Messages

6841

General Mach Discussion / Re: Read external input

« on: August 15, 2017, 03:28:05 AM »

Hi,
Ive already got an m110 so I called this m120 instead...

Code: [Select]

function m120();
local inst=mc.mcGetInstance();
local SigHandle=mc.mcSignalGetHandle(inst,mc.ISIG_INPUT1);
if SigHandle==0 then wx.wxMessageBox('Bad Handle') end;
SigState,rc=mc.mcSignalGetState(SigHandle);
if SigState==0 then
    wx.wxMessageBox('SigState is false');
else
    wx.wxMessageBox('SigState is true')
end
end

if mc.mcInEditor()==1 then
    m120()
end
and it seems to work.

Craig

6842

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Multiple Probe inputs

« on: August 12, 2017, 08:51:02 PM »

Hi,
just had another thought...how about an 'inverter' applied to one signal, that would make both signals NO or alternately NC which would
mean you could parallel both together on your probe input pin. Mach could not tell which signal had operated but at least one did.

Craig

6843

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Multiple Probe inputs

« on: August 12, 2017, 08:46:41 PM »

Hi,
you either need some sort of switch, probably a change-over relay or upgrade to Mach4. Mach4 allows multiple, four I think, probe
inputs which can be assigned independently.

Craig

6844

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Machine position

« on: August 11, 2017, 04:16:14 PM »

Hi,
the DRO block has two tabs....'current position' and 'program extents'. Without a program loaded the extents are all zero and they don't change
as you jog. Ensure that the 'current position' tab is displayed.

At the bottom of the DRO block there are some buttons including 'machine co-ords' and 'distance to go'. Flick the 'machine co-ords' button a few times
just to ensure the DRO is displaying co-ords rather than distance.

Bye the way-welcome aboard.
Let us know how you get on.

Craig

6845

General Mach Discussion / Re: Some advice needed on Motion Control and Drivers

« on: August 10, 2017, 04:35:38 AM »

Hi,
the driver chips look like Toshiba 6600 or similar, they are good value for money ie cheap but are inclined to go bang.

Higher voltage means more than just speed, it means greater motor torque at moderate speeds. Even low voltages will spin an unloaded
stepper fast but ANY load and it will stall, the same motor with higher voltage will have the torque to accelerate and maintain a load at that speed.

Craig

6846

General Mach Discussion / Re: Panasonic servo motor mdma152p1c parameter setting?

« on: August 10, 2017, 02:55:13 AM »

Hi,
what terminals in the CN-X5 connector are the wires hooked to?

That will determine which of the two wiring schemes on page B24 of the manual that you'll need to use.

I suspect that you will need a couple of transistors to signal the drive properly. What BoB are you using? Do you have a circuit diagram for the output
pins of the BoB?

Craig

6847

General Mach Discussion / Re: Some advice needed on Motion Control and Drivers

« on: August 09, 2017, 11:40:39 PM »

Hi,
the cheaper all-in-one board from robotica has two disadvantages
1) the maximum voltage of the drivers is 36V so the steppers will be faily slow, 50V is better,80V is about as
    good as you'll get
2) if one of the driver chips blow up, and they do, and you can't fix it you'll have to replace the whole board.

The multi board combination is better, you can add better drivers later if you want or replace one if it fails.
The motion controller does not have backlash compensation or THC. Have a look at CNCdrive products, they
are advertised and popular in the US but are in fact a Hungarian company, you may get them cheaper than then
the Yanks! The UC100 is cheap and has both Mach3 and Mach4 plugins. The UC100 bigger brothers have up to
5 ports worth of IO but do not have a Mach4 plugin yet but are highly regarded as Mach3 capable.

Craig

6848

General Mach Discussion / Re: Problem with G540 controller not responding to probe settings

« on: August 07, 2017, 03:12:56 AM »

Hi,
I downloaded and re-read the G540 manual and Peter is spot on, there are 4 available inputs and a probe input, for instance, could be
assigned to any of them.

What had confused me was that pin 15 which is normally available as an input has been used for a fault input to the PC from the G540 and it
would appear that it can't be changed.

Mach3 requires at least one input, an Estop. In default configuration pin 10 is assigned as Estop, which is input#1 for the G540. Probably makes sense
to leave it that way. That means there are now only three inputs left, one you wish to use as a probe so now you're down to two inputs for limits and
home switches. Its going to be a challenge to get all those switches wired in such a way that each can trigger an appropriate function in Mach.

Another alternative to combining all your limit and home switches is to use a second port with a breakout board. You cold then make pins 1-9 inputs
in addition to the regular 10-13 and 15. Inputs to burn!

Craig

6849

General Mach Discussion / Re: Going from Parallel to USB or Ether...

« on: August 06, 2017, 05:52:43 AM »

Hi,
that's nonsense. MS stopped XP support years ago and yet its still with us...32 bit Windows7 has been embedded into ATMs, digital signage, kiosks of
all types and the list goes on. 32 bit Windows7 will be around for a decade minimum.

If you want to spend money with MS....go for your life, they'll take your money and give you a 64bit OS that you don't need. If you have software
that must run 64 bit then buy a laptop or similar to run it. Mach doesn't require it and certainly should not be co-installed with any other software that does
so save your money.

Craig

6850

General Mach Discussion / Re: Going from Parallel to USB or Ether...

« on: August 05, 2017, 10:42:54 PM »

Hi,
quite frankly 32 or 64 bit is totally irrelevant to Mach, it runs either just as well. It would make a difference to some CAD/CAM software
but really they should not be on your machine controller platform anyway.

Craig