Messages

111

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Spindle at Speed

« on: May 09, 2018, 11:43:57 AM »

Thanks Steve. Your  posts are always most welcome and never fail to shine an unseen light.

A possible issue with the  mcSpindleSetDirectionWait() call is that it gives no indication that it has timed out , so after 10 seconds or so the machine just continues on. Fine if that is what you want, but maybe you'd rather it stopped so you could resolve the cause. The default timeout may behave in the same way - I haven't tested it so I don't know.

Allan

112

CS-Lab / Re: CSMIO IP/A and CSMIO IN/OUT MACH4 ISSUE

« on: April 12, 2018, 05:27:40 AM »

Have you set the Canbus switches correctly on the I/O module? I haven't used these modules, so am not sure how they interact with Mach4.

Allan

113

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: output on/off from same button

« on: April 11, 2018, 04:50:52 PM »

Maybe silly questions, but:

1. Do the relevant LEDs on the I/O module light?
2.  have you connected both 0V and 24V for output group 0-3?
3. Have you connected the other side of your load to 0V, as the CSMIO can only source current?

Allan

114

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mapping F5 Key in mach 4

« on: April 06, 2018, 05:50:24 PM »

Strange. I have used F5 in this way as a test function for a long time and it works without any issues. It is currently set to perform a simple eStop when F5 is pressed.

 I currently use Mach4 3707 but this has worked since before 3481.

Allan

115

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Toolpath drawing style

« on: March 24, 2018, 05:03:28 PM »

This option was provided in recent development versions.

Allan

116

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Stop on probe signal for G0/G1 moves to protect probes...

« on: March 19, 2018, 05:36:59 PM »

Well someone had to check this out to see if it could provide viable probe protection. Protection for the single supported probe is afforded by the CSMIO with plugin 2.910, but the later version 3 plugin, which supports 4 probes, does not (as yet ) offer built in protection.

Based on Daz’s suggestion I added the following to the signal table:

Code: [Select]

[mc.ISIG_PROBE] = function (state)
    -- AW Add probe protection
    if ((state == 1) and (machState ~= mc.MC_STATE_MRUN_PROBE)) then
        mc.mcCntlEnable(inst, 0)
    end
end,

The inclusion of state in the if statement ensures that only leading edges of the signal inhibit motion. As a result, it is fully compatible with the built in probing functions of Mach4 and should work  with all motion, whether initiated by jogging, MDI, Gcode or MPG.

So how does this perform in practice? Craig makes the valid point  that response times may be inadequate, mainly because when the drives are disabled the machine will coast to a standstill. Such behaviour is obviously system dependednt.  It may be possible with some systems to stop motion under power, thereby improving deceleration.

In my case I have an elderly converted manual Bridgeport driven by ac servos. Its rapid speed is modest at 1800mm/min.  I measured the position of the vice jaws and then jogged the probe towards them at 1800mm/min until probe protection kicked in. The excess travel was pretty repeatable as follows:
    X axis:   2mm
    Y axis:   1.5mm
    Z axis:   1mm

As my homemade probe can accept an overtravel of 3mm in Z and 6mm in X and Y, I have a safety factor of about 3:1, and conclude that this is an entirely viable method of protection which I shall continue to use.

Allan

117

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Jog steps

« on: March 11, 2018, 12:51:15 PM »

I've often used the latest development builds without any problems at all, but obviously do this at your own risk and be ready with the eStop just in case.

Allan

118

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Jog steps

« on: March 11, 2018, 10:21:10 AM »

I had another look and found mention of mcJogSetUnitsMode() in the change log on the ftp site, so I guess that is where I found it.

There was no detail as to its use so I would just test it and fix any errors as they occurred.

Allan

119

CS-Lab / Re: Deckel DMU 60T Index problem

« on: March 11, 2018, 08:28:01 AM »

If the liniar encoder is differential quadrature, you should be able to feed it directly to the CSMIO/IP-A encoder input. Motor encoder signals would continue to be fed directly to the servo drives, but would not be relayed to the CSMIO.

With this type of setup, you would implement the velocity loop within the servo drive, and the position loop within the CSMIO/IP-A.

I would add that I have no experience of doing this.

Allan

120

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Jog steps

« on: March 10, 2018, 12:31:30 PM »

Glad it worked for you.

I assume (why I'm not sure) that issuing G21 sets the current units mode to metric. If you're inclined, you could test this using mcCntlGetUnitsCurrent().

Allan