Topics

1

Modbus / Using decimals in and setting modbus address using brains

« on: May 11, 2014, 11:02:57 AM »

Good morning everyone.  I'm posting this under modbus because my brain is basically used for modbus.  I have two questions at this time.

1.  I installed an optical sensor on both my Mill and Lathe.  They are Omron EE-Sy671 and EE-SY672.  There is a slight difference in the Actual RPM and the RPM that the drive is reporting.  I need to put a correction factor into my Brain to be able to match the RPM sent with the S command from Mach 3 and actual RPM.  One of my correction factors is .93.  When I use the Brain rung putting a formula in to the run of E*.93 or E*0.93 the result when I view the brain is a number over 9000, and it runs the drive to max output.  Is it possible to use decimals in a brain to create a correction factor?  If so, any ideas?

2.  Now that Mach4 is reading the actual RPM, I'd like to also read it into my Magelis touch screen.  I need to get this value into a modbus address, so I can read it into the Magelis screen.  I have the sensors wired into a Gecko 540 board and its coming into the index parameter in Mach3.  Any ideas on how I can get this value into a modbus address so it can be read into my touch screen?

I attached my brain for reference.  The last rung in the brain is where I'm putting my formula.  I'm changing the No Op instruction to a formula.

Thanks
TeaMan

2

Newfangled Solutions Mach3 Wizards / Slot cuting wizard by Brian/Kran

« on: March 29, 2014, 09:47:47 PM »

Not sure if this is where I should ask this question, but I didn't see a place for general wizard questions.

I'm trying to cut 4 slots in a piece of mild steel to make a motor mount.  I ran across the slot cutting wizard in the subject of this message.  I was going to set it up 4 times to get all 4 slots cut.  I'm having trouble understanding the wizard. 

First, I set the X and Y user coordinates to zero at the corner furthest away from me and to the right of the workpiece.  It is the same corner I chose with the Set Position in the wizard.

I want the slots to be in the Y direction.  I'm using a 3/8" cutter, and would like them slightly wider than 3/8"
I set the wizard up with the set position in the upper right corner of the graphic on the screen.  I set the following parameters.
Tool Dia, +0.375", Feed Plunge +0.10, Rough Feed +0.30, Rapid height +0.1, X Position -0.25, Step Depth +0.1, Y Position -6.5, Length 0.38,
Width 2.0, Depth +0.3.

When I post the G-Code, the first few lines look like this:
G00 X-.44 Y-8.31
G01 Z-0.1 F0.1
Y-6.69 F0.3
X-0.5375 Y-.67875
Y-8.2125
X-0.3425
Y-6.7875
X-0.5375
G00 Z0.1

My first question is why aren't my X and Y representative of what I put into the settings.  I wanted to go 6.5" in the negative Y and .25" in the negative X.  The G-Code is going to .155 in the negative X when you take 1/2 the cutter with from the second pass of .5375.  Total with of the cut is not correct either.  It's much wider.  I found also that if I increase the width number in the wizard, the cut gets narrower.

The Negative Y is going to -8.31 rather than 6.5 minus 1/2 of the cutter diameter. 

I can mess with the numbers until I get what I want, but was wondering if I'm not understanding the Wizard, or if I'm doing something wrong.

Can anyone help?
TeaMan

3

General Mach Discussion / Homing table location on Lathe and Mill

« on: March 19, 2014, 01:08:37 PM »

I'm mounting homing switches on a 3 in 1 machine.  I the homing without switches document in user documents for the lathe suggests the table position to be furthest to the right and furthest away from you when home.  The lathe document shows the suggested table location somewhere between the left and right movements and also the movement toward and away from the user.

Is there a somewhat standard place to home the Lathe with respect to table location?  I'd like to make the same location home for both the Lathe and Mill so I only need one home switch for each position, although on the Lathe that is the furthest I can be away from the spindle.  It's not a very large machine, so that isn't a huge issue. 

Just wondering if there is a somewhat standard position.

Another Lathe question:  I read somewhere that zero on the X for the Lathe should be center of the spindle, +X towards you, -X away from you.  Any reasoning for this, or is it a standard way to work with a lathe?

4

General Mach Discussion / Proper directions of X, Y, an Z axis

« on: February 27, 2014, 11:19:08 AM »

I'm very new to machining and am finally starting to set things up and want to do them properly.  What I have learned is the tables are X and Z and the mill spindle vertical is Y.  I need to know proper directions + and - for the three axis's.

I read a post once where the gentleman said the cutting direction is normally negative.  Looking at Y, extending the mill into the work I would expect to be -Y.  Now for X and Z I'm not sure.  If my lathe head is left, and I'm cutting from right to left, is that considered -X and if the tool is going from being on my side of the work, to going away from me, is that considered -Z?  

Any advice would help me set this up properly.

Thanks,
Ed  (TeaMan)

5

Modbus / Problems with Mach3 Modbus TCP

« on: February 22, 2014, 04:36:39 PM »

I thought I'd try to communicate to my Modbus via TCP out of Mach3 and found what should have been simple, didn't work at all.  I have two VFD's on a Modbus 485 network and am trying to talk to them through a Phoenix Contact FL COMM Server RS485 converter.  The problem could always be in the COMM server, but I wouldn't think so. I will be digging into the COMM servers manual later tonight to see if I can find anything unusual, but the setup for what I'm trying to do seems pretty simple.

When I go into Mach3, open the Serial TCP Plugin, I added one line to the plugin for my Modbus Slave, I put the IP address of the FL COMM Server at the top, click on the test button and open the test screen.  Here I made sure the slave address was OK, IP address for the COMM server was OK, keyed an address in on the slave side, and clicked open.  I immediately get a connection timeout message.  I can see the activity light on the FL COMM Server light up each time I click the open button in Mach3, but get the same message, Connection Timeout.  I slid the slider below the addresses to the right and I then get Ethernet Connection Not Open as a message.

On the FL COMM Server (converter) side in the configuration I have the same parameters that are on the RS485 side, 8-E-1.  The only thing different is the drives have no hardware flow control, and the comm server has automatic for flow control and it isn't changeable.

I can ping the FL COMM Server from the PC running Mach3, in fact I can open the configuration on the COMM Server from that PC, so I know the Ethernet connection is OK.  I can also talk to the drives via the Modbus Serial Plugin on the computer running Mach3.  I simply opened that plugin, unchecked the box to enable the communication.  Clicked OK, restarted Mach3 just in case, opened the TCP plugin and set it up as explained above.  

I'm confused as to why I'm getting an immediate timeout message and it won't open the Ethernet connection.  I didn't see any settable timeout settings.  My finger doesn't even come off the mouse button before I see the timeout message.

What is Mach 3 looking for when you hit the Open button on the test screen?  I'd almost expect that if you have a live Ethernet device connected with the IP address entered in the test screen, that it would open the connection, even without anything connected to the other side of the converter, maybe I'm wrong.

Could I have missed something on the configuration side in Mach3?  Something isn't making sense here.

TeaMan

6

Brains Development / Example Brain or Macro pump to run a spindle

« on: February 17, 2014, 10:52:15 AM »

Good morning, I have two VFD's on a 3 in 1 machine, one for mill and one for lathe.  I want to control the spindles for both of these with Mach3.  I am new to Mach3, new to Brains, new to macro pumps, new to DRO's.  I'm looking for an example of either a brain or macro pump or both that can do spindle control from Mach3.  I want to start, stop, change directions and change speed.  I know all of the addresses in the VFD's to start, stop, change speeds and change direction and have tested it all using the Serial Modbus test screen in Mach3.

What I have are two Altivar 12 VFD's hooked to two 3HP motors running 3 phase 240Vac.
So far my communication path is Serial 232 to Serial 485 through a 232 to 485 converter.  The drives are modbus 485 and I also have a Magelis terminal attached that is Modbus 485 or Modbus TCP, but since the drives are Modbus 485, it's connected that way for now.  I'm considering trying Modbus TCP and using a Modbus TCP to Modbus 485 converter, but would like to prove concept with what I have now before I invest anymore.

I'm guessing there is something already here that can do this, but I haven't run across it yet.

If there are tutorials I can use, other than the ones on the Mach3 site, I will dig into them also if you point them out.  I have gone through the ones on Modbus on the Mach3 site.

What I'm needing help with is understanding what DRO's go to what Mach3 screen buttons or actions.
How to set the Modbus plugins up to talk to the drive.  I saw a tutorial from PappaBear that helps, but my addresses are all over the place in the drive, especially if I read things back like RPM.  I was wondering if I should create a line in the plugin for each address.  Everything to these drives is 16 bit words, both digital and analog.  For instance to start the drive in forward, I need to write 15 decimal to memory word 8601, and to run in reverse I write something like 242 to memory word 8601.  To change speed, I write the speed such as 3000 decimal for 3000 RPM to memory word 8602.  I would need less than 10 addresses for each drive, and each drive would be in a separate Mach3 setup.  One Mill, the other Lathe.  Last, I'm not sure how to relate the plugin setup to the Pins setup in Mach3.

Is there anything out there that can help me get started quickly?  I'm not sure if a macro pump may be a better choice or if it should be a brain, or even a combination.

Thanks in advance.
TeaMan

7

Modbus / Need help with a connection to an Altivar 12 VFD

« on: February 02, 2014, 06:50:05 PM »

Good afternoon everyone.  I have two Altivar 12 Variable Frequency Drives.  I am trying to communicate to one of the drives via Mach 3.

I connected to my drive using the serial communication.  The drive is Modbus 485 Serial, and I'm using a RS232 to RS485 converter.

I was able to connect to the drive using both the SoMove software to program the drives, and was able to both read and write to and from the drive using Mach 3 and the test Modbus screen.  I set it up to start with using the serial configuration and not using plugins.  I wanted to try the simplest configuration possible.

I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck to write any commands to the drive.  I was not able to send any commands or any speed settings.

The drive has communication words, NC1 - NC4 and NM1 - NM4, addresses 12761 - 12764 and 12741 - 12744 respectively.  I can read and write to all the NC1 - NC4 words, and read from all the NM1 - NM4 words.  Nothing happens when I write to the NC1 - NC4 words.

Looking at the configuration of the drive, setting parameter Fr1 to ndb should set it to Modbus.  Doing this disabled my terminal strip and wouldn't allow me to start the drive with my pushbuttons.  I then set CHCF to SEP which should allow separate reference and command, which should have allowed the drive to be started from the pushbuttons.  It didn't work.

Parameter Cd1 was set to tEr which is terminal and should allow the drive to start from the push buttons, but it didn't work.  I reset Fr1 back to All which should have put reference back to analog input 1, and I could now start the drive from the push buttons.

I'm going to do some more studying.  I was hoping someone may have figured this out and could help me understand what I'm missing.

My goal is to first be able to start the drive from the pushbuttons and let Mach 3 control the speed.  If this works, I will try to start, stop and reverse the drive as well as set the spindle speed from Mach 3 via Modbus.

Thanks
TeaMan