Messages

21

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 28, 2010, 04:35:23 PM »

Z axis is running good now

Stirling.....you were correct .5 lead equals 2 revs/ inch.....all is much better after that change as well.

Thanks all!

www.CastleWorksKC.com

22

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 28, 2010, 01:36:31 PM »

Hi All....

ISSUE RESOLVED:

Asking me for a schematic for the home switches caused me to take another look at how they were wired and to confirm they matched the schematic. This led me to finding the error of my ways.

The rest of the story......

Proximity sensor home switches were wired to the correct BOB input with a pull up resistor to 5VDC (5VDC source on the BOB)....the NPN sensors operate on 6-32 VDC, so I was powering them by a separate 12VDC supply. Originally I had them powered off the BOB 5VDC source but then realized they would not operate on 5VDC so I powered them from a second power supply.

I failed to move the pull up resistor over to the 12VDC source and left it on the BOB 5VDC source. These two supplies do not share the same ground reference, so I suspect they were fighting each other.

Once  I moved the pull ups over to the 12V source....all is operating correctly and home properly.

Thank you all very much for your assistance.....until my next oversight

Kevin
CastleWorks

23

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 28, 2010, 12:37:52 PM »

One more piece of information......


At no time on the diagnostics screen do I see the E Stop indicator activate.

24

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 28, 2010, 12:36:24 PM »

Hi Balazs,


I will throw a lot of information at you here...so please ask if I need to clarify anything. I am working on getting a schematic in a form to post.


Sequence of step I have taken......

Manually jog Y axis until the home switch activates. I am confirming activation in three ways.... pin 13 transitioning from 4.0 VDC to 0.0 VDC, LED on BOB turning off and LED indicator on proximity home switch turning on.

Manually jog X axis until the home switch activates. I am confirming activation in three ways.... pin 15 transitioning from 4.0 VDC to 0.0 VDC, LED on BOB turning off and LED indicator on proximity home switch turning on.

Manually jog Z axis until the home switch activates. I am confirming activation in three ways.... pin 12 transitioning from 4.0 VDC to 0.0 VDC, LED on BOB turning off and LED indicator on proximity home switch turning on.

NOTE Manually jogging using the arrow key for X & Y Pg up and Pg Dn for the Z axis) and they are responding properly (at this point, more on that in a minute)


Once all home switches are activated and the table is in its home position, I individually click on "Zero X"  "Zero Y"  "Zero Z"  This sets the DRO's to zero.

I then manually jog the table to the middle position on each axis.

I then click on "REF ALL HOME"

Each axis begins to move (in the correct direction)  sometimes each axis will only move a few steps and stop , other times it will move one or two rotations of the ball screw.  When each axis moves the DRO's respond correctly HOWEVER once the table stops the DRO value returns back to the original value it started from, even though the table has moved.  For example if the X axis were at 10.0 inches and I start homing, the axis moves, and the DRO responds correctly and may move to 9.0" but once the table stops, the DRO returns to 10.0 even though the table has moved and stayed at its new position of 9.0"

No message appears in the status screen when this is occurring.

I have used the diagnostics screen to individually home each axis. When I do this each axis behaves the same EXCEPT the Z Axis......When I home the Z Axis, it moves in the incorrect direction (but still only briefly)  AND if I go back to the main Program Run screen to manually jog the table, X & Y axis behave correctly...however the Z axis direction does not work (regardless is I tell it to jog up or down....it only jogs down.  The only way I have been able to get it to reset correctly is to turn everything off and reboot.

Following reboot I get the same results from the above procedure including the problem with the Z axis. I have tried this several times with the same results.

I really appreciate everyone trying to help me resolve this....I am certain I am overlooking something obvious

25

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 28, 2010, 08:16:12 AM »

I will try the debounce and filter caps.

For testing purposes I have disabled the EStop, but do have an external Estop switch to disable power. I realize this is not ideal for the long run but should suffice for troubleshooting purposes. 

The home switches do not appear to be triggering during jog operations. Voltage on the input pins remain at 3.9 - 4.1 VDC during jog operations and are grounded when activated.

UPDATE: Disabling the EStop had no effect on the problem

I appreciate all the help you are providing.

Castleworks

26

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 25, 2010, 04:55:42 PM »

I agree I am overlooking something simple. Here is the XML file.

One observation I just noticed....I disabled the ESTOP input on the config screen, because I am not using that input. However each time I disable it, save the settings and exit. The next time I go back into the input settings it is enabled. perhaps this is what is shutting me down??

27

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 25, 2010, 11:21:18 AM »

Actually I have all that set up my home switches are on port 1 pins 15, 13, 12

I can see these indicators toggling on the diagnostics screen when I manually jog the table to each home switch.

28

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 25, 2010, 09:09:00 AM »

Hi Zaaephod,

Thank you for the assistance on this. I entered the motor calculations per your suggestion, moved to the center of the table and clicked on REF ALL HOME  All axis briefly moved, and I believe Mach 3 thinks it is already at home.

My home switches are active low and each input pin is showing high when I reference all to home.

 I have verified when the home switches activate the respective input pin goes low. and operates as I would expect.

ACTIVE LOW is checked on the input settings section.

If I uncheck this, setting it to active high and then reference all to home Mach 3 tells me "Requested Home axis home switch is active, please fix then home." I would expect all this if I am thinking correctly.

For my home switches I am using NPN proximity switches, the respective input has a 2.2K pull up resistor to 5V. When the home switch activates, the pin goes low.

Hmmm What am I overlooking?

Thanks

Kevin

29

General Mach Discussion / Re: Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 24, 2010, 09:07:52 AM »

Thanks for the input...here are details on my setup

Using stepper motors all have a 1.8 degree / step

For X & Y axis Ball screw is 1" diameter with a screw lead of 0.5"  Both are direct drive with no gearing.

Z axis has a pitch of .1"

I am not sure how to answer your question on micro stepping. I am using Gecko G203V drives for each axis.

I had run through the calculations on the motor setup, but I am guessing I doubled something by accident.

If you need additional information let me know. I really appreciate you assistance.

Kevin

30

General Mach Discussion / Setting machine Coordinates

« on: June 23, 2010, 01:26:32 PM »

Hi Ail,

I am having some difficulty with homing and machine coordinates.

When I jog the table so that all home switches are active and in their respective homes, how do I tell Mach that the current position is "HOME"  Currently the machine coordinates show it to be in another arbitrary place and I cannot seem to set the current position to zero.  I want to be able to test out the homing of the table and insure all axis go home properly and position properly.

Any suggestions?

A second question is, when my table moves the DRO's indicate the table has moved twice the actual movement of the table. Is this set up in the motor tuning section?

Thanks

Kevin