Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Any Lua programming consultants out there?

« on: June 06, 2019, 05:31:28 PM »

I submitted a help ticket and also paid for some phone support a week ago but haven't received any word back from the guys at Artsoft.  I'm hoping someone on this forum is a Lua expert and willing to assist with my Laser tube cutter / welding project where I'm trying to change the steps/unit for the rotary axis based on the diameter of the tube that I'm using.

If you have Mach4 and Lua programming skills and think you can help with my project, please let me know your availability and hourly rate.  Contact me directly at: bhauck68 (at) gmail.com

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Rotary axis (steps/unit variable)

« on: May 30, 2019, 12:57:11 PM »

I'm trying to build a laser tube cutter that will use a rotary to represent the Y-axis.  I have defined the motor axis "steps/unit" to be 24,000/pi (8000 motor steps / rev and a 3:1 gear ratio) and then within the G-code I was using a scaling factor (1/diameter) for the Y axis.  When I try to cut a tube my circles are turning out to be ellipses.  I noticed that the G-code instruction manual had this caution statement regarding scaling (G51 command)

Exercise caution when using scaling, the results can be unpredictable depending on program complexity.

For example if G52 X2 Y4 is programmed followed by an arc move in the XY plane, the arc will NOT be

scaled 2x in the X axis and 4x in the Y axis to obtain an ellipse. The start and end positions will be as

expected, but the motion from one to the other may not be. Check and double check the tool path

display before running the program.



Is there an easy way to make the "steps/unit" a variable that is based on the diameter of the tube I'm processing.  Ideally this variable would be within the G-code or alternatively it would be input on the screen.  I have done some screen updates and custom M-codes but I'm not too familiar with LUA scripting so any assistance would be appreciated. 

I found this in the forum that seems appropriate but I'm not sure how to implement it.
https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=36321.40

3

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 15, 2018, 02:38:10 PM »

ok so I figured something out.  All this time I've been doing multi-axis moves.  When I did a single axis the feed rate is correct.  When I take out the rotary 4th axis and do an XYZ move then I have speeds that are 1/3 slower that expected not 4x.  So I'm not a g-code expert but is the F value per axis or is it the RMS value for all the axis? 

I've got my rotary set for 53.333 steps/degree and so I think that might be the cause for the significant slowing of the other axis???

4

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 15, 2018, 02:16:17 PM »

craig,

delayed response... but I looked at the teknic settings and don't see anything that would be impacting the speed.  I'm using the step and direction clearpath motor.  Just for the hell of it, I doubled the input resolution and doubled the Mach3 motor tuning (steps per).  As expected this didn't impact my feed rate (still 4x slower than should be) and I'm still traveling the correct distances. 

I'm sure there is a setting somewhere that I have set incorrectly but I just don't know what it could be...

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 13, 2018, 11:40:47 AM »

Craig,

I've got a smooth stepper control board.  I've got the kernal speed set to 100khz but have tried 25khz with no change.  The steps per unit (mm) is set to 200 as I'm using a teknic clearpath motor that is setup for 1000 pulses per rev and the linear leadscrew pitch is 5mm/rev.

Brian

6

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 12, 2018, 03:28:25 PM »

My system only has 100mm stages so I entered X50 and it moved the corresponding 50mm.  So correct distance is traveled.

7

General Mach Discussion / Re: Feed rate speed error

« on: June 12, 2018, 02:45:29 PM »

Nope - its set to 100%

8

General Mach Discussion / Feed rate speed error

« on: June 12, 2018, 12:39:40 PM »

I've run into an issue with a laser welding station that I've designed with Mach3 and SS board and can't seem to find the cause of a feed rate error.

I've found that I need to use a g-code feed rate 4x what the actual feed rate is.  For example, If I want  600mm/min I have to enter F2400 instead of F600. 

Attached is my XML if anyone is able to help resolve the issue it would be great.

Thanks,
Brian