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Messages - Jeff_Birt

331
SmoothStepper USB / Re: How It Works ???
« on: February 02, 2012, 09:47:16 AM »
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Jeff, do you know where the protocol that Mach and the plugin communicate via is documented?

If you download the Mach SDK there are a few examples, the Galil plug-in is open source and is a good example. There is no 'documentation' on the subject though.

332
SmoothStepper USB / Re: How It Works ???
« on: February 01, 2012, 10:29:30 AM »
Mach takes a look at your GCode and 'pre plans' the moves your machine needs to make. When using the parallel port driver anything else Windows may be doing is interrupted 25,000 or more (depends on kernel setting) times a second so the parallel port driver can run. The driver takes the moves Mach has pre planned and converts them into step pulses. Since it has to run so many times a second the parallel port driver takes up a lot of processor time and its output will always have some jitter, i.e. the timing is not exactly perfect as it is software generated signal. On some PCs this timing instability can be severe on some it works well, but it will always have some jitter. All of this timing pulse generation takes a lot of processor time.

The SmoothStepper plug-in takes the same moves that Mach has pre-planned and converts them into a format that is easy for the SmoothStepper to work with and feeds them out to the SS board. The SS board uses an FPGA (programmable hardware logic) to generate all the timing pulses. The SS board does buffer a limited number of moves and constantly tells the SS plug-in what it has done and where the machine is (so the machine and Mach stay in sync.) Since the SmoothStepper does all of the time critical pulse generation in hardware there is no load on the PC (the processing the SS plug-in does in minimal compared to what the parallel port driver has to do.)

All of this means that the pules the SS outputs are rock steady, there is no jitter, and there is less load put on the PC.

The toolpath question is a tricky one. Since the SS frees up processor time on the PC it can help with the problem of Mach displaying the toolpath for large files. The real problem at this point is Mach 3. It does all of its work in a single thread so it can really get bogged down trying to generate the toolpath on large files. This can lead to Mach being bogged down and the SmoothStepper 'starving' for data.

The next major revision of Mach (V4) will have the graphics processing done in a separate thread so the main body of Mach will not get bogged down. This should put an end to the large toolpath issue. To be fair a lot depends on your PC hardware. I have run files around 600,000 lines on a cheap ($350) Shuttle all-in-one touch screen PC using the SmoothStepper and not had any issues with the toolpath display. Your PC may produce different results.

333
SmoothStepper USB / Re: Does Verify work?
« on: January 26, 2012, 11:09:46 AM »
Some of the macros built into Mach do things in a way where certain vital information is not made available to plug-ins. This means that the SmoothStepper or any other external motion controller cannot perform that function directly. As I recall with Verify the problem is calling the 'Verify all' function does not work. If you verify one axis at a time it will work. I think you can change the macro for the verify button to call each axis separately. I tried it many months ago to help a customer out but don't remember the process off the top of my head.

334
SmoothStepper USB / Re: Trouble with smooth stepper
« on: January 24, 2012, 05:56:31 PM »
It sounds like your configuration might not be quite right.

First take a look at: http://www.soigeneris.com/Document/Installing_and_Configuring_the_SmoothStepper.pdf

If you have a large file it might also be a tool path display issue, see: http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,20588.0.html.

335
SmoothStepper USB / Re: Ethernet SmoothStepper first test
« on: January 19, 2012, 11:03:45 AM »
I'm happy to provide a link :)

Here are the sheileded Ethernet patch cables: http://www.soigeneris.com/Shielded_Ethernet_cables-details.aspx

and, here are the shielded Ethernet panel mount cables: http://www.soigeneris.com/Ethernet_Panel_Mount_Cable-details.aspx

oh, and the 5V power supplies: http://www.soigeneris.com/MeanWell_PS_05_Power_Supplies-details.aspx

The Panel Mount Ethenet cables are slick. The panel opening is just a little bigger than the USB version and the screw holes are almost the same as well. I was able to make one panel that works with either version of cable.

336
SmoothStepper USB / Re: Ethernet SmoothStepper first test
« on: January 19, 2012, 10:03:38 AM »
The ESS is on sale now! I also have shielded Ethernet panel mount cables, shielded Ethernet cables, 5V power supplies, etc:

http://www.soigeneris.com/Ethernet_SmoothStepper-details.aspx

Also, complete plug-and-play Ethernet SmoothStepper boxes: http://www.soigeneris.com/SSENC_2_Ethernet_SmoothStepper_System-details.aspx

I'll have some photos up soon. It has been a busy week so I have not had time to snap some nice photos.

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I was mostly curious if Greg had spiffed up the interface for the configurator and stuff.


He has been working on them. Not sure when new versions will be released though.

337
The problem is that your PC is spending so much time drawing the tool path that it can't feed data to the SmoothStepper fast enough. The only solutions are to turn off the toolpath, or put in a video card that has its own RAM, or upgrade your PC. I have heard that Mach 3 V4 should have an improved way it does the video so it will eliminate these types of problems.

338
As I mentioned the SS has no issue with large files. Mach sometimes can have issues with large files for a few different reasons. The biggest trouble maker is the tool path display, sometimes keeping up with a large toolpath display slows Mach down too much. This is primarily a problem with very large files. Also make sure that your file is on the hard drive of your PC. Mach can have problems with running a file from a network share or a thumb-drive.

Also look out for anything that might have changed on your system. Programs like Acrobat Reader, ITunes, etch can interfere with Mach.

339
A 'time out', 'ran out of data' pop up is usually a sign that your configuration is not correct so Mach is not feeding information to the SmoothStepper fast enough. Look in the SmoothStepper section here for the 'Installation Tips' document: http://www.soigeneris.com/Documentation-content.aspx. It will help you get your PC settings correct and show you how to figure out the SmoothStepper settings.

I was running some test file which had over 750,000 lines a few weeks ago for a customer and had no issues at all.

340
General Mach Discussion / Re: Sometimes Mach just 'goes away'?
« on: January 15, 2012, 11:10:54 AM »
I had something similar happen a few times to a customer. He would be running a part (somethign that took many hours to run) and come back to find that Mach had shut down. I also could not turn up anything in searches.