Topics

1

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Final Machine!

« on: July 20, 2015, 02:48:38 PM »

Hi everybody!  We just finished and delivered the machine we've been working on for the past 6 months to the customer!  Our thanks go out to everyone who helped answer questions we've had on this project throughout the way.

It is a CNC plasma cutter that cuts patterns for door inserts that is completely automated (except for user input to start the job).  This project is the culmination of the efforts of a couple people.  I wish I had more pictures to share of the assembly process but due to the production process of the machine I was only allowed to post the final outcome video.

This machine was programmed using PLC/HMI ladder logic (Allen Bradley), Kepware OPC Server, C++ (used MachRemote from the SDK as a boilerplate starting point, THANK YOU FOR THIS TOOL!), Mach 3 (vbscript macros were very important), and this utilized an SQL server to pull jobs from a table.  The gcode job files were all generated automatically by another company and were placed into a directory made available to us.

https://youtu.be/iNm1ICjzpO8

Hope you enjoy it!

2

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 Profile selection on Windows startup?

« on: July 17, 2015, 01:23:40 PM »

Is there a good way to load a specific profile into Mach 3 on Windows startup?  I have a shortcut in the startup folder in the start menu with the location C:\Mach3\Mach3.exe -p Profile1 which I thought I read somewhere that this was the appropriate thing to do, but it just makes a default profile and loads that.  Any suggestions?

3

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Transferring MachRemote

« on: June 16, 2015, 08:54:48 AM »

Hi, I'm currently in the middle of developing a MachRemote-based application to run Mach3 automatically in conjunction with a PLC.  I am using the MachRemote application and am able to compile it and get it to connect to Mach3 on the computer I have Visual Studio on, but when transferring the MachRemote program over to the computer connected with the plasma cutter, I can open the application but it will not connect with Mach3.  Even just the basic MachRemote App with no frills will not connect.  Does anyone know the fix behind this?  The computer I'm compiling on is running Windows 7 Pro 64, the computer with the plasma cutter is Win 7 Ultimate 32.

Please note, I can get MachRemote to load on the other computer, it just won't connect to Mach3.

4

Modbus / TCP over Ethernet help

« on: June 12, 2015, 10:22:52 AM »

Hi everyone,

I am looking for help regarding reading and writing IO between Mach 3 and a CompactLogix.  I actually am not having any issues with getting the two communicating over Modbus TCP.  That part seems to be easy enough to set up as I can read/write values in the Test dialog and have them appear on the PLC as being written.  I can also modify these same values on the PLC and read them in the test screen of the Modbus setup so I know they are communicating properly.

My issue comes when I try to use brains to read/write to the coils that the test dialog can read/write.  I can't figure out what the settings would be in the brain to correspond to the settings on the test window.  Included are images of the two screens.  I have tried multiple setups and I just can't seem to get it to work.

Thank you for any help!

5

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Macro trigger in C++

« on: May 12, 2015, 03:36:25 PM »

I always seem to come up with the fun ones:

I am having an issue where I am triggering a macro to run via the MachRemote application using scripter.DoOEMButton(301) call.  I have set 301 to the appropriate macro and the vbscript will run as it should and does what I need when I trigger it in the vbscript editor.  However, when I trigger it using the scripter.DoOEMButton, it will load the file but will display the "Path Generating" Dialog box and not go any further.  I can hit cancel on the box and then continue by stopping and starting the macro in Mach 3, but that kind of defeats the whole point of what I want to accomplish.  Any suggestions on how to get Mach 3 to move past this "Path Generating" dialog box automatically?

6

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / External LoadFile command

« on: April 29, 2015, 12:29:29 PM »

Hi everyone!

I'm currently trying to build an external C++ program that utilizes the scripting function in Mach 3 based off the MachRemote example on the main site.  I have added a "Load File" button to the screen, sourced it correctly, and am able to run other scripting commands on it like scripter.DoButton(21) and scripter.DoOEMButton(169) so I know the button is sourced and functions correctly.

It is not allowing me to use the LoadFile or LoadRun command.

Here's the section of code that I have:

Code: [Select]

void CMachRemoteDlg::OnBnClickedLoadFile()
{
if (scripter == NULL) return;
scripter.LoadFile("c:\Rosetta.tap");
}
Any suggestions as to why this would not work?