Messages

281

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys56 and Smoothstepper (ethernet)

« on: March 19, 2014, 01:06:19 AM »

I overlooked your post, tantan, that SS plugin produces an error only after these glitches. So, please confirm - SS plugin does not crash immediately, but after there are glitches on the SRO value.

282

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys56 and Smoothstepper (ethernet)

« on: March 17, 2014, 12:45:15 PM »

Hi,

Neoto explained me that this cannot be asmoothstepper issue. Within a few weeks i will test my pendant with the sro funtion in combination with a cslabs controller. I will report my findings here,

Tnx tantan

I explained to you that this can not be PoKeys's issue if Smoothstepper is crashing, not the other way around.

283

PoKeys / Re: PoKeys and Limit Switches

« on: March 17, 2014, 12:41:11 PM »

Basically, PoKeys supports three switches per axis - limit-, home/ref and limit+. They used to be handled separately, but since version 3.1.0, PoKeys devices now support combined home and limit switches. The behaviour of limit switches is that motion is halted anytime the limit switch is hit unless in homing mode (if home/limit combined option is enabled). The limit switches can also be disabled by enabling 'limit override', but then the machine's safety is in operator's hands.

284

General Mach Discussion / Re: reference Script

« on: March 17, 2014, 03:19:47 AM »

Just some clarification after receiving a question about a similar problem to e-mail...

The isMoving() bug should have been solved in one of the last year's updates.

Regarding homing procedure and why machine is stopped at location not equal to zero: homing procedure is there not for positioning the machine itself to zero, but solely for the control system to know where the zero position is. Since connection between PoKeys and Mach3 does not allow high speed operation as in case of LPT port, PoKeys device does homing and probing operations by itself (as any other external motion controller). PoKeys does it this way:
- return towards home switch until switch is hit
- slowly back-off the switch until switch is released
- in the exact moment when the switch is released, the position of the machine is saved (reset) and machine is commanded to a stop. Since the velocity of the machine at this point is greater than 0, it can not be stopped instantaneously, but moves a few ticks away from home position.
So, internal position counters are precisely reset at home position although the machine stops out of it. It might be different from Mach3's own homing, but the procedure above was proved to be very reliable and accurate on different machines.

Regarding the need for the latest Mach3 version: due to bugs, there have been changes to the internal structures that Mach3 exposes to plugins. As Mach3 plugins require the exact same memory alignment as it was used when compiling the plugin, the latest Mach3 version is required for PoKeys plugin. As certain PoKeys plugin functions require the new bug-free version of Mach3, we can not simply compile it agains an older SDK as it would break the plugin functionality.

285

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys56 and Smoothstepper (ethernet)

« on: March 16, 2014, 12:03:52 PM »

Unfortunately, if the Smooth stepper crashes when PoKeys adjusts the SRO, then there must be something wrong on the Smooth stepper side. We can't do much other than disabling the SRO feature (or you not configuring/using it).

286

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys with step/dir spindle

« on: March 13, 2014, 01:07:01 AM »

Hi, mgamber

8 axes will be supported in Mach4. Mach3 plugin supports 'only' 4 axes.

Regards,
Matevž

287

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys with step/dir spindle

« on: March 12, 2014, 01:16:24 AM »

So, spindle will be used as 4-th axis? This should work properly.

288

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys with step/dir spindle

« on: March 10, 2014, 08:39:20 AM »

I checked and your order has not been shipped yet, so, please describe your system. I must point out that threading is not supported by PoKeys.

289

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys and G320X Gecko servo drive

« on: March 10, 2014, 01:28:25 AM »

Hi, Paul

The new pulse engine v2 has fully configurable switches. Please send me mail to matevz@poscope.com and we will get you an example on using it.

Regards,
Matevž

290

PoKeys / Re: Pokeys with step/dir spindle

« on: March 10, 2014, 01:26:25 AM »

hanermo, as I stated, internal pulse generator can support up to 3 axes (or step/dir outputs). Pulses must be generated at high frequencies and these can not be achieved without specific hardware in the PoKeys.

We released the support for the external pulse generator lately - it both increases the axes count to 8 axes and increases the maximum step frequency to 125 kHz. At the moment, we only offer the board with full external pulse generator support (PoKeysCNCaddon), but we will be adding 'lite' versions in a few months. On the last page of the PoKeys pulse engine manual, there is a schematic on how to build a 4-axis external pulse generator by yourself for a few $ using off-the-shelf parts.

Regarding spindle configuration - unfortunately, I don't have knowledge on using Mach3 with lathes.