Messages

1361

Newfangled Mill Wizard / Re: MillWizard in Mach4

« on: October 05, 2020, 06:56:34 AM »

Hi,
could you not put a button on-screen and attach a script that fires up Mill-Wizard?.

Mill-Wizard is one of the very few programs that I have running on the PC that runs my mini-mill.
Mill-Wizard is at all times live and on the task bar.....so I don't need any extra button to gain access to it,
I just hit the task bar icon and there it is.

Craig

1362

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 connected TCP or modbus PLC S7 1200

« on: October 05, 2020, 06:50:14 AM »

Hi,
Mach4 generates numeric motion data which is consumed by a compatible motion controller.
The data packets represent P(osition) and V(elocity) over T(ime) and are in 1ms time slices. They are stored
up in the motion buffer while the motion controller enacts those motion commands.

A PLC cannot do what is required to be a Mach4 compatible motion controller. Firstly MODBUS is a factor
of ten TOO SLOW, and secondly no PLC can decode Mach4's numeric motion data. Lastly PLC's are not known
for producing coordinated motion of two axes....let alone six.

There are five manufacturers of very credible Mach4 compatible motion controllers with as many as ten different models
for less than $250USD. Why bother with a PLC when perfectly good motion controllers can be had that cheap?

Craig

1363

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mach4 license

« on: September 25, 2020, 03:24:46 AM »

Hi,
you will have to get a new PCID specific license. If you log onto the NFS you can mange your own license.

You can relinquish the old PCID license and enter the new PCID to get a new license file.

Craig

1364

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: problem about tool change M6

« on: September 16, 2020, 06:23:12 AM »

Hi,
not quite sure what you guys are on about, files of type .m1s are for Mach3. This is a Mach4 board.

Lua source files are of type .mcs and compiled Lua files are of type .mcc.

Additionally its normal in Mach3 to have an M6Start script but not so in Mach4.

If your script is compiled VB then it won't run in Mach4.......Mach4 uses Lua 5.3 for scripting.

Craig

1365

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: probe problem G31

« on: September 14, 2020, 05:21:46 AM »

Hi,
probing doesn't work in a sim environment, and that has nothing to do with demo mode either.

Probing is, and must be a realtime function and therefore MUST be handled by hardware. Consequently probing
CANNOT be accomplished in a sim environment.

I tried a while ago to have two or three keyboard keys assigned to Mach's probe inputs, and it worked....sort of.
As the input, and therefore the return value of the probe event depends on when you push the button it was so random
that no real meaningful testing could be done. I abandoned the effort is favor of the real thing with an ESS.

Craig

1366

Feature Requests / Re: Z axis laser focusing control

« on: September 09, 2020, 04:41:50 AM »

Hi,
Mach3 is not a feedback controller, the communication delays and particularly the motion buffer delay, preclude any useful closed loop performance.

If you wish to use the LVDT as a feedback device and use it in manner not dissimilar to Torch Height Control, familiar to plasma table
enthusiasts, then you will need an external motion controller that can close the loop. Mach3 can supervise the but cannot close the loop
itself.

The two best known feedback capable controllers are the Hicon Integra or the CSMIO/A at $1200 (with the required activations) and 600 Euro
respectively.

If your feedback requirement is very low bandwidth, say of the order of seconds, then using a Mach3 Brain would work.

Mach4 has a similar feature called PMC but is nearly two orders of magnitude faster and so might be used to make a feedback loop
of 10Hz or so. Indeed NFS has released a THC feature that uses this technique, while not the high bandwidth you would expect from
a realtime controller, its still adequate for THC with modest dynamic requirements.

Craig

1367

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: nMotion Drivers

« on: September 06, 2020, 06:56:15 AM »

Hi,
any external motion control board must have a Mach4 compliant plugin that adapts the motion control features of the board
to the trajectory planner of Mach4.

Each control board manufacturer has to develop such a plugin. NFS are of course enthusiastic and will support any manufacturer
to produce a plugin, after all it means more Mach4 ready hardware for potential new users and therefore customers of NFS.

At this time there are seven manufacturers who have invested the effort to make a plugin, nMotion is not among them.

The leading contenders are:
Vital Systems to suit their Hicon Integra board.
Warp9TD to support their Ethernet SmoothStepper.
PMDX to support their PMDX-411, PMDX-424 boards.
CNCDrive to support their UC series boards and seemingly also their new AXBB-E board.
PoKeys to support their 57CNCdb25 and 57CNC boards.

CSLabs have written a plugin but is tolerably buggy and they have been VERY tardy it trying to fix it. The plugin is to support their
CSMIO/P and CSMIO/A boards, both good quality boards but let down by the buggy plugin.

XHC, the lone Chinese manufacturer has written a plugin but its atrocious, avoid like the plague!!!

Of these manufacturers and their boards I prefer the Ethernet SmoothStepper at $180. Warp9TD have offered continuous development
and is arguably the best performer in the lower cost market segment, but any of the manufacturers, excluding CSLabs and XHC, offer
products that work as advertised and support their customers.

Craig

1368

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Running Mach 4 ver.2 on Windows XP

« on: September 02, 2020, 04:13:28 AM »

Hi,
XP, Win7, Win 10.....who bloody cares?. All that matters is that Mach4 runs seamlessly and it will
on any Win7, Win 8 or Win 10 machine.

Craig

1369

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 vers Mach 4

« on: August 31, 2020, 02:43:10 AM »

Hi,
Mach3 works fine, its just that Mach4 is that much better crafted.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=42891.0

Craig

1370

General Mach Discussion / Re: External Controller Advice

« on: August 27, 2020, 02:47:31 AM »

Hi,
at the current time the Ethernet SmoothStepper, breakout board of your choice and a TMC troch height control
partnered with Mach4 offer the best overall solution for plasma with Mach as CNC software. The TMC anti-dive routines are
class leading.

raig