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« on: November 01, 2012, 10:00:35 AM »
Hood, glad that was for the tool blow off, that's great!
Dickey, the PLC is a Programmable Logic Controller. Think of them as relays you can turn on and off with software rather than wires. Hood is going to to have his handle the tool changes on this machine. Mach will send a signal to the PLC via serial that simply says get tool #XX. The PLC will get the tool and put it in the spindle and then send a signal back to Mach via serial that says (done) "OK, the tool you requested is in the spindle and ready to run. Mach will continue form there. The advantages to this are many IMO. One is that Mach can be performing other task such as running the tool path while the PLC is getting other things ready to change the tool. Also, PLCs are rock solid. They can last a very long time and do the same thing over and over perfectly. You can get different modules for different types of signals too. Different voltages, AC/DC, even high speed outputs to do things as drive a stepper or servo. Analog inputs and outputs booth voltage and miliamp............. they are very versatile. The list goes on and on.
Correct me if I'm wrong Hood.
Brett