Messages

2471

Mach4 Plugins / Re: Mach4 Modbus with arduino UNO

« on: May 24, 2019, 04:36:05 PM »

Hi,
your welcome.

Mach4 and the ESS is going to blow your mind.....once you realize the potential you'll have machine designs and
control strategies for every situation!

Craig

2472

Mach4 Plugins / Re: Mach4 Modbus with arduino UNO

« on: May 24, 2019, 02:46:14 PM »

Hi,

The drivers I´m working with have isolators so the BoB is not essential right?

No, a Bob is not essential but one small slip and you will blow the ESS. Is that what you want?
The C25 is like having two C10's. Its a perfectly acceptable solution. The C10 is bi-directional so you can assign
the second C10 to use pins 2-9 as inputs OR outputs. Note the C25 has no optos or relays etc, but then neither
does the C10. The only thing that some users have found is that the LED and 220R current limit resistor across each
of the C25 inputs have dragged the inputs low unintentionally and some users have removed the 220R resistor or LED or
both to prevent them from loading the input.

The part about the 3.3V and the 5V, is what confuses me... According to the product details of the ESS, all pins are rated for 0V to 5V

No, you are correct, all IO is buffered through 5V TTL despite the FPGA being 3.3V

I work in the electronics field and get nervous when I encounter what amounts to unprotected inputs and outputs like
those on the ESS, one small slip on my part with a multimeter probe or oscilloscope probe can damage the device,
people bring me stuff to fix...not to break!

Craig

2473

Mach4 Plugins / Re: Mach4 Modbus with arduino UNO

« on: May 24, 2019, 01:07:32 PM »

Hi,

The part i do not understand is why i will need a BoB.

A BoB, or breakout board is not absolutely essential. The main device on the ESS board is the FPGA and is a 3.3V device.
You can hook direct to it but all your control circuitry but would have to be able to work with 3.3V TTL logic. If one
driver feeds back anything more than 3.3V the FPGA blows up.

The main point of having a, or several BoBs, is to provide isolation between the ESS and the real world of drivers and limit switches
and a safe and convenient means to attach the wires. The BoB's themselves don't add any logic or other capability.

The C10 from CNC4PC is a cheap ($23) bi-directional board. You would need one at least for your machine. One BoB would
provide 12 outputs and five inputs. If you want more you could add another BoB which would give you (assuming you set the
bi-directional capacity of the second BoB to 'input') 18 inputs and 16 outputs. That should be plenty.

Note that the C10's are pretty simple. They don't have opto-isolators or relays or PWM to analogue circuits. If you need or
want some of those you would have to make them yourself and add them to the BoB's.

https://www.cnc4pc.com/c10-bi-directional-parallel-port-interface-card.html

I use a pair of Homann Designs BoB's, very similar to the C10's but Aussie made.

https://www.homanndesigns.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=54_22&products_id=59&zenid=f5jiqild0t71ocv07ujtl80r43

There are more sophisticated BoB's that have all that extra circuitry built in, at greater cost. Also you are then required to
accept the BoB manufacturers solution as to the correct balance of inputs/outputs and the circuitry associated with each.

A good example is the MB3 of CNCRoom, it is specifically for the ESS, it has all three ports of the ESS developed with a balance
of opto-isolated inputs/outputs, differential and single ended inputs/outputs, relays and PWM circuits. Cost $180.

https://www.cncroom.com/interface-cards/mb3?zenid=bjg2fff5vgaekcvvaquepcint7

The ESS is a good choice for an external controller but it does really require a BoB or you risk damaging the ESS.

The PMDX-424 is another choice, it has two ports worth of IO and has a built-in power supply and does not require
a BoB. It is a highly practical solution of very good quality and support/backup. It does not have all the realtime
functionality of the ESS however, things like spindle PID and THC for instance, but does support lathe threading.

https://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-424

If you are scanning around for external controllers, what they support and what they require regarding BoBs:

https://warp9td.com/
https://www.cncdrive.com/UC300ETH.html
https://www.poscope.com/product/pokeys57cnc/
https://www.pmdx.com/SmartBOB-compare
http://www.vitalsystem.com/portal/motion/hicon/hicon_integra/hicon_integra.php

The CSMIO probably belongs on this list but is so pricey and its Mach4 plugin is that buggy that I hesitate to recommend it.
Likewise the XHC product, it doesn't work at all well.

If you have heaps of money and want true industrial quality then consider

http://www.galilmc.com/motion-controllers/multi-axis/dmc-40x0
starts at $2000 for a three axis controller.

Craig

2474

Mach4 Plugins / Re: Mach4 Modbus with arduino UNO

« on: May 24, 2019, 11:28:00 AM »

Hi,
you could use Arduinos to connect Mach4 to your drivers but the effort involved is huge.

Mach4 is a trajectory planner. It produces streams of numbers that describe the P(osition) and V(elocity) over
T(ime) in one millisecond slices. The motion controller takes that numerical data and converts that into pulse streams
for the drivers.

The external motion controllers I've mentioned have either microcontrollers, an FPGA or DSP chips on board or sometimes all
three. The combination is very much more powerful than an Arduino.

You could replicate what they have done but it would be thousands of hours worth of programming to write both the plugin
that lives in Mach4 to adapt it to your controller and also the software for the Arduinos themselves. Remember that the Arduinos
will be required to handle all the realtime functions like homing, probing, limits, THC, lathe threading......etc autonomously.
Making your own motion controller is a HUGE undertaking.

Using Arduinos as a Modbus node is entirely doable. The node could control a spindle or maybe a tool changer, in fact that
is the ideal application for the Modbus protocol.

What Modbus cannot do is transmit simultaneously pulse streams from Mach to your drivers. One is that Mach does not
produce pulse streams but rather PVT data. Two is that Modbus cannot transmit data to multiple devices simultaneously,
or in less than a few micro seconds.

Im looking the Ethernet SmoothStepper (B-ESS), using that and its plugin im going to be able to control my drivers?

The reason im doing all of this is because i didnt know how to connect my Mach4 to my drivers.

There are a number of motion controllers that you might consider, other than making your own out of Arduinos,
including the Darwin Parallel port. The Darwin Parallel Port ($25 license fee applies) is a software driver that lives on your PC
within the kernel and produces pulse streams for the drivers out of a DB25 parallel port plug. Like the Mach3 parallel port
that it resembles it to must run on a 32 bit Windows OS PC of Windows 7 or earlier. Also like the Mach3 parallel port driver
it has the same limitations like competing software running on the PC causing stuttering and stalling of Mach. Additionally
the Darwin parallel port does not do certain realtime functions like THC and lathe threading. Art Fennerty, who wrote
Darwin has long since stated the Darwin will NEVER have those advanced realtime functions.

Mcah4 was always intended to be complemented by an external hardware motion controller. There are five US and European
made controllers ranging from about $125 to about $600. Galil also do a Mach4 compatible controller but expect to pay over $2000
for a three axis controller.

If you are looking at cheap Chinese made controllers there are none that work with Mach4. There is one company who claim
to have a Mach4 compatible controller, XHC, but it doesn't work.......avoid like the plague.

At the current time the Ethernet SmoothStepper ($190) is the stand-out controller for Mach4 in the 'value for money segment'
of the market. It has recently acquired all the realtime functionality including Backlash Comp, single point Lathe Threading,
realtime THC, spindle PID etc. It has matched and exceeded the Hicon Integra ($600 from Vital Systems) in realtime
functionality and leaves all its competing controllers in its own price bracket like the UC300 and 57CNC in the dust
in terms of realtime functionality.

Mach4 is very good software but to get the most from it really requires an external motion controller like I have described.
Thus Mach4, an ESS and couple of cheapo bi-directional BoBs will set you back about $450-$600.
Mach3 is $175 and you can use a number of motion controllers from Mach3's parallel port driver for free and a number
of cheap, if you tolerate Chinese rubbish, controllers from $50 upwards.

Craig

2475

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Two second output signal on M5 command.

« on: May 24, 2019, 04:00:49 AM »

Hi,

there is no code under spindle cw and ccw buttons. All it is now, SpinCW() and SpinCCW()

That's correct, and its been that way for years. SpinCW() is a Lua function that turns the spindle on clockwise if its stopped
or stops it if its on. The function is defined and found in the screen load script, I posted a copy of it last post as an example
so you could see how to use it and what instructions Mach uses to do things.

I will repeat it here:

Code: [Select]

-- Spin CW function.
---------------------------------------------------------------
function SpinCW()
    local sigh = mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst, mc.OSIG_SPINDLEON);
    local sigState = mc.mcSignalGetState(sigh);
   
    if (sigState == 1) then
        mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 0);
    else
        mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 1);
    end
end
The only instruction you need is this one:

mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 0).....it sets the spindle direction to zero, ie it stops it.

If you have an m5() macro execute that line the spindle will stop. Thus you simplest m5() macro would be:

Code: [Select]

function m5()
      local inst=mc.mcGetInstance()
      mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst,0)                                   --Stops the spindle
      local hsig=mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst,mc.OSIG_OUTPUT12)             --assumes your output is output#12
      mc.mcSignalSetState(hsig,1)                                        --Sets the output high
      wx.wxMilliSleep(2000)                                              --Wait for two seconds
      mc.mcSignalSetState(hsig,0)                                        -- Sets the output low         
end

if (mc.mcInEditor()==1)then
      m5()
end


2476

Mach4 Plugins / Re: Mach4 Modbus with arduino UNO

« on: May 24, 2019, 03:37:19 AM »

Hi,
not quite sure what you are trying to achieve but Modbus cannot be used to control axis motors in realtime.

The correct way to control your machine is:

Mach4>>external motion controller (like an ESS or UC300 or Hicon)>>breakout board (if required by your motion controller)>>
Step/Dir servo or stepper drivers.

When you use the Mach Modbus plugin it will create registers, it is the 'owner' of the registers. If you want to access them
for anywhere in Mach you can using:

value, rc = mcRegGetValue(
      number hReg)

and

rc = mc.mcRegSetValue(
      number hReg,
      number value)

For instance if you wish to set a Mobus register to the same as a Mach output, (Machs outputs are owned by Machs core):

local hsig=mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst,mc.OSIG_OUTPUT12)
local DesiredVariable=mc.mcSignalGetState(hsig)
local hreg=mc.mcRegGetHandle(inst,"Modbus0/YourVariableName")
mc.mcRegSetValue(hreg,DesiredVariable)

and so on.

Craig

2477

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Homing Incredibly Slow Problem

« on: May 24, 2019, 03:19:53 AM »

Hi,

Can I use the homing switches as limit switches?
Is there a 'best way' to set-up the limits on a machine like mine?

Yes you can combine home and limit functions in one switch ......but why?

If you combine the x++ limit switch and also make it your x axis home switch then WHEN HOMING  Mach will have to
ignore the switch activation as a limit and treat it as a home switch activation. So just while your machine is making
maximum extent excursions Mach has to ignore limits.....yeah right.....that's a good idea!.

If however you have separate limit and home switches no confusion exists. The limit switches are ALWAYS at the max
extents, any activation causes the machine to stop....no ifs or buts...always. Your home switches can be anywhere,
it is common to mount them just short of limits but they could in fact be anywhere in the travel zone. Using home offsets
allows you to define 'Home" as the lower left corner say but the home switches activate near the middle of travel in all axes.

It also means that you can use switches optimized for each job. For instance snap action microswitches have a defined
hysteresis and are superb home switches whereas proximity switches with ill defined hysteresis are not. They do make excellent
limit switches however as they can easily be mounted in such a fashion as not to be destroyed by an over-limit excursion.

Mach4 and your Hicon Integra have swags of spare inputs....why not use them and make your machine control robust?
In Mach3 when so many people had only a single port with only five inputs it was necessary to combine switches because of
the lack of spare inputs.....that is WELL BEHIND you now, so use the advantages that the software and hardware controller
offer.

Craig

2478

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Two second output signal on M5 command.

« on: May 22, 2019, 03:07:14 PM »

Hi,
yes it will be necessary to write a new m5 macro and put it in the macros folder of your profile.

When the Gcode interpreter encounters a macro call like m5() it starts searching for it, first in your macros folder.
If it finds it then Mach will execute the code in it. If it does not find it, it searches in higher folders of the search tree
until it finds Machs built in m5().

If you wish to write your own m5() you will need to include all the functionality of the built in m5() plus whatever
functionality you want.

The trick is trying to discover what the 'original' code is and THEN add to it.

This is the code from the m3/m5 button on the screen and is found in the screen load script:

Code: [Select]

[---------------------------------------------------------------
-- Spin CW function.
---------------------------------------------------------------
function SpinCW()
    local sigh = mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst, mc.OSIG_SPINDLEON);
    local sigState = mc.mcSignalGetState(sigh);
   
    if (sigState == 1) then
        mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 0);
    else
        mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 1);
    end
end
/code]

The spindle is stopped when this instruction is executed:
mc.mcSpindleSetDirection(inst, 0), pretty simple.

You could make your own m5() by using that instruction plus whatever timer you want.

Craig

2479

LazyCam (Beta) / Re: Having issues loading GCode

« on: May 21, 2019, 10:06:33 AM »

Hi.
try removing the curly braces.

Craig

2480

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 + ESS Smoothstepper + THC3T-02 + KL-1313 CNC

« on: May 21, 2019, 03:32:36 AM »

Hi,

2 start plasma (type:input) -> I have these 2 wired to input pins # 11 & 15 of BoB

No, that is not correct. The manual tells you that you need  a dry contact between the two wires. That does not
mean two pins on your BoB. You need one pin on your BoB to turn on a relay and a normally open contact pair
of the relay are hooked to the two start wires of the plasma.

2 start machine motion (Type:output)-> I have these 2 wired to output pins # 16 & 17 of BoB

No, that is not correct. The manual tells you that this signal is the same as 'Arc OK' and it is signaled by a dry contact closure
between the two wires of the plasma. You would hook one to the 0V of your BoB and the other to one input pin of your
BoB assuming a pull up resistor at the input pin.

DIR_IN -> Wired to BoB same pin which is connected to Z axis servo motor DIR-
STEP_IN -> Wired to BoB same pin which is connected to Z axis servo motor STEP-

The THC3T is a hardware controller, it adds or subtracts pulses in addition to those coming from the Bob/ESS to the pulse stream
going to the Z axis driver. You realize that the Z axis will lose reference in Mach. Mach has no way to know how many extra
pulses have been added or subtracted and thus the Z axis will lose reference.

ARC_OK -> Wired to BoB input pin # 12
EXT_COM -> BoB ground pin

You could hoo these direct to the 'Arc OK' dry contact closure of the plasma OR have the 'Arc OK' hooked to a Mach input
and have that input reflected to a Mach output which in turn signals the THC3T.

Craig