Topics

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Y-Axis Home Switch not Backing Off (x-axis works fine)

« on: June 30, 2016, 08:20:02 PM »

Hey all.  I thought I jumped the last hurdle with this machine after the external THC, but a very annoying and odd problem popped up that really has me going wtf.  Simply put, my y-axis home switch isn't backing off after its activated.  The annoying part is that the x-axis works fine, meaning it activates, and backs off till the switch releases like normal.

Things I've tried:
 - Removing the switch and operating it by hand.
 - Use shielded and unshielded wire / different gauges of wire
 - Removing the X-axis switch and only focusing on the Y
 - Re-mapping the Y-switch to the X-switch (works fine)
 - Using different ports on the G540
 - Trying different switches
 - Reversing home direction / changing home order
 - Adjusting backoff and approach velocity

Machine:
 - Mach 4 windows 10
 - Ethernet SmoothStepper
 - Gecko G540

I'm really at a loss as to why this is happening.  I have no issues with the motors changing direction during cutting and really not any other machine issues at all.  The last thing that I can think of is re-installing the motion plugin with the new beta version and re-mapping everything from the start.  I haven't seen any other threads of a machine only having an issue with 1 axis in particular, so I'm hoping that this is some kind of fluke issue.

Anyone have any ideas what would cause this?  I can post the ini settings and everything later tonight if anyone needs to see it.  Thanks

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach 4 - Code for Holding Motion Until THC Sends a Signal

« on: June 25, 2016, 05:29:47 PM »

Hey all.  We have just about finished this build, but I'm stuck on one issue that I was hoping for some guidance on achieving.  First off, I'm running a CNC plasma setup using Mach 4 with an Ethernet smooth stepper which is hooked up to a Gecko G540 (Port 1 on ESS) for the x and y axis, along with a Hypertherm PHC unit (Port 2 on ESS) that controls the THC externally.  Currently all axis's work including the PHC unit.

The problem that we are having is I have to tell Mach 4 to hold motion of the x and y axis's until it receives a signal from the PHC unit that the torch is ready to start cutting which is currently not happening.  So essentially the machine starts moving before the pierce and height sensing process is complete.  For single pierce cuts I can add a dwell in to make it seem like its working, but it was just a theory test.

The signal being sent from the PHC into the CNC is coming in on Port 2 Pin 9 on the ESS, so I'm assuming I can just write code that halts x and y motion if that signal is off, and subsequently allows motion when the signal is on.

My question is basically how to do this properly.  I saw some examples in the included write-ups with Mach 4 that all seem to be beating around the bush of how to do this type of function, but I'm not experienced enough with Mach 4 or lua yet to really accomplish this.  Do I have to disable and enable the axis' individually?  Is there a global Hold function of some sort that is intended to do this?  Any examples of anyone currently doing something like this would be much appreciated, as well as any other help.

Thanks in advance.