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Messages - Peter Homann

461
The Y axis rails are 1" diameter.  Got the Y ball screw and drive installed and running yesterday. Initial tests are going nicely! Mach3 is running smooth on Windows Server 2003.

Question to the masses...any reason why bringing the proximity output voltage (12VDC) down to 5VDC with a potentiometer is a bad idea?

Using a potentiometer set up as a voltage divider is OK as long as the switch can supply enough current for the potentiometer.  You could use  a couple of resistors instead, that way you won't accidentally move the pot and supply too high a voltage to you 5V input.  you could make a voltage divider from a 6.8K and 4.7K resistor. At the junction you would get 4.9V when feeding it with 12V.

The higher the voltage you use for switches sensor the better. Well to a limit. :-) A system using a  higher voltage is usually less susceptible to noise as the noise is a smaller percentage of the overall signal. Also for mechanical switches, there is some voltage loss across the switch due to resistance in the switch contacts. Additionally, a higher voltage cleans the switch contacts better when it closes.

There is a reason why industrial systems use 24Vdc for their signalling. In the end you need to get it down to 5V to get in/out of  the parallel port, and it is best to do this close to the PC.

Cheers,

Peter.

462
General Mach Discussion / Re: PWM and Digispeed
« on: August 07, 2008, 08:44:08 PM »
Hi Jim,


When the DC-01 is first powered up, is the status LED RED? Check that it is not yellow. That is the red and green LEDs in it are not both turned on. It may be powering up into serial control mode.

The idea of the DC-01 is to use a minidin cable between it and the minidin breakout board that has screw terminals on it. I can send you one if it helps.

Also you can check that the digital part of the DC-01 is working correctly without the VFD connected. The status led tells you what is going on.

Cheers,

Peter.



463
General Mach Discussion / Re: PWM and Digispeed
« on: August 06, 2008, 09:14:02 PM »
My speed control seems to have stopped working.

As far as I can see, I have all the correct ticks in the boxes - i.e. spindle step, active, spindle motor output, pwm control, use spindle feedback in sync mode.
My index is still working and the spindle speed is tracked when I operate it manuall.
I seem to have a PWM signal coming out of  pin 16, which I can measure with my mulrimeter, and it alters as I vary the speed using the S command.
I have the digispeed enable at 0volts.

Anything else I have forgotten before I declare my digispeed dead ???  I am at a loss :'( :'(

Hi Jim,

You have a DC-01, correct?

Has the DigiSpeed been working in the past, or is this the first installation?


The status  LED on the DC-01 will tell you if the DigiSpeed is working. 

1. With power applied to the DigiSpeed, and spindle not turned on via Mach3, the LED should be solid red.

2. With power applied to the DigiSpeed, and spindle  turned on via Mach3 with speed set to zero , the LED should do a double slow flash.

3. With power applied to the DigiSpeed, and spindle  turned on via Mach3 with speed set to a non zero value say 1000rpm , the LED should do a continuous flash.

If all three steps work them the logic side of the DigiSpeed is OK.

Next set the spindle speed to about 50% and using a multimeter, measure the voltage on the DC-01 Yellow lead with respect to theDC-01  black lead. This is with the speed controller powered on. Be careful as these leads will have 90+ volts on them.

Let me know what you find.

Cheers,

Peter.







464
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 and spindle speed controller
« on: August 01, 2008, 10:00:07 PM »
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the order. The DC-03 and all the other PWM - voltage converters are open loop. That is there is no spindle feedback to the DC-03. That said Mach3 has a spindle sensor input and can use it for closed loop spindle control, although it works with limited success. Most just run their spindles open loop.

Cheers,

Peter.

465
Will it work with a ModIO?

Cheers,

Peter.

466
General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 and spindle speed controller
« on: July 31, 2008, 08:05:43 PM »
Hi, I have  this DC speed controller that I would like to use to control the spindle RPM on my router

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2008073117382038&item=11-2449&catname=electric

Normally, you would connect a 5K pot to control RPM but can Mach 3 can be use with this board

Thanks for your help, Jeff


Hi Jeff,

I have a range of DigiSpeed products that will work. It depends on what you want in terms of functionality. The DC-02  has an onboard Pot and switch so that you can select either Manual mode or auto mode for control via Mach3.

The DC-06 accepts Step/Dir input and the DC-03 is aa very basic PWM to voltage converter. Have a look at;

http://homanndesigns.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

I also have a selection guide Engineering note at;

http://homanndesigns.com/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=3&chapter=0

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers,

Peter.



467
Modbus / Re: Can A Modbus control a.........
« on: July 29, 2008, 08:15:59 PM »
Hi,

 To show how a toolchanger can be controlled through a Modbus device,  below is some information about how I've implemented a changer module in the ModIO for an Emco changer.

Cheers,

Peter.

Code: [Select]
/*******************************************************************************

                                   Emco.c

********************************************************************************


/********************************************************************************
The ModIO will read the 2 optical switches and drive the Motor direction Relay.


The EMCO changer has 2 inputs, a turret home switch and a Turret position
switch. The home switch indicates that the turret is lined up with tool position
one locked. This switch will activate whenever the turret passes position 1.

The other switch the turret position switch input is the input from 6 turret
position switches in parallel. If any one of the 6 switches are activate then
this input will be active. Therefore, this input doesn't indicate what tool
position we are at, just that the "Next" tool position has been reached. There it
is necessary to keep track of where the changer is relative to the home
position (Tool 1)

The changer will work as follows;

On startup or after an error occurs we assume we are lost. When the first
toolchange request comes in, the changer will rotate until it sees the home
switch input go active. When it sees this it knows where it is, tool 1, and can
then move to the requested position.

There is also a timeout. If the home switch is not found within the configurable
timeout, an error is assumed to have occured, and the changer stops.

When a tool change is requested and the current position is known, the changer
rotates the turret counting the number of times the position input goes active
until the desired tool position is reached.

There are also 6 outputs used as position indicators, plus a status indicator
output. The position indicators will illuminate when the turret is at the
indicators position. That is, indicator 2 will illuminate when tool position 2
is reached.

The status indicator will illuminate whenever the tool changer is activated.
It will extinguish when the change operation has completed. If an error has
occured and the change is aborted, the indicator will flash until the next
valid operation has completed.

Once the desired position is reached, the motor forward relay is de-energised
and the motor reverses, locking the turret into the desired position.

Note, the position switches on the turret are positioned to be activated once
the turret has passed the tool location. The reversing of the motor rotates the
turret back to lock into the tool position.

There is also a manual change input switch. When activated, the turret will jog
to the next tool position. 


Modbus Interface
================

The Emco changer interfaces by a number of Modbus registers as defined below. A
number of the registers are configuration registers and are used to initially
configure the changer. There are also a set of registers that are then used to
control the changer during normal operation.

Config registers
----------------
register 150 Turret Config

This config register is used to enable the EMCO toolchanger module. To turn ON
the module, bit 1 needs to be cleared. Therefore 0x00FD should be written to
register 150 to enable the changer.


register 151 Change Delay timeout HI BYTE
register 152 Change Delay timeout LO BYTE

These 2 registers make a 16 bit timeout which if it expires will abort the change
and error. If you set the time out registers 151 and 152 to 0x10 and 00x0, you
will get a time out of approximately 30 seconds. each bit in the hi register 151
is worth about 2 seconds. With the default value of 0xFF and 0xFF the timeout
is over 500 seconds


register 153 Reverse Delay timeout  HI BYTE
register 154 Reverse Delay timeout LO BYTE

These 2 registers define the time delay between between turning off the forward
relay and indicating that the toolchange has completed. This delay is to allow
the changer enough time to lock the turret. With the default value of 0xFF and
0xFF the timeout is turned off.


Output Registeres
-----------------
register 1100 Requested Tool

This register contains the tool position for the next tool change. If this
register contains 0 when the tool change is requezsted, a dummy tool change
occurs. This is a good way to synchronise the Tool Change Counter 1101 output
register and the Tool changed count 1201 input register.



register 1101  Tool Change Counter

This register is used to initiate a tool chage operation. Whenever this register
value is changed a tool change occurs. Therefore to change a tool position, the
position to chage to is first written into register 1100, then the contents of
register 1101 are changed. It is best to increment it as this helps debugging.


Input Registers
-----------------
register 1200 Current Tool

This register contains the current tool position If this register contains 0
it indicates that the tool changer is "lost"


register 1201  Tool Changed Count

This register is used to determine when a tool chage operation is complete. This
is indicated by this register having the save value as register Tool Change
Counter 1101.

To perform a toolchange, the value of 1101 is changed to initiate the change.
When the change is complete, register 1201 will contain the same value that was
written to 1101.


register 1202  Tool Change Error Code

This register is used to determine the state of the last change request. If the
change was completed with an error, this register will contain 0x0000, otherwise
it will contain an error code.


register 1203  Tool Change Mode

This register contains the changers internal state as the change is occurring. It
is only used for debugging purposes.


Changer Operation
=================

To use the changer, the module must first be enabled by writing 0x02 to register
150.

Initially register 1100 should be written with 0x0000. Then, write0x0001 to
register 1101 to perform a dummy change.

Then to perform a tool change, write the new tool position to register 1100, then
increment register 1101 to start the change operation. Register 1201 is then checked
until it changes to the same value in register 1101

*******************************************************************************/

468
Modbus / Re: Can A Modbus control a.........
« on: July 18, 2008, 01:04:19 AM »
Hi,

 The answer is yes and no....

Some PLCs have Stepper motor controllers in them. They usually have a trajectory planner in them, so you set it up to do so many steps or move this distance. The PLC then issues steps including the necessary acceleration and de-acceleration ramping profile.  This feature is useful for controlling tool changer steppers etc.

As to controlling motion axis steppers for Mah3 axis, no you cannot use a PLC, as Mach generates the timing pulses itself. It does not have the capability to control a stepper motor via a PLC. To have mach3 control a stepper via an external device you would need to use a Smooth Stepper or similar motion control device, as these synchronise the movement across all axes.

Cheers,

Peter.

469
Modbus / Re: modIO @ SS
« on: June 23, 2008, 07:51:51 PM »
hi,

this maybe a simple question but as im new to this stuff id like to ask people that know

i have a smooth stepper thats on its way ( should be here tomorrow )

i was wondering if i can plug a modIO into the smooth stepper on the 2nd parallel port that is available?

is this possible and will it still work the same?

i want to run my machine off a laptop when it is done but it only has usb ports if i can't do this i will have to build a pc into my machine



Hi Max,

No the ModIO cannot plug into the Smoothstepper. The ModIO communicates with Mach via a serial port.

If you only have USB ports, then you will need to use a USB to serial converter to connect the ModIO.

Note that not all USB to RS232 converters work with Modbus. The one I recommend is this one as I have tested it and know it works.

http://www.dontronics-shop.com/easysync-premium-gold-usb-rs232-adapter-cable-1-meter-cable.html

Cheers,

Peter.

470
SmoothStepper USB / SmoothStepper now available in Australia
« on: June 12, 2008, 09:22:37 PM »
Homann Designs is pleased to announce that the SmoothStepper has now arrived in Australia.

http://homanndesigns.com/store/index...products_id=51


So Jump the Queue....   ;D
The SmoothStepper is a motion control device that connects to the USB port of a computer. It accepts commands from a software package such as Mach3, and produce very high quality pulse trains that drive step & direction motors.

At this time the only software package it works with is Mach3, but a Software Development Kit (SDK) is planned, which will allow you to control the SmoothStepper with your own software.

Features;

* USB Replacement for 2 parallel ports
* Integrated into Mach3 via plug-in
* No external power supply necessary
* Generates pulse rates to 4MHz
* Up to 34 I/O lines
* USB cable supplied


Note: Overseas orders are also welcome.

Cheers,

Peter.