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Messages - Kently

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31
General Mach Discussion / Re: Using Enable1 throu Enable6
« on: August 27, 2009, 11:06:55 AM »
Using a brain to invert is a great idea. Not sure what the root cause of the problem is, but that sure would be a workaround. Thanks.

32
General Mach Discussion / Re: Using Enable1 throu Enable6
« on: August 27, 2009, 09:45:40 AM »
I was reading this article written by Art: http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=12457.new;topicseen#new

In this articel it says:
"In the interests of safety, Mach3 always starts in EStop mode with the flashing
Estop button. There are 6 enable outputs that are tied to this operation. They are
programmed to turn on , one by one with a couple hundred ms of time between each
one. This is to stop excessive current being drawn from your power supplies as all the
drivers get enabled at once. Many don’t use that feature but it is there for that purpose.
Having the drive power up from the enable lines can be problematic for some as the
power is removed from them whenever an Estop occurs, but in terms of safety it is a
good idea to have a main relay kill all motor mower anyway when an Estop occurs.
So enabling each drive with an Enable signal is a good way to stop the high current at
startup of the system. "

That sounds great except that when I have the Enable signal set to active high it does not seem to toggle when I go in and out of Estop. Maybe this is a synchronization problem wit the Smoothstepper. The Enable signal does toggle if I have it set to active low, but that is the wrong logic for the G203V. The reason I am interested in this is becasue I had the rectifier bridge diode in my power supply fail at power up a while back. Antek sent me a replacement and said that they had received a bad lot of rectifiers that sometimes failed during the startup surge. I thought this would be a good way of protecting from that.

33
General Mach Discussion / Using Enable1 throu Enable6
« on: August 26, 2009, 11:45:29 PM »
Does anyone know how Enable1 through Enable6 operate (these are output configured on the Ports and Pins configuration screen)? I thought I had read somewhere that they can be used to reduce the current surge when you first power on the controller. I thought they sequentially enable the drives upon power-up thus they would not have all motors surge at one time on power-up.

I am not sure I am correct about that. If I set them to active high, the output does not toggle when I toggle the RESET button. However, if I set the output to active low then it does toggle when I toggle the RESET button. Unfortunately, that is reverse logic for the G203V Disable input.

34
I loaded Mach R3.042.020 and it solved my touch probe problem. Thanks to everyone for your help!

Kent

35
Where do I find the older versions of Mach? 3.042.029 is the oldest one I see on the download site.

I have never reloaded Mach. Do I simply need to copy my XML file to another directory, Uninstall Mach, Install the new (old in this case) version of Mach, and then copy the XML file back into the Mach directory? I assume I'll also have to reload the custom screenset I am using.

Thank you for the info.

Kent

36
I am implementing a zero touch probe for the z-axis. The routine uses the G31 command and then once touched it reads the touch point using GetVar(2002). The routine then moves the z-axis back (using a G0 command) to the touch point in case the touchpoint was overshot . It then sets the z-axis DRO to the thickness of the touchplate (0.25" in this case). It then moves upward 0.25" using a G0 command to move the probe off the plate. After experimenting with the strange problems I am having here is what I have learned:

1) After homing the machine and stopping the routine after the G31 command but before the DRO is reset, the touchpoint reported by GetVar(2002) is slightly above where the machine stopped. That is reasonable since the machine may have some overshoot when coming to a stop. However, if I run the G31 command anytime after I have changed the DRO, the reported touchpoint is below the point at which the axis stopped. That is not possible as it never went below the point it stopped at.
2) As described above, the macro sets the z-DRO to the plate thickness after the touch point is reached. Thus the DRO is set to 0.25" at that point. Note that before the Z-DRO is changed it may read something like -4" since  my z-axis zero is set at the top of the travel. The macro then sends a g0 z0.5 command to retract .25" above the .25 inch thick plate. However, the SS will retract all the way up until the upper limit is reached. It is as if it did not register the fact that the z-DRO was set to something different prior to the move. Note that if I execute  the G0 command outside of the macro it moves to the proper point.

Both of these appear to be having a problem when the z-axis DRO is changed. Greg,of Warp9, thinks there may be a problem with synchronization between the SS and development version (Mach3 R3.043.000). I am using the development version as that was what was initially suggested when using a SS.

Thanks for your help.
Kent
>>

37
General Mach Discussion / When will Next Release of Mach be Available?
« on: August 26, 2009, 01:43:17 PM »
Perhaps there is no specific timeline, but does anyone have a rough idea of when the next release of Mach will be available?  Will it be Mach4? I am having some issues with a SmoothStepper and Mach and I hope a new release will address the issue.

Thanks,
Kent

38
SmoothStepper USB / Re: Step and Direction Puse Width Needd for SS?
« on: August 03, 2009, 10:55:43 AM »
Thanks for the info. SS definitely looks like it lives up to its name compared to the PP.


39
SmoothStepper USB / Step and Direction Puse Width Needd for SS?
« on: July 27, 2009, 11:02:40 PM »
When using a SmoothStepper, is the Step and Direction pulse width specified in Motor Tuning used by the SS? If not, what parameter does the SS use to determine the pulse widths that are acceptable for the stepper motor?

40
General Mach Discussion / Re: Error Trapping in Button Script
« on: July 24, 2009, 05:41:51 PM »
Here's a more detailed description. I have a zero touch plate routine that many have been using. This code should never drive the bit into the workpiece. I am also using a SmoothStepper (SS) which may actually be the problem. However, I am aslo doing something that I am suspecting may be casuing an error and cofusing Mach or the SS. Rather than use a touchplate, I have simply shorted two wires togther to simulate the plate being touched while testing this feature. I have read that the G31 code will actualy retract the bit a very short distance after the probe fires. My hand shorting of two wires wouldn't simyulate the probel breaking contact at just the irght time for this small retraction so today I started wondering if I was causing a problem with my test method and then wondered if I could error trap. I am not at the machine today, so I can't simply try a real touchplate, although that scrares me a bit since this sometimes drives toward the table when the button routine performs the final retract. Another person also sent me a message that they were using the same routine I am using and it normally works OK. However, one time they had the touch plate so far away that the bit failed to contact the plate by the end of the G31 move. They hit zero again and after the bit hit the plate, the machine then drove the bit very hard into the touchplate/workpiece. They are not using a SS, so I thought that perhaps he too had an error condition that our button routine needs to trap.

Sorry for the lengthy explanation. Just thought it better to give the full picture.


I use G31s for touching off many, many times a day, with a SmoothStepper, running my own macros.  Never had a problem, *except* one time on a previous version of Mach which *did* have a bug that resulted in breaking my probe.  That bug was fixed within hours or my reporting it, and a new version of Mach posted.  What version of Mach are you using, and what SS plug-in?

Regards,
Ray L.

I am using R3.043.000. This is the development release, but Gerg of Warp9 told me to use it as it is the best version to run with a SS. I am also using the latest SS plugin. What versiosn are you using? Also, could you post your button code so I can review it to see any difference mine may have. Finally, the Mach manual says in many places 'It is an error if:" Surely there is a way to trap those errors in the routine and handle them. I'm not saying that is my problem in this case, but if errors can occur it is good practice to handle them. Perhaps the manual is ismply saying that the operation is not valid rather than anacutual an error raised.

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