all home and limits, e-stop, etc. The only way I can clear this is to run the firmware setup again and restart Mach. I have reinstalled another version of mach as well as firmware. I did not copy the xml thinking it might be corrupt. All still the same. The inputs are just active in Mach diagnostics not the plugin window. When plugin window is opened, normal inputs active like pressure switch, air ram sensors etc. If you try and clear the inputs by deactivating them in ports and pins without running the firmware all hell brakes loose, all axis' takes off at max rapid and spindle spits the tool out. Only way to clear safely is to run the firmware each power up which is a PITA. Any suggestions? I have tried different installations recommended by cs-lab, no luck

3

VB and the development of wizards / Cycle start controlled by VB and axis scaling

« on: April 06, 2014, 11:48:57 AM »

Good day all
I have retrofitted a Italian cnc router with Mach and CSMIO-IP/A. All works very well but the actual applications that used to be on the old controller. The machine has a left and right zone for machining. The left run under normal condition and the right zone seemed to be a G55 offset and x axis scaled to -1. Now, I need to create three buttons with three LED's, the first for left zone, the second for right zone and the third for both and when one of the three is enabled it will disable the other active one. How the machine use to work with the old controller, if say both zones were enabled you will be able to load the right zone's vacuum table with the board, clamp with foot pedal and while the left zone was cutting, you could press the cycle start button again which will lower the right zone's pneumatic stops (which you use as reference) and as soon as the left side has finished cutting, the cycle wil start again but now scaled to -1 on x with g55 offset, while machining the right zone, load the left zone, clamp and push cycle start while right zone is cutting and the hole process will repeat itself on the left zone. My first issue is, how can I get the cycle start to start again when the button is pushed during an active cycle busy cutting say on the left zone, finish the cycle, change offset to say G55 and x scaled to -1 because of the VB in the active button and run again but now with all the new data and machine on the right zone. Second, what type of VB can be used to do all this, third will the cycle start button still be controlled with oem trigger 1000 or just VB or both? 

This is quite a mouth full but I have to add this to complete the project as this is the main reason why the company bought these machines in the first place. Company that manufactured the routers has gone bankrupt, no more spares or upgrades on these machines.

Just a quick fourth question, do I need to have part of the VB in the macropump to constantly look for change in condition like for instance pushing the cycle start button again while busy with an active cycle or can all this be done with the VB in the buttons?

Kind regards and looking forward for some ideas that I can use
Cheers

4

General Mach Discussion / Gecko G320X vs. Copley 303 drives

« on: February 07, 2014, 04:21:42 PM »

Hi all

I have a small production machine which I want to upgrade to servo, I am choosing to go with dc as even though ac has become more affordable, I would rather spend the extra $$ on my bigger toys and fit them with ac. Any chance any have you have used copley's as well as the G320X's? Being from South Africa there is not much to choose from in this line except import yourself, then again you want to know as much as possible before purchasing a product. I currently have two Copley's in working condition but what bothers me is  that the manual states that the max PWM switching of 22khz. I don't know if this will be fast enough to get max rpm out of the motors with 2500ppr encoders on them. I am using a CSMIO IP-M controller which gives me 125khz = 3000rpm with a 2500ppm encoder but will the drives handle this?

Kind regards

5

General Mach Discussion / How to mirror x and y with only 1 button?

« on: January 19, 2014, 04:11:48 AM »

Hi guys

I don't know if this is a question for the screen designers. I have recently changed an Italian industrial routers' controller to Mach together with a CSMIO IP-A controller. My main concern here is that the operators on the machine does not know g-code very well so I would like to try to keep the layout for their new screen similar to what the old one looked liked. Everything is straight forward except for one function. They have 2 cutting areas on the machine (far left and far right), by changing one DRO from 0,1 or 2, the machine changes from cutting on the left side only (dro = 0), right side only (dro = 1) or both sides for max production (dro = 2). The product being cut on the far left will be mirrored and then cut from the far right towards the middel of the machine.

I this was my own machine I wouldn't bother with this function as I will just use offsets or program with Cam, but these oaks don't. They will run one g-code for either one panel or two panels which are mirrored.

Is this possible by any chance?

Kind regards

6

General Mach Discussion / Stepper motor live tooling???

« on: June 09, 2013, 05:12:15 PM »

Hi all
I've read many posts regarding stepper motor spindles etc. I have a question and don't know of swapaxis will work. I make small alu parts and have made a small live tool setup with a dual spindle ( one for drilling and one for tapping) to tap a M4 hole from the side. During the operation the main spindle on the lathe will stop, drill hole from the side with stepper live tool and then tap it with M4 tap using the second spindle on the live tool (1 stepper driving both spindles through a gear). Tooling will move away, start main spindle again and part off. Here is my problem, my lathe spindle is setup with pwm output from Mach to drive the vfd. How can I program the stepper as a spindle and not a axis for the drilling operation as for tapping I will run it as A axis?

Regards

7

General Mach Discussion / closed loop or open loop spindle?

« on: May 03, 2012, 12:30:55 PM »

Hi all, just a quick question from a newby, is it possible to switch between closed loop and open loop via macro in mach turn? The closed loop is nice in the sense that it boosts the vfd more when machining larger diameters or drilling with larger drills, problem with closed loop is that you cannot override the spindle speed via pot, only on the screen with percentage spindle speed. So the main use will be to only recall the closed loop for a operation and then cancell after that particular operation is done unless if there is another way.