Messages

4881

General Mach Discussion / Re: DRO for axis target value?

« on: April 03, 2018, 08:46:37 AM »

Hi,
as I said that is what the Gcode interpreter does. In order to formulate 'Distance To Go' Mach must have a destination in mind. To my knowledge it is not available for inspection.

I changed to Mach4 about 18 months ago and it has an API call:

LUA Syntax:
pos, rc = mc.mcCntlGcodeInterpGetPos(
      number mInst,
      number axisId)

Description:
Retrieves the current G code interpreter position for the given axis.

Which returns exactly what you wish. Presumably internal to Mach3 there must be an equivalent but if there is I'm not familiar with it.

Craig

4882

General Mach Discussion / Re: DRO for axis target value?

« on: April 03, 2018, 05:16:02 AM »

Hi,
thats what Machs Gcode interpreter does. You'd have to read the Gcode and display those in DROs, which will be hard enough for linear coordinates as a real mission
when you encounter circular moves.

I think you are looking at some very serious programming. Good luck.

Craig

4883

General Mach Discussion / Re: Running 2 instances of Mach3 on same computer to control 2 machines

« on: April 02, 2018, 07:49:08 PM »

Hi,
Mach4 has an 'instance'. While at the current time and probably for the forseeable future only one
instance can run at a time but there is the chance that more than instance could run. It would rely
on the motion controller plugins be able to run together without clashing. All up, some way off
I would guess.

I personally find it challenging enough to look after one instance let alone two!

Craig

4884

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: controlling JP-3163B in 6040T USB CNC with Mach4

« on: April 02, 2018, 02:34:48 PM »

Hi,
you've done well and got a good external motion controller and very much doubt its causing your problem. I think those stepper drivers are the problem.

Do you have them setup for microstepping? The problem you describe sounds like midband resonance which is common in cheap drivers and especially with no
microstepping employed.

Craig

4885

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: How do I make "Go to Work 0" work?

« on: April 02, 2018, 02:28:57 PM »

Hi,
if you open the screen editor and have a look at the script attached to the Go To Work Zero button you will find a function:
GoToWorkZero().

The function it self is in the screen load script, in my somewhat modified screenset  around line 250:

Code: [Select]

---------------------------------------------------------------
-- Go To Work Zero() function.
---------------------------------------------------------------
function GoToWorkZero()
    mc.mcCntlMdiExecute(inst, "G00 X0 Y0 A0")--Without Z moves
    --mc.mcCntlMdiExecute(inst, "G00 G53 Z0\nG00 X0 Y0 A0\nG00 Z0")--With Z moves
end
Note there are two lines, the second is commented out so only the first line is active. The comment associated with that line says 'Without Z moves' but note also that it demands that
the A axis be sent to work zero as well.  My machine does not have an A axis and is not defined  and therefore this line of code fails.  If I modify the line to not include the non existant
axis like this:

Code: [Select]

---------------------------------------------------------------
-- Go To Work Zero() function.
---------------------------------------------------------------
function GoToWorkZero()
    mc.mcCntlMdiExecute(inst, "G00 X0 Y0 ")--Without Z moves
    --mc.mcCntlMdiExecute(inst, "G00 G53 Z0\nG00 X0 Y0 A0\nG00 Z0")--With Z moves
end
The button now works.

Craig

4886

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: April 02, 2018, 12:25:59 AM »

Hi,
Roger is right, no matter what BoB or even external controller you use or even the steppers you use you'll need good drivers. Even if all the other components are prefect nothing
good will happen unless you have good drivers and Gecko are consistently rated the best. They are not cheap, howvever you only buy them once. Other experienced CNCers on the forum
recommend Leadshine AM882 and can be had for under $100.

Note that both the top line Geckos and the top rated Leadshine drivers are rated to 72V and 80V respectively, that's not a typo. To get the best from your steppers you should be planning to have a
power supply (evevntually) of 60V or more. You simply MUST have high voltages if you wish your steppers to run at moderate to high speeds...don't buy bull********* 50V drivers get the real deal from
the get go.

Craig

4887

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: How do i get to jog

« on: April 01, 2018, 09:02:08 PM »

Hi,
this is not the best possible board to get replies, you should post on the main Mach3 Discussion board.

To confirm you are using Windows8? If so then you cannot use a parallel port, the parallel port works with 32 bit OS's Window7 and earlier. To use
Windows8 you must use an external motion controller. Can you post the model numbers, ideally the manuals and maybe some pics of your controller
and stepper drives.

Craig

4888

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: April 01, 2018, 01:40:00 AM »

Hi,
the parallel combination is better for performance. Provided it does not get too hot that's the way to go.

A four winding two phase stepper can be run flexilbly as unipolar or bipolar and therefore potential OEMs sales increase because of the flexibility of application.

Craig

4889

General Mach Discussion / Re: Running 2 instances of Mach3 on same computer to control 2 machines

« on: April 01, 2018, 01:33:17 AM »

Hi,
Machs Parallel port is a poor or misleading name. The real smart bit of what it does is take numeric data from Machs trajectory planner an generate accurate pulse streams by running interrupt driven timers
on the PCs CPU. It has to run without significant interruption otherwise the timing of the pulse streams screws up. This code runs bit like a device driver in the Windows kernel and in order to run
in nearly un-interrupted fashion it has to 'shoulder' Windows out of the way and take over the CPU. The pulse streams are communicated to the outside world by using a DB 25 parallel port but this
pales in to insignificance compared to the real smarts of the interrupt driven timer code.

No one has got Machs Parallel Port driver to work using any virtual machine, any 64 bit OS nor has anyone got more than one driver to run at once, that includes Art Fennerty who wrote the thing
in the first place.

The Parallel Port is what it is and its not going to get anymore development. You want better buy yourself an external motion controller, not that you will be able to rune two of those simultaneously
either.

Craig

4890

General Mach Discussion / Re: Only X-axis motor is working

« on: April 01, 2018, 12:32:50 AM »

Hi,
the real figure of merit when it comes to steppers is inductance. Inductance affects how quickly current can build up in a coil. Lower inductance windings mean that the current builds up faster
and therefore the stepper can rotate faster without a significant reduction in torque.

Not all manufacturers make plain what the inductance is on their motor, I would ask. If they can't tell you don't touch it. For 23 size steppers 2mH or less is good. For 34 size look for motors of 4mH or less.

Craig