Topics

1

Mach4 General Discussion / 'Cannot initialise core instance'

« on: January 14, 2024, 04:16:26 PM »

Hi,
I have just tried to fire up Mach4Hobby on my regular PC only to find this error.
Never seen it before. The only thing I can think of is that maybe a MS update has screwed something up. I have not done anything (I believe??) to the
copy of Mach4 on this PC???

Craig

2

Mach4 General Discussion / Rotary Axes in Radians vs Degrees?

« on: February 19, 2023, 03:35:55 PM »

Hi,
I fairly recently started using continous four axis toolpaths and find the the A axis units (in degrees) is a pain.

For instance if I wanted to put a thread on a shaft I might do so like this:

g1 a3600 x-15 f5400

the a 3600 means rotate 10 times ie 3600 degrees, the x-15 means the pitch is 15/10=1.5mm, and f5400 means that the cut speed is 5400 degrees per minute, being
150rpm, the max speed of my fourth axis.

Note that might also mean that any of the linear axes are under the current Feed Rate of 5400 mm/min, which is ludicrously fast for a linear axis to cut, in metals anyway.
The linear axes are coordinated so the max speed of the A axis effectively 'throttles' the linear axes, but given that F is modal any successive linear moves could conceivably
take off at 5400mm/min and crash.

Lets imagine the units for a rotary axis were in Radians then the Gcode would become:

g1 a68.82 x-15 f942.3

where 68.82 is ten revolutions in  radians (10 x 2.PI) and 942.3 is 150 rpm ( 150 x 2.PI)

Should a subsequent linear move be attempted at the prevailing Feed Rate it would be 942.3mm/min, which is a far more acceptable rate for a metal cutting machine.

I use Fusion which can post either radians OR degrees so I could very easily have all my rotary axis Gcode in radians if only Mach4 would recognise radians
as a rotational unit. If Smurph or Brian or Goomba is listening.....can this be done easily?

Craig

3

Mach4 General Discussion / How does G30 work?

« on: January 18, 2023, 05:52:42 PM »

Hi,
I have need for G30.  This is from the Gcode manual.

Code: [Select]

G30 – 2nd, 3rd, 4th Zero Return
G30 functions the same way as G28, moving the machine to a zero return point via an intermediate
point. However, instead of sending the machine to the home position, G30 movement ends at a user
definable 2nd, 3rd, or 4th zero return point, specified by P2, P3, or P4 respectively. If P is omitted the 2nd
zero return point is selected. This is handy for tool changers that are not located at the home position
or any number of other applications.
Format: G30 P__ X__ Y__ Z__ A__ B__ C__
The 2nd zero return point is defined by # variables as follows:
Axis P2 # Variables P3 # Variables P4 # Variables
X     5301               5311              5321
Y     5302               5312              5322
Z     5303               5313              5323
A     5304               5314              5324
B     5305               5315              5325
C     5306               5316              5326
The position values in the # variables can be set in a program or in MDI mode
The problem is that no matter what numbers I put into the pound variables the machine always drives to the machine zero (0,0,0) rather than the coordinates
UI have programmed into the pound variables. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?.

Craig

4

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4Expert, can instances be sequenced or synchronised

« on: December 06, 2022, 05:33:20 PM »

Hi All,
hoping that someone out there is already using Mach4Expert with multiple instances.

As the title of my post suggests I'm interested in whether separate instances may be sequenced or even synchronised.

I've seen a couple of APIs in Mach4Hobby which look promising:

LUA Syntax:
rc = mc.mcCntlStopMotionDev(
      number mInst);

Description:
Stop the selected motion device.

LUA Syntax:
rc = mc.mcCntlStartMotionDev(
      number mInst)

Description:
Starts the selected motion device.

Are there more of this sort of thing in Expert?

Craig

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Servo Wiring

« on: May 19, 2022, 05:38:17 PM »

Hi,
Rimmel and I have been sharing a few PM's so that he can understand the requirements of wiring servos to Mach/ESS/BoB..

There is nothing secret about it so I thought I would post so others can see (benefit?) and/or comment.

Note that I use Delta servos and the diagram I have posted is how I have programmed and hard wired the Delta drives and the BoB is my own design.
Having said that Rimmel's Panasonic drives and MB3 breakout board should be sufficiently similar that the same scheme can be applied. Note also that there are dozens
of different ways and/or variations on how this can be done, with and without good reasons. This is just how I have done it, and with any sort of luck will be able to communicate
why I did it this way.

The first question Rimmel asked is where the 24V comes from? Firstly his MB3, and my own BoB have a 24V supply. However my Delta servos have an internal 24V supply
and I use it for the a bias source for the photodiodes. So there are two sources of 24V power. Note that the supplies share a COM. I imagine the Panasonic drives will have a similar
built-in supply.

A brief description is in order.
Not counting the two differential Step/Dir pairs there are two outputs from the BoB to two inputs of the drive. They are an Enable and a Reset. Note that I have used the internal 24V
supply, via the built-in dropper resistors, to the photodiode. If the BoB goes low then current will flow through the photodiode and thus signal the drive. Note also that the transistor in the
BoB can only sink current when the ESS drives the base high. That is to say the ESS and therefore Mach must be active before the transistor can conduct, and is fail-safe. If the ESS or Mach
give up the ghost for any reason then the Enable signal will disappear and all servos will stop.

The Reset signal is to reset the drive after a fault condition, with any sort of luck hardly ever. My Delta servos, if they fault, require either a power cycle OR a Reset in order to clear a fault condition.
I have a button (on screen) that I activate which in turn pulses the Reset output of the BoB, with its transistor switching on and sinking the photodiode current thereby signalling the drive and
resetting it.

Note also that I have just one Enable output and one Reset output and they are sent to all servos. Rimmel has commented that his MBS3 BoB outputs can sink 70mA. Each servo sources about 5 maybe 10mA
so having three servos commoned together would still only require the MBS output sink 15-30mA, well within spec.

The alarm is an output of the drive and therefor an input to the BoB. Ihave used the 24V supply of the BoB via a dropper resistor to source about 5mA. The phototransistor in the drive conducts in a fault
condition and therefore drags the BoB input low, to nearly 0V, which in turn signals (active low) the ESS.

I have one alarm input per servo so Mach and therefore I know which servo faulted. If you are trying to economise on inputs you could have all servo alarms hooked to just the one input, and that one input
would trigger an Estop. Your choice.

6

Mach4 General Discussion / Gage Block DRO

« on: October 06, 2021, 04:17:58 PM »

Hi All,
I have build 4735 installed and have found a fault that I have not encountered before.

I use the gage block DRO occasionally and normally I would click on the DRO, enter the desired gage block height, hit <Enter> and the
new value sticks in the DRO. With this current build (4735) the value of the DRO is 5.0000 and if I update the DRO and hit <Enter> the value
remains 5.0000.  I've opened the screen editor and the DRO has an EditorProperty of 'In Place', and I would therefore have thought that the DRO should
update, but it does not?

Any ideas?

Craig

7

Mach4 General Discussion / Mcode does not run from Gcode nor MDI

« on: August 16, 2021, 07:18:51 PM »

Hi,
yesterday I updated to the latest build of Mach4Hobby and ESS plugin.

Now I have a problem that my macros will not run from either a Gcode file nor MDI, despite the macros running properly if I use
the Lua editor.

I feel there is something basic I'm missing.....and cannot for the life of me remember what it is.

Craig

8

Newfangled Mill Wizard / Can I add to the Tool Library??

« on: July 03, 2020, 09:51:51 PM »

Hi,
I use MillWizard alsmost daily, its so handy for doing small jobs.

I use 0.5mm, 0.8mm and 1.5mm endmils alot. The 0.8mm and 1.5mm are four flute and the 0.5mm
are two flute.

When I go to do a new job you have to select the tool but none of these endmills occurr in the tool library.
I've not found a way to include my go-to tools in the library. Is there some technique or manipulation that I'm
missing?

Craig

9

General Mach Discussion / What to buy for a new project

« on: June 10, 2020, 08:39:54 PM »

Hi,
price scales exponentially with size, particularly if you require the rigidity to machine aluminum. If you want to machine
steel then factor at least a five-fold increase in rigidity, in fact a router table is the wrong design for ferrous materials, for those
you need a mill.

PMDX controllers are parallel port for Mach3. The only PMDX external motion controllers are for Mach4.

Do you wish to persue a parallel port or do you wish an external controller?

Leadshine have a range of controllers that are very capable but less costly than Geckos, the AM882 for example.

34 Size steppers have great torque but are as slow as a wet week....if you must use 34 (or bigger) then select models with
the lowest possible inductance or you will be dissapointed.

If you are of the opinion that you need the torque that you can get from 34 size steppers you should consider AC servos, an
appropriately sized servo will leave any stepper in the shade.

Craig

10

Mach4 General Discussion / Mach4 feature vs Mach3

« on: April 20, 2020, 07:20:31 PM »

Hi,
as most of you know I post here and other places frequently about CNC generally and Mach4 in particular.

I find myself trying to describe why Mach4 is so much better and more sophisticated than Mach3. The problem is
that when I go to write about it I'm overwhelmed with ideas and features I find it hard to encapsulate all of it in
readable fashion.

What I am hoping to do is start this thread and have users post what they particularly like (or don't) and thereby
develop a list that may be presented to a person tyring to decide whether to go with Mach3 or step up to Mach4.

I'm going to start with some features that I really like about Mach4 that exceed the similar facility in Mach3:

1) Zero Brane Editor. I like the file tree that you don't get is Mach3. I like the breakpoint assignment features,
step wise run features, its more sophisticated and flexible than Mach3 and approaches the level of flexiblity
that you might expect in an IDE like MSStudio. I like also the stack dump and other diagnostic messages that you get
but don't get with Mach3.

2) The PLC. In Mach3 you have but one macro pump, any and all macros that need to run continuously must all be incorperated
into the one macro pump macro. The PLC is an analogougus place in which to concerntrate such code but can be done in
individual functions. In Mach3 any fault in one part of the macropump code screwed the rest of it, not so with the PLC where
individulal functions can be tested without upsetting the others. The PLC rate is determined by setting and is an order of magnitude
faster than Mach3 by default and can be programmed to run faster again.

3) I like the slave axis arrangement with Mach4. In Mach3 if you wanted a slave axis you had to use the A axis and re-imagine it
as a linear axis slaved to another. With Mach4 you do not have to re-imagine any axis just to get a slave, any axis can have up
to four slave motors. Further these slave motors can be programmatically linked and unlinked via API calls for sophisticated
synchronization schemes.

4) The Mach3 Modbus feature is a nightmarish confusing beast which I now refuse to involve myself in. The Mach4 Modbus
plugin is a dream by comparison. I especially like that Modbus variables have a register, thus you can use the data from
a macro, PLC or PMC whereas in Mach3 the Modbus data was available only as a Brain, the conceptual equivalent to PMC.
Likewise youcan use a macro or PLC or PMC to set the register and that data will propogate out to the Modbus device....so
superior to Mach3.

Ok, these are the features that I like and come to mind on the fly. I hope others will post what they like and we might start
to build a bullet list of features, maybe  with liknks to individual posts to flesh out the bullet points.

Craig