Topics

21

Third party software and hardware support forums. / MoI (Moment of Inspiration) 3D modeling/CAD program

« on: January 07, 2007, 07:52:21 PM »

Great program and very easy to use and currently free for beta vertions  , but it is very stable!!!

From MOI website about the desighner:
"Michael Gibson created Rhino when He worked for Robert McNeel.
Michael Gibson:  "Triple Squid Software Design is a single-person company. My history, very briefly, is I worked at Robert McNeel & Associates from 1993-1999, then at Microsoft 1999-2003. In 2003 I decided that the time was right to leave Microsoft and do my own company. Since then I've been working on MoI on my own."

Currently will export:(Soon to have export abilities of DXF,DMG...)
-Iges
-Oject
-STL
-(Native Rhino files) 3DM
-3Ds

Just thought I'd share. 

http://moi3d.com/index.htm

22

General Mach Discussion / CNC safety system possibility for CNC machining and Mach

« on: November 11, 2006, 01:51:13 PM »

CNC safety system possibility for CNC machining and Mach

I heard talk about a new table saw that is equipped with new type of safety system called SawStop.
I find this very interesting and a possibility for the CNC industry to climb on board and develop something similar.

So everything has tonal qualities, like an orchestra of sounds. Our machine might sound like a bunch of random chaos of sound but they actually have a continual tonal frequency (when functioning properly).
There is a distinct change in the electrical signal when a finger touched a spinning.

A couple things come to mind for possibilities:

-Stop a spindle or a machine from harming a person.
-Stop a machine from causing damage to it’s self.
-Accurately diagnose the physical health of a machine.
-Fine tune and adjust appropriate spindle speed by detecting the spindles frequency and having a program appropriately adjust the RPM’s on the fly.
-Feed rate changes can be made more efficiently and accurately on the fly.


Here’s how Sawstop work’s:

“SawStop safety system includes an electronic detection system that detects when a person contacts the blade. The system induces an electrical signal onto the blade and then monitors that signal for changes. The human body has a relatively large inherent electrical capacitance and conductivity which cause the signal to drop when a person contacts the blade. Wood has a relatively small inherent capacitance and conductivity and does not cause the signal to drop.
A fast-acting brake stops the blade when contact is detected. The brake includes a heavy-duty spring to push a block of aluminum, called a brake pawl, into the teeth of the blade to stop the blade from spinning. The spring is held in compression by a fuse wire until contact is detected. When contact is detected, the system sends a surge of electricity through the fuse wire to burn the wire and release the spring. The spring pushes the brake pawl into the teeth of the spinning blade, and the teeth cut into the aluminum and bind, thereby stopping the blade. All this happens in about 3–5 milliseconds, or 1/200th of a second. At the same time, the angular momentum of the blade causes the blade to retract below the table and the power to the motor is shut off.”
http://www.sawstop.com/index.htm



  Just some thoughts on the possible future of CNC and Mach 

23

General Mach Discussion / Mach 2/3 camera

« on: June 24, 2006, 04:33:53 AM »

I've been using a wireless cam to keep an eye on the machines while I work in my office.
It works very well, I can see and hear the machines while I work in my office.
The camera has a built in server so it's not hooked into the computer. (also I can record and others can view the machines from a web page)

What I was wondering is if any one uses a cam/camera on the same machine that controls there cnc and if they have had any issues? I noticed that Mach2/3 has some type of camera plug'in. Does having a cam hooked up cause allot of CPU usage.

One great thing as a request is to be able to remotely/network control of Mach2/3 via another computer. It would be helpful to load another program or pause the machine from my office computer.

24

Mach Screens / Wave file test

« on: June 11, 2006, 08:09:44 AM »

Benny & Hood,

Here is a sound test screen. If you have time test it out and let me know of any bugs. I think having sound adds allot to the interface.
I've been  pretty consumed with work lately and I'm also waiting to see which direction Mach's screen designer goes before I invest time on the next screens. Hopefully Flash will be incorporated soon.

I used my voice and some sound effects just to see how it would turn out.

*Almost forgot: The "macropump.m1s" goes into your profile location.

Everthing has audio, Dwell, X, Y, Z limit and zeroing, Off/On Line, Spindle On/Off, Softlimits Ext.
You can see all the code in the VB script BNT editor or in the Macro if your intrested.

25

VB and the development of wizards / Two state button

« on: June 08, 2006, 05:48:49 AM »

Try to figure out how to call on two states of a button to call on two diffrent wave files.

I got creative and used some of the Display button code, it works but also effects the state of the display screen.
Was wondering how a programer would do this Tried a few diffrent ways to go about it, but I'm still learning coding.
I tried changing "Boundry" but the code skips over and only plays one of the sound waves for each button state.

Here is the code if you have any idea.

value = GetParam("Boundry")

Public Declare Function sndPlaySound Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "sndPlaySoundA" _
    (ByVal lpszSoundName As String, ByVal uFlags As Long) As Long

 If value= 1 Then
 SetParam "Boundry" , 0
 DoOEMButton(103)
 sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\ding.wav", &H1
 
 Else
 SetParam "Boundry" , 1
 DoOEMButton(103)
 sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\tada.wav", &H1
 End If

26

General Mach Discussion / RunLoop Macro Error

« on: June 07, 2006, 03:24:24 PM »

I'm getting a pop up screen while Mach3 starts asking for a "OK" "Cancel" screen with Runloop Macro thre...
I've installed and reinstalled Mach 3 many times and still get this message.

 At first it didn't bother anything till I started to use Macro's and writing some VB script's. Some of my scripts will not respond on the computer with this error, my other computer does not have the error and work no problem.

I have Mach3 only installed on my D: drive(not C:)

Any ideas. Thanks

27

VB and the development of wizards / E-stop VB script

« on: June 06, 2006, 06:24:37 AM »

How do you trigger an event from the message ticker or the "active" on/off state of the emergency function(Estop).

I'd like to call on some type of event to trigger a "wave file script getter" for the active on/off state of the E-Stop.

If some one could help with the code then we can incorporate a wave file function to the estop.


Here is the basic function code to call on a wave sound placed on a button:

Public Declare Function sndPlaySound Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "sndPlaySoundA" _
    (ByVal lpszSoundName As String, ByVal uFlags As Long) As Long


    sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\ding.wav", &H1


Here is the code to place on the "Display" button(This is a two state button with two diffrent state sounds!)

value = GetParam("Boundry")
Public Declare Function sndPlaySound Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "sndPlaySoundA" _
    (ByVal lpszSoundName As String, ByVal uFlags As Long) As Long

If  value = 1 Then
'SetButtonText " Job "
SetParam "Boundry" , 0
 sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\ding.wav", &H1
 Else
SetParam "Boundry" , 1
'SetButtonText "Machine"
sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\tada.wav", &H1
End If

  Currently I haven't found the code to trigger a wave sound for the E-Stop, need some help

28

Mach Screens / Attaching wave file to button

« on: June 06, 2006, 06:20:17 AM »

I thought I'd post this here for the screen designers.

If you'd like to attach a wave file to a single state or multiple state button use the code provided.

1. In screen designer you'll change your button to "VB",
2. then in Mach 3 you'll apply the button comand and the wave file code.
3. All you have to do is change the directory of your wave files or the directory in the code.
*Example:(sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\tada.wav", &H1)

Here is the basic function code to call on a wave sound placed on a button:

Public Declare Function sndPlaySound Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "sndPlaySoundA" _
    (ByVal lpszSoundName As String, ByVal uFlags As Long) As Long


    sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\ding.wav", &H1


Here is the code to place on the "Display" button(This is a two state button with two diffrent state sounds!)

value = GetParam("Boundry")
Public Declare Function sndPlaySound Lib "winmm.dll" Alias "sndPlaySoundA" _
    (ByVal lpszSoundName As String, ByVal uFlags As Long) As Long

If  value = 1 Then
'SetButtonText " Job "
SetParam "Boundry" , 0
 sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\ding.wav", &H1
 Else
SetParam "Boundry" , 1
'SetButtonText "Machine"
sndPlaySound "C:\WINDOWS\MEDIA\tada.wav", &H1
End If

  Currently I haven't found the code to trigger a wave sound for the E-Stop, need some help

29

General Mach Discussion / Adding a wave file

« on: June 05, 2006, 03:45:41 AM »

Was wondering if any one has added there own sounds to Mach 3 and how it can be done.

I'd like to add a sound for the:
Emergency active,
Jog mode on/off,
X,Y,Z zeroing and moving sound indicator
Limit switch active

Looked in a few place for information, but couldn't find any .

30

Works in progress / Beta -Panel- screenset

« on: May 22, 2006, 12:11:09 AM »

This screen set incorporates an idea I had while working on a project. It is not fully functional

What I found is that my brain, no matter how many times I use Mach 3 just can't handle seeing everthing at once. My eye's start bugging out of my head when switch from one page to another. What I figured is that my eyes's and head want to process everthing on the screen at once, I find my self looking for a button I routinely use everday.

So what I thought would be of use is to use containers and panel's.
Thought I'd share this so others can use the idea.
One thing to metion is that it is a complex task to set up page for all of the diffrent variable possibilities of open/closed panels, but I believe this is a good consept that would benefit many. I believe that I'll be able to fit all of Mach 3 controlls on two pages without looking cluttered.

This is a test screen and as of now can only:

G-Code Load/Close/Edit/Start/Stop/Pause/Play/Hold

On Line/OffLine (Power amp LED)

E-Stop (Womens Head)

Simulate is a panel

MDI is a panel


*Place the Panels folder into Mach 3\Bitmaps

-Blake