Topics

1

General Mach Discussion / Inhibit Jog

« on: October 16, 2015, 07:07:40 AM »

Hi
Has anyone got an example of how I can inhibit the Jog function under a certain condition?

For example, I have a knife cutting machine. When the knife is down, I want to ensure that the machine cannot be manually jogged.

I have tried using the OEM buttons: Inhibit X or Y and Toggle Y Jog++ but these don't seem to be working as I expected.

Many thanks
Mark

2

General Mach Discussion / Fundamental issue with the Tangential Knife Cutting option

« on: October 13, 2015, 04:41:40 AM »

Hi guys,

I'm using tangential cutting option on Mach 3, on a knife cutting table.
However, there appears to be a fundamental issue.

I am cutting plastic material which is approximately 35mm thick. My Gcode is simple:
G0 X100  Y100     -     move to position
G1 Z1         -     plunge knife
G1 X10  Y10     -     Cut to end position

I am using 2.5D Z control to plunge the knife in and out, hence setting the Z to positive 1 to activate the output.

However, what I expected to happen was for the knife (rotation axis A) to rotate to the correct angle PRIOR to plunging into my material. But it didn't. It rotated after plunging and therefore made a big mess of the material as it rotated.

Now, I can understand the logic behind the action. It can't know which angle to rotate the knife until it reads the G1 X & Y line.

I then tried adding the Z motion to the Cut command:

G1 X10 Y10 Z1

But as you can imagine, the knife rotated to the correct angle as the machine was cutting in the XY direction, and because Mach3 set the speed of the Z movement such that it reach 1 at the same time as X and Y reached 10, then the knife only plunged half way through the cut.  

Anyone know a way around this?

Many thanks

Mark

3

General Mach Discussion / Is it possible to open another application from a Mach3 button?

« on: October 07, 2015, 08:41:29 AM »

I would like to add a button to the Mach3 screen that will open another application on my Windows OS.

I use this other program to create the GCODE files, that I load up into Mach3.

I could load the program from my Start Menu, but I think it would be pretty cool to launch it directly from Mach3.

I tried just putting the path and file name into a Script and linking that to a button but it through up a compile error.

Any ideas?

Thanks Peeps!
Mark

4

CS-Lab / Plug-in Backup and reset

« on: October 05, 2015, 10:41:53 AM »

Hi again!

Getting there with my machine using CS-Labs CSMIO/IP/A controller now...

But, a couple of more questions:

Is there a way to backup and restore the settings I have put into the Plugin? I have two controllers, mine and one I have borrowed, and the one I have setup the machine with is the borrowed one. So I want to back up the settings I have made before I switch the controllers over. Also, the controllers are setup on different versions of the plugin, so when I put my new one in, (version 2.703, as opposed to v2.700 on the borrowed unit) I have to re-install the plugin which will lose all my settings - hence the need to backup and restore.

Also, does anyone know if the plugin/mach3 has a set of default values stored somewhere which are initialised when it is turned on? For example, y Feedrate speed is 10000 when I turn it on, but I want it to be 100 and have to remember to change it each time I start it.  If I could find the default values then I wouldn't need to worry about it in the future.

I think this also may be a problem with a X Axis, because the controller is outputting 10V on the analog line to the drive, without any command from Mach3. As soon as I press reset, the drive zooms off at full speed until it trips the PID following error. I presume that I have got a value somewhere in the config that is telling it to do this, but I can't find it. When I reconfigured the drive onto the B axis instead of the X, it works fine.

Any tips regarding the above would be appreciated!

Many thanks
Mark

5

CS-Lab / Setting LEDs to show Output activity on CSMIO IP/A

« on: September 28, 2015, 12:05:10 PM »

Hi,

I'm using the CS-Lab CSMIO IP/A Controller, with Mach3. I want to display LEDs to show the state of my outputs.

Can someone advise on the Macro code to use as I'm struggling to get it working at the mo! (Noob)

I know that there are some special VB actions that are used with CSMIO, eg SetCsmioOut and GetCsmioIn so I wondered if there was a GetCsmioOut function?

Many thanks

Mark

6

CS-Lab / Juddering X Axis even without running

« on: September 24, 2015, 10:46:08 AM »

Hi

My machine has started to judder back and forth when I enable my drives by pressing Reset on the Mach3 screen.

It is similar to the autotune process that is used by CS-LABS Plugin Controller for CSMIO IP/A.

The axis is only moving back and forth approximately 100 pulses of the 10000 pulse per motor rev. I can jog the axis while this is happening, but the juddering continues.

After a minute the juddering settles down and things seem OK, until I then move the axis again and juddering starts once more.

It wasn't doing this before, but I have been playing the settings a lot!

I think it may be a tuning or mach3 config problem but has anyone got ideas on where to look first?

Many thanks
Mark

7

VB and the development of wizards / How to create G-code from entries on the Mach3 screen

« on: September 21, 2015, 05:21:35 AM »

Good day,

I have a machine that is a knife cutter. It has a rotational axis on A for the knife angle, and the knife is carried on a bridge using the X and Y.

The machine uses 2.5D option to control Z, which is a ram that moves the knife up and down.

The product only needs to be cut vertically or horizontally, so the A axis only needs to move between 0 degrees for horizontal cut and 90 degrees for vertical cuts. (That said, I wondered if the Tangential toggle would be able to automatically rotate the knife to the direction of travel, but I've not tested this yet?)

Therefore, what I would like to do is provide two DROs on the screen for the user to enter, say, the start position of the vertical cut, one for the X distance and one for the Y distance. These values would be given a variable name that would be called into the G-Code.

For example, to perform a vertical cut of the 500mm wide sheet at 1000mm in length, the user would enter the X DRO as 1000 and the Y DRO as 500, and if the operator presses a button called Vertical Cut these values would produce a GCODE something like:

G0 A90
G0 X1000 Y500
G1 Z-1
G1 X1000 Y0
G1 Z1
G0 X0 Y0

The first line positions the knife vertically, and would always be present for GCODE generated when the Vertical Cut button is pressed. The Z commands trigger the ram to plunge the knife down prior to the cut and then lift it back up again. The vertical GCODE for the cut would always be the same X value, and the Y value would always be Y0. i.e. The machine only cuts all the way through the sheet, and does not cut partially. 

For a horizontal cut, the GCODE generated would be the same, but the A command would always be A0 to position the knife horizontally. And the cut motion would be the same Y value as the DRO entry, but the X would return to X0.

Hope this makes sense. If you want to see the machine check our website: www.polycut-uk.com

I've a VB and Mach3 Novice (but I'm learning fast!)

We are using the CS-LAB CSMIO IP-A controller, and KINCO Servo drives for XY and A.

Any advice on how best to do this would be appreciated.

Many thanks
Mark

8

General Mach Discussion / DS26C31 Power Malfunction Error

« on: August 19, 2015, 10:51:13 AM »

The first time I plugged my PC loaded with Mach3 into my CSMIO IP/A controller, and then pressed the RESET screen button, I get the DS26C31 Power Malfunction Error box appear

Anyone know wht this means and how I fix it?

I have tried it with another PC and it gave the same problem.

The Ethernet connection is working as I can Ping the controller from the PC. And the firmware download was fine too.

It is just the Mach3 interface that appears to having a problem.

Many thanks
Mark

9

Machscreen Screen Designer / Assigning Outputs to Buttons - not enough outputs!

« on: August 19, 2015, 07:11:10 AM »

Hi,

I have a machine that requires 30 outputs from the controller.

I've designed my screen for Mach3 using Machscreen, and I can assign to each output button the function from the drop down list. These give me the standard functions, like reference and home etc, and I see that there are general output options called OEM OUTPUT4 ON. However, there are only four different OUTPUT options.

Does anyone know if I can create more general OUTPUT commands for switching valve etc?

Or am I going about it in the wrong way?

Many thanks

Mark