Messages

1781

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: B C axis independent from XYZ axis

« on: January 14, 2020, 04:10:07 AM »

Hi,

I apologize for starting another thread, but I try to solve the problems one at a time

I don't really car how many threads you start....its just they will all end the same way.

There is one solution....use two PCs with an external C# program to synchronise them per Katz Yakov's solution.
The other is to hassle smurph into selling you Mach4Expert which can handle multiple threads.

Craig

1782

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: How do I make the Extents mode visible

« on: January 14, 2020, 03:00:43 AM »

Hi,
in Screen Editor mode look at the properties of the toolplath window, per attached.

You can edit colors for contrast etc.

Craig

1783

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: B C axis independent from XYZ axis

« on: January 13, 2020, 01:27:00 PM »

Hi,
there was a thread about this a while back:

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=42179.msg274870#msg274870

but then....you would know, you started that thread too??

Craig

1784

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Homing doesn't set DRO's to zero

« on: January 13, 2020, 12:52:29 PM »

Hi,
most likely you have non-zero home offsets in your Homing table or you have non-zero residual G92 offsets.
To check the later look on the Machine Diagnostics tab.

Craig

1785

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: B C axis independent from XYZ axis

« on: January 13, 2020, 05:23:12 AM »

Hi,

OK, so its not about slave axes.

I want to move the B or C axis together with the XYZ axes in the same program line (Ex: B100 X200) the B axis should not be delayed by the X axis, to reach 100 before the X axis, not at the same time as now.

That is not a coordinated move. For example if you code:

g0 x100 b270

then the x axis move occurs synchronously with the b axis move and they complete at the same time. This is normal.

I you wish the B axis to move BUT NOT SYNCHRONOUSLY then it is not a b axis any more, its an 'out-of-band' axis,
shortened to OB in Mach4. The spindle is an example of an OB axis, it rotates but not synchronously with any other axis.

If you wish to have a b or c axis move at some defined rate or distance and then have a coordinated axis move simultaneously
but not synchronously then you must re-define the b or c axis motors as OB axes. Then you use the jogging APIs:

Code: [Select]

LUA Syntax:
rc = mc.mcJogIncStart(
number mInst,
number axisId,
number dist)

Description:
Start an Incermetnal jog move.

rc = mc.mcJogSetRate(
number mInst,
number axisId,
number percent)

Description:
Set the jog rate of the given axis as a percentage of the axis' maximum velocity

rc = mc.mcJogVelocityStart(
number mInst,
number axisId,
number dir);

Description:
Start a velocity jog on the given axis.

Note these APIs are required to be enacted by a macro. The macro should start the jog then return (while the jog is
still moving) and then regular Gcode moves on the remaining coordinated axes will have the desired result.

Craig

1786

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: B C axis independent from XYZ axis

« on: January 13, 2020, 01:29:53 AM »

Hi,
can you explain a bit more about what you mean.

In Mach4 there are six independent axes X,Y,Z,A,B, C any of which can be moved independently of the others,
or any combination of them can be moved in coordinated fashion, sometimes call interpolated movement.
Interpolation seems a bit weird when you mix linear and rotational axes...but I suppose its not inappropriate.

I am guessing that you have come from a Mach3 background. In Mach3 it was common to slave the A axis say,
to the X axis say, and thereafter they would move together as a master/slave pair.

Mach4 is markedly different. If your thinking along the lines of Mach3 and slaved axes you need to unlearn that.
(Large quantities of  whiskey aid my forgetting of things!!!)

If you require a slave to the X axis motor, in Mach4 you may assign up to five slaves to the X axis motor on the
Axis Mapping tab of the Control plugin page per attached.

Even more importantly and flexibly you can by Lua script link and unlink the slave/slaves from the master at will.
There are a few quirks as to how and when changes made to the linked/un-linked status of any given slave motor
is flushed to the .ini file. Lets not go down that rabbit hole for the moment. These are from the API.chm file
(Mach4 Docs):

Code: [Select]

rc = mc.mcAxisMapMotor(
number mInst,
number axisId,
number motorId)

Description:
Map a motor to an axis.

rc = mc.mcAxisUnmapMotor(
number mInst,
number axisId,
number motor)

Description:
Unmap the motor from the axis.


For instance if you have a slave motor on your gantry they would in normal operation be slaved together. What happens if the
gantry gets out-of-square? With the two APIs you can drive to the master home switch of that axis, then unlink the slave
form the master and then 'jiggle' the slave motor back and forth until the secondary home switch ( or gantry squaring switch)
is activated, then you can link the slave back to the master, and all of this can be done in a script, maybe at the push of
a button of your design.

Mach4 is most marvelously flexible once you get into it.

Craig

1787

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Make a button toggle an output

« on: January 13, 2020, 12:58:42 AM »

Hi,
have you, in the first instance, explored ALL the toggle button properties?

Refering to the attached you can set the Up text, the Down text, you can attach the button to an input OR an output.
You can set fonts and all manner of things, have you tried them all?

The events tab of the toggle button reveals that you can have an Up Action, a Down Action, an Up script and a Down
script. Of course the Actions are what is built in to Mach4 but is quite an extensive list, as the small part of the drop down
list (pictured) shows.

Even more importantly you can have your own scripts, the Up script and the Down script and scripts are limited by
your imagination only.

May  suggest explore the full range of features built in, it may well transpire that with a few keystrokes you could achieve
all you could desire WITHOUT the need for tricky-dickey code.

Craig

1788

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: CP motor, PMDX126, ESS...Limit Switch ++ tripped when touchplate gets grounded

« on: January 13, 2020, 12:36:50 AM »

Hi,

I would make the case that this is close enough... but I know I'm wrong. 

don't get me wrong, I cut corners to save budget and it is legally permissible given that I am an amateur, but the shortcuts
I take would not be permissible in a commercial machine.

I am surprised that Clearpath don't have a braked model. Then I suppose there are too few wires going to the servo to enact it.

I find that Clearpath are expensive for what you get. A 400W Delta or DMM servo and 230VAC drive costs less than a Clearpath
of 200W. Of course with a separate drive you can have many more wires for control features like a brake.

I have a braked 750W Delta B2 series servo and drive, it has in addition to step/direction inputs has 8 programmable
digital inputs, six programmable digital outputs and two programmable analogue outputs. It cost about $100USD more than
a non-braked servo, $650USD including three day DHL shipping to New Zealand. Clearpath cant get within a country mile
of that, first I don't think they make a 750W servo, certainly not one with a brake.
Clearpath CPM-SDSK-3416P is 365W for $424
Clearpath CPM-SDHP-3446D is 410W for $695
Clearpath CPM-SDHP-N0561P is 986W for $928

Delta 400W B2 series (160,000 cpr encoder) and drive $385
Delta 750W B2 series and drive $439
Delta 750W B2 series braked and drive $565

1789

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Make a button toggle an output

« on: January 12, 2020, 07:01:27 PM »

Hi,

by the way:

local stat=mc.mcSignalGetState(inst,mc.OSIG_OUTPUT0)

is completely illegal in Lua.   mc.OSIG_OUTPUT0 in Lua is an integer number, not an address. What you need is to find the 'handle'
of the signal, and the signal is numbered mc.OSIG_OUTPUT0, like this:

local SigHandle=mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst,mc.OSIG_OUTPUT0)
local stat=mc.mcSignalGetState(inst,SigHandle)

The reasoning goes that variables in Lua are dynamically created and when no longer required are garbage collected.
It is entirely possible in fact probable that over the course of a Mach4 session a variable will exist at different memory
addresses (handles) at different times.

The term 'local' means that a variable doesn't even get the dignity of a handle, it is stored in a stack. Its 'address' is like this:
'fourth from the top of the local stack'....a bit later as two variables have been popped off the stack it 'address' will now be
'second from the top of the local stack'. A little later still when that function has returned the stack has 'gone out of scope'
the whole stack is garbage collected.

Craig

1790

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Make a button toggle an output

« on: January 12, 2020, 06:43:04 PM »

Hi,
I take it you used a toggle button provided by the GUI editor?

If you look the the properties of the toggle button you will find it very flexible, it has differing colors depending on its state, differing
blink rates, and can set/unset outputs  all without scr.SetProperty(....) statements.

You should really try to avoid all the scr.SetProperty(....) type statements, they work but are far from the best and even intended use
of the scr{} table.

Craig