Messages

311

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Lua Fails Me

« on: January 20, 2018, 01:05:09 PM »

ALL of the files in the marcos directory get compiled.  Get rid of any file in that directory with a m6691() function.  Move then into a "save" child directory or something. 

Steve

312

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: homing to index pulse

« on: January 20, 2018, 02:11:52 AM »

It all depends on the motion controller and drive/motors used.  Most controllers that support analog servo drives will home to an index pulse.  FWIW, homing is a motion controller only function.  All Mach does is tell the motion plugin to home and provides no trajectory for the movement of the motors during the homing operation.

Steve

313

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Homing and Tool offsets on Lathe

« on: January 19, 2018, 09:42:52 PM »

Ron Ginger did a nice video on this very subject.  But I can't find it.    But Rob Gaudette also did one.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDuZWZHVU0s 

Steve

314

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach 4 Feature Request

« on: January 19, 2018, 07:01:23 PM »

I would like to see an existing motion behavior removed or at least be disabled optionally in settings. Whenever an M or S code is encountered in the GCode or MDI the machine decelerates to 0, executes the command, and resumes. There is not necessarily any need for it to stop in the following example.

g00 x0 s1000       motion starts and spindle at 1000
g01 x10 s5500     motion stops, spindle changes to 5500, motion continues
g01 x20 s5500     motion stops, spindle still at 5500, motion continues (no change was made but the fact there was an S code in the line means the motion stops to address it)

If the spindle speed commands weren't in there, the machine would travel from x0 to x20 without interruption but with the extra commands in there (I tested and saw the same behavior with turning coolant on and off during motion) travel slows to 0 and without any delay executes the command and accelerates back to it's previous rate.

I have my Spindle Accel/Decel time at 0 and 'Wait on spindle to stabilize' disabled

The reason I want the travel rate uninterrupted is because I'm using spindle control PWM signals to control the power output of a laser to do raster engraving.

Assume each 'pixel' i want to engrave is 1mm and I'm drawing a 5mm striped pattern I'd code as:

g00 x0y0      starting point
x50           lead in for acceleration
x55 s255   laser power max 5mm
x60 s0      laser off 5mm
x65 s128   laser half power 5mm
x70 s0      laser off
x120        lead out for deceleration
y1           next line

The laser PWM control and positional results of this code work perfectly but that forced motion stop before executing S kills the end result of the piece.
Fixing this would make raster laser engraving incredibly easy in Mach4 with the use Inkscape plugin 'Raster 2 Laser GCode' which produces great results with simpler GCode senders. It would achieve the equivalent of Art's Impact / Laser plugin for Mach3.

There is a parameter option that changes the behavior of the look ahead. Normally, you WANT to wait on the motion to complete before the M, S, or T codes are processed by the look ahead. 

Set #3003 = 2.  That will disable MST waits.  But you must consider the look ahead!  If it is set to say 100, then up to 100 lines are read (and processed!) at one time.  In effect, the S command would be the last S command.  The only thing you can do to combat that is set the look ahead to 2 lines.  That way CV will be maintained across the G code moves and not come to a complete stop.  Setting the look ahead to 1 line would be the equivalent of running in exact stop mode, BTW. 

You would be wise to set #3003 back to 0 before any stop M code is issued (M01 M02, M30, etc...)

I really don't recommend the above at all.  Instead, Have a look at M62 and M63 (The motion controller must support these).  They control outputs synchronized to the movement of the G code.  M62 and M63 are special M codes that do not break the CV chain.  So you can leave the look ahead alone.  You could easily implement 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and %100 with a few outputs. 

We are still working on a dedicated laser interpreter.  It will have options specifically for lasers that should accommodate this type of thing. 

Steve

315

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Screen Editor - Hide bar

« on: January 19, 2018, 04:57:49 PM »

If you close it in full screen, it will open in full screen. 

Steve

316

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 Spindle At Speed, Spindle Zero Problem

« on: January 18, 2018, 10:26:28 PM »

Machines with tool changers and induction motors on the spindle use a spindle key lock.  The spindle is rotated slowly at low torque and the key lock is engaged.  When the key lock drops into the notch on the spindle shaft, the VFD is turned off.  So it is a pure mechanical orientation. 

Steve

317

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Mach4 won't shut down

« on: January 18, 2018, 10:22:02 PM »

The problem is most likely a LUA script that is not terminating or a plugin hanging it up.  You can test if it is a plugin by disabling them one at a time and seeing if you can close Mach.  I have never seen Sim hang Mach up, so don't worry about disabling that one. 

There was a post where the modbus plugin was preventing a shutdown.  TOTALLYRC had that one.  It turned out that the polling frequency was too fast for his machine.  He turned the frequency down and all was well. 

Steve

318

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Is Mach4 really Hobby Material?

« on: January 18, 2018, 10:15:50 PM »

Rich,

-.  -.--  ...-- .--. , .-- - ----- -.-  I'm sure you do know about hobby costs!  $500 to play in the ham world is chump.  And I'm also sure you know that we are super nerds, right? 

I use my CNC machine to help build solid state amplifiers.  Check out my QRZ page to see it.  The copper heat spreader has the MOSFET holes machined into it.  And of course, the case was CNC'd as well.   CNC and ham radio go well together.  I use my little desk CNC machine to make PCBs on occasion. 

People that are just in the CNC hobby are lucky and don't have to take tests and get licensed. 

Steve

319

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Screen Editor - Hide bar

« on: January 18, 2018, 07:22:03 PM »

In the screen load script, insert the line:

scr.ShowMenu(false);

to get the menu back:

scr.ShowMenu(true);

Be careful not to paint yourself into a corner!    Put a button on a tab to turn it back on, etc...

Steve

320

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Is Mach4 really Hobby Material?

« on: January 18, 2018, 06:17:10 PM »

I just read this thread and I must say I'm certainly confused in a lot of ways.  During the days of Mach 3, we compiled a list of things that people were asking for that Mach 3 simply could never do.  That list became Mach 4.  So Mach 4 was the direct result of us listening to what our users wanted!  But now they don't want it?  Thus my confused state of mind.

Ii used to be, or I used to think, that hobbyist had simple machines to do simple things.  3 axis mill without a tool changer, for example.  But no.  Just take a look at the feature request thread!!!!  90% of that thread is people wanting Mach 4 to do something special.  But also, 90% of that can be accomplished with using the tools that are already provided with Mach 4!

So there is a strange dichotomy going on here.  People want shrink wrapped software simplicity but also want it to do something very special that THEY want it to do.  So I don't buy the "Mach 4 won't work without a lot of programming" complaint.  Mach 4 will run my Matsuura MC500 "out of the box" with absolutely no LUA programming!  Just by mapping signals to I/O and setting up the motors.  All of this is done in the Mach configuration dialog.  The only thing that requires LUA is the tool changer.  It required VB in Mach 3.  And since no two tool changers are the same (assuming some are built, some are converted, etc..), this becomes one of the "special things".   But I could run that machine with manual tool changes with Mach 4 "out of the box" all day long.  In fact, I don't use the tool changer all that often with the things I do.

"But I have brand 'X' joystick that I want to use..."  Guess what?  You are wanting something special. 
"But I want to touch off a tool at a certain location on my custom built machine, set the height, and restart with one button.  And I might have to learn LUA?"  The answer is yes!!!  The good news is that you can make that work.  The bad news is that we will never be able to provide that "out of the box". 

I could go on and on, but I digress. 

As to the hobbyist definition...  If you end up buying a Centroid controller, are you still a hobbyist?  A point to debate.  I'm a ham radio guy.  That is another one of my "hobbies".  But you know what?  Now I find myself collecting expensive test gear like signal generators and spectrum analyzers.  I like fixing radios.  I no longer consider it a hobby and I now consider it as a semi-profession venture.  I make money fixing radios.  It is no longer something I do just for myself.  The tools I use are something far greater than what a normal ham radio hobbyist uses.  BTW, I wish ANY ONE PIECE of that test gear was as affordable as Mach 4.  So ask yourself the question "Am I truly still a hobbyist?", and be honest. 

Also, I have a 3 axis X2 machine running Mach 4 and ESS.  It runs Mach 4 out of the box without any LUA code at all.  Now THAT is THE quintessential hobby machine.  So yeah, I think Mach 4 is hobby material.  But isn't it nice that Mach 4 will also run my Matsuura production type machine?  Make no mistake, I have no illusions about the differences between those two machines.  One is a hobby machine and the other could be put to work in any professional machine shop.  One didn't required a bit of LUA and the other did. 

Steve