Messages

2911

General Mach Discussion / Re: Software stops mid opperation.

« on: March 13, 2019, 05:48:53 PM »

Hi,
I, for a long time avoided external controllers, I had (still have) a dual core Atom Mini-ITX board with one built in
parallel port and I added another on a PCI card, and it worked really well.

Eventually I decided I wanted to go to Mach4 and that all but requires an external controller.
When I got it (Ethernet SmoothStepper) I found that I could tune my motors 1/3 faster and more acceleration
without losing steps, in fact run a little cooler and sound sweeter than before.

I was not unhappy with the parallel port, it seemed to go well. So I was really really surprised that an
external controller would make such a difference, but it did!

The other thing is that Mach runs better, without stopping or stuttering is you hit <redraw> say.

All up I have gone from a nay-sayer parallel port supporter to a rabid external motion controller supporter.
You will also, if you read any of my other posts, know that I absolutely hate Chinese made controllers, they don't
work as they should, if they work at all, and don't support al the features Mach has come to expect.

Craig

PS

He already said his PC is a Dell Optiplex 760 - a desktop with built in Parallel port.

Sorry missed it when skimming the thread.

2912

General Mach Discussion / Re: Software stops mid opperation.

« on: March 13, 2019, 05:12:37 PM »

Hi,
Mach's parallel port driver has always been a bit 'iffy' on certain PCs.

Some PC's seem to do a good job whereas another very similar machine does not.

Your PC is not a laptop is it? The power saving features can really screw up a parallel port, some people have had good results
with laptops but most bomb out with them.

Have you considered an external motion controller like a SmoothStepper or a UC300?

An external motion controller removes the responsibility of generating fast accurately timed pulse streams form
the PC's CPU (where Mach's  parallel port driver lives) to the external board. The external board has electronic
circuits made for the purpose and produce  pulses much faster and more accurately than a parallel port ever will.
With an external controller you can use just about any PC you like, laptop, 64 bit OS, Windows 10 etc.

The downside of an external controller is cost. The two I have mentioned are in the range of $150-$200US. Note there
are cheap Chinese made controllers and Chinese made rip-offs of name brand controllers but don't go there, they are
rubbish and will cause more frustration than the parallel port.

Craig

2913

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 / Huanyang - Goto Variable Position

« on: March 13, 2019, 04:58:59 PM »

Hi,
sounds like the VFD/spindle are producing enough electrical noise to interfere with the home switch circuit of the Z axis.

There are two schools of thought as to how to stop this.

Most people start by using screened cable for the home switches and fitting capacitors or other filters to the signal line.
These are all examples of 'reducing the sensitivity of the signal circuit to EMI'. This often works but is, in my opinion,
not the right place to start.

The other way is to reduce the EMI produced by the VFD/spindle. VFDs are notorious for drawing power from the AC
supply in a very ragged or noisy way. A line reactor is the correct way to tame a VFD. Most people don't do it because
of the expense. With a large VFD in industrial situations the power company may well insist that you do so. A large
line reactor or power factor corrector device can be a substantial fraction of the price of the VFD.

A line reactor is a coil of wire on a laminated iron core (inductance approx. 5mH) and is fitted between the AC input
and the 230V input of the VFD.
Note there are special filters that you can put between the VFD and the motor, usually only required if there is a big
distance between them. You should follow the manufacturers specs very carefully if you decide to add these types of
filters. Standard line filters are likely to damage the VFD.

A couple of things that you can try before you decide whether you have to buy anything.

1) Try some de-bounce and/or fit a 0.1uF capacitor to the Z axis home switch line.
2) Connect your VFD to a different AC socket preferably well removed from the AC socket you connect your PC and
controller power supply.

Craig

2914

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: protected dro's

« on: March 13, 2019, 04:34:30 PM »

Hi,

X Machine Position

You cannot programmatically set machine coordinates at will.

https://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=39309.0

Craig

2915

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: M6 script does not seem to take changes

« on: March 12, 2019, 01:32:37 PM »

Hi,

Also delete all .mcc files (assuming you have the source code of course) in the macros folder after editing any macro.

I don't find this necessary if I'm using the Zero Brane editor to make the changes. If any change is made (using the editor)
the file is flagged as changed and therefore will be recompiled. If it is recompiled the .mcc is overwritten, it is not necessary
to explicitly delete it.

Craig

2916

Brains Development / Re: MODBUS and Mach3 Signals

« on: March 12, 2019, 06:49:59 AM »

Hi,

If Arduino works with Grbl and other software, why do you want to make me to abort what am I going to do?

You're right....go for your life. Good luck.

Craig

2917

General Mach Discussion / Re: All home, precise backward .mm - problem

« on: March 12, 2019, 06:24:52 AM »

Hi,

So where to control how many steps or .mm axe going back before going to precise hiting the switch?

That is not how Mach operates. When homing it will drive until the switch activates and then backup until it
deactivates. Then it resets the machine coordinate for that axis. Mach does not move a certain distance.

There are some external motion controllers that DO have that capacity, the 57CNC by PoKeys for instance,
but it is not a supported feature of Mach's parallel port driver.

The real problem is that you have a switch with too little hysteresis. Snap action microswitches are good for home switches
whereas inductive proximity switches often have problems like you have described.

Ideally you would have three separate home switches, each with its own input pin AND six limit switches, there again ideally
all on their own inputs but commonly wired all together in series. The important idea is that limit switches should NOT
do double duty. This is easily possible if you have two parallel ports or an external controller with two or more ports
as you have plenty of inputs spare.

Craig

2918

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: M6 script does not seem to take changes

« on: March 12, 2019, 06:11:22 AM »

Hi,
when you call a m code Mach has a search path and it uses the first valid file it finds. That is why its essential
to use the correct naming strategy. What you have described is that Mach has found a compliant m6 file BEFORE
it got to the one that you intended.

Craig

2919

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: M6 script does not seem to take changes

« on: March 12, 2019, 02:48:00 AM »

Hi,
what did you name your macro? If you named it M6 then I would expect it to fail.

Mach4's Gcode interpreter converts all Gcode to lowercase and strips out the leading zeros, thus:
M6
m6
m06
and
M06
all get treated the same because Windows file names are case insensitive. Not withstanding that case insensitivity
there are occasions when it does create an error, and I think you have found one.

All Gcode, including m codes, should be lowercase and without leading zeros.

When you rename your macro make sure you delete the existing ****.mcc files. If Mach finds an appropriately named
***.mcc file it wont bother to compile a fresh one from the ***.mcs file.

There are two interpretations of  the T word in a line of Gcode.

m6 t5........you might expect that after the tool change tool 5 would be in the spindle. This is the common interpretation
and is familiar to us from Mach3. However in industrial machines another interpretation is possible and even desirable.
That interpretation is that tool 5 is the tool to be installed into the spindle at the NEXT tool change. This would mean
that tool carousal is ready and waiting and therefore the tool change is quicker.

Configure/Control/Tools per the attached pic.

Craig

2920

Brains Development / Re: MODBUS and Mach3 Signals

« on: March 12, 2019, 01:36:49 AM »

Hi,

I can't find how can I transmit signals for step/dir from Mach3 to Arduino.

That is not possible. USB is a serial communication protocol and so any timing of step/dir signals gets hoelessly
screwed up.

You might ask 'well how do others do it, I've seen USB connected devices producing step/dir pulses?'

The reason is because Mach does not send step/dir pulses to a USB board, it sends  P(osition)V(elocity) over T(ime)
data from its trajectory planner. That is it sends a stream of numeric data and the USB CONVERTS that numeric data
to PULSE STREAMS which it presents to the outside world in PARALLEL. That makes the USB device an external motion
controller.

You could make an Arduino into an external motion controller, but it would be challenging. Firstly the Arduino is way
too small and lacking in power. Most external controllers have a mid-level FPGA and/or a 32bit microcontroller either
or both of which make an Arduino look like  a minnow.
You would have to code a plugin (that lives on the PC) in C++ to drive the Arduino (or other control device).
If you were going to all that trouble you wouldn't bother with Mach3, its pretty old and is now unsupported. You would
have to use a really old and creaky version of Visual Studio. You would in preference use Mach4 which is at least current
and has a well developed SDK. You would need to sign a N(on)D(isclosure)A(rgeement) with NFS but then you would
get all the inside info you need.

Why don't you use an external motion controller like an Ethernet SmoothStepper directly? Note Mach3 and Mach4 have MODBUS
plugins, but the Mach4 plugin IS SO MUCH EASIER TO USE AND UNDERSTAND. It still wont communicate step/dir
in realtime but it is a dream to program and use.

Craig