Messages

191

HiCON Motion Controller / Re: ATC in HiCON Integra 7866?

« on: December 21, 2020, 08:00:53 AM »

You will get more responses if  you put this request in the Mach4 General Discussion. 
But, I can let you know what we do.  We use the HiCON to control all functions that need to be controlled by the motion controller, Homing, Probing, and for us the Spindle control.
Everything else we run the a PLC.  You can use the HiCON to control everything, Vital Systems sells additional hardware to have more IO. 
It all comes down on how you want to run and program your machine to work.  We use TCP Modbus between Mach4 and the PLC we use.  You can send and receive information between both mach4 and the plc. 

You have to buy a Mach4 license.  They are About $200.00 for the hobby version.

192

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Lathe - which motion controller?

« on: December 16, 2020, 02:32:20 PM »

I was just letting this thread know another option.
I don’t use Pokeys. I use the HiCON.
With a PLC, I use the PLC’s software and download the ladder into the PLC.  I can write a ladder program that takes just a couple of rungs, whereas writing a function in the PLC script could be rather cumbersome, or just be a pain in the butt to program in LUA and super simple in a ladder program.

193

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Lathe - which motion controller?

« on: December 16, 2020, 09:09:13 AM »

We have 10+ machines in the shop running the HiCON Integra from Vital Systems. 
I have it running on 5 lathes here in the shop.  All of which are set up with an encoder for threading, and it works very well. 
As a side note, I integrate a Click PLC from Automation Direct onto most of our machines to handle basic IO.  PLCs are very robust and can handle of lot of tedious tasks that would just take up programming time and CPU power.  Not only that, I talk to Mach4 over TCP modbus which is very fast and very reliable.  Basically the only IO I can't use the PLC for is homing, probing, and limits. 

194

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Seig 2.7

« on: December 15, 2020, 09:17:39 AM »

MDI (Manual Data Input) is where you can manually enter any G Code and execute that G Code without having to make or load a program.  Pretty handy for little setups or just to tell the machine to do something real quick.

As far as setting your WCS (Work Zero) in Fusion360.  In your setup, you select your Stock Box Point.  See Picture.
Ramping into the part is a good way to get into your cut, but if you want to change just your plunge feedrate, it is done on the first tap of your operation.  Plunge Feedrate. See PIcture.

At the beginning of your program, at tool changes, and at the end of your program, Fusion will send the machine to a "Safe Retract Position"  Since you don't have home switches on your machine, it will send the machine to whatever Mach4 thinks is it's home position.  You can turn this off in the Safe Retract Position on your post properties.  See Picture.  I asked Autodesk to add the G30 option to this property to allow users the option of using G30 to move the machine to their desired locations using System Variables 5181 - 5183 for XYZ.

To learn more about Fusion and machining, if you haven't seen NYC CNC on youtube, check out some of his videos.  They are very informative.  His older stuff has a Fusion Friday series which has a lot of good information. 

195

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Where to put cycle/start script?

« on: December 09, 2020, 11:23:42 AM »

Yeah.  Just add a condition to your functions.  Be sure to have all your ducks in a row as far as your if...and ends... lined up correctly.

196

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Modbus Programming guidance needed

« on: December 09, 2020, 11:07:50 AM »

Just to throw my 2 cents in.  I use modbus communications with a Click PLC from automation direct on something like 6 or 7 machines in our shop.  It is extremely easy to use.  I send information to and form Mach4 and the Click PLC quite often.  Like Steve said, sometimes you will have to add some script to update certain registers but a lot of it is plug and play. 
For example, I send my Spindle RPM from an encoder to the PLC to make sure the operators CANNOT press the tool release button unless the spindle is under 15rpm.  I don't allow the Tool Drawbar to activate unless the RPM is less than 15. 
I handle about 90% of my I/O with the PLC and just let Mach4 tell the PLC it wants an output on and the PLC will take care of the rest.  Or I can let the PLC tell Mach4 that an Input is active so Mach can do something with it.

197

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Where to put cycle/start script?

« on: December 09, 2020, 10:58:56 AM »

The SpinCW() is a function that lives in the screen load script. 
If you want to add a conditional statement for the spindle, you'll need to add that condition into the spindle function in the screen load script.
Make the changes to the Function in the screen load script and then change your button back to the original code.
You will probably need to add it to the SpinCCW() function as well if your spindle can spin CCW.

198

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Please help me tune my motors

« on: December 09, 2020, 10:56:20 AM »

I'm sure there is some more scientific way to do this... but this has always worked for us.  Using steppers. 
Set the acceleration to 10% of your Velocity. 
Set the velocity as high as you can without stalling the steppers; (trial and error) then back off that number by about 1/3 so you know you'll always be in the range your motors can handle. 

199

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Vacuum - on/off in standard router profile

« on: December 09, 2020, 10:53:35 AM »

Did you change the Output# to Output3 in the button in the screen and the macro?
That should be the only thing you need to do.  Change that number from 51 to 3 and you'll be good.

200

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Disable cycle Start button using external input

« on: December 08, 2020, 05:15:43 PM »

You would have to get the scr.property of the button and probably have to use the PLC script to set the property of the button's state based on the input signal.
I like editing the cycle start function better (Personally) because I leave a message for the operator as to why you can't start the machine.