Hi,

I have a toolsetter and a probe and I want to connect them both to the Mach probe input.

From previous experiments I can remember that you HAVE to use the probe input in a probing macro, you cannot use another free input.
(Please correct me if I'm wrong)

Because of their construction the probe and toolsetter cannot be connected to the same "physical" pin of the LPT Connector.

So what I would like to do is to assign two pins of the LPT connector to the Mach probe input.
Is this possible?
Or is there another way to solve my little problem...?

Thanks!

Richard

(Using Mach3 for quite a while now, and I like it.... ...!)  
  

Hi Rich,

I'm sure there are other ways, but what I did was to use an 1/8th plug and jack setup for my different style probes and then just plug in the one I need at that point in time.

Dave

Here's the best pic I have to show what I mean:

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the suggestion..but this is kind of what I use now...    

The plan I have is to make a permanent setup.
I want to mount the probe next to the spindle and lower it with a pneumatic actuator when needed.
No more touchplate, no more edge finding, no more vise alignment, just probe, do an axis rotation (G68?) in Mach.....and hit the START-button....

That's why I prefer a fixed setup...

But thanks for your time anyway!

Rich

 

Rich,
When you say "Because of their construction the probe and toolsetter cannot be connected to the same "physical" pin of the LPT Connector.", could you elaborate a bit as to what the issue is?

Is the concern electrical? E.g. is your situation that the probe has an active high output and the toolsetter is a plate that gets grounded and hence is active low?

If so, a little circuitry can be used to convert all devices to "active low" and then they can be connected via what is called "wire-or" to a single intput pin.

If this is the issue, I could provide a schematic that may help.
Dave

HI Dave,

Yes, the concern is electrical. The toolsetter is a homemade device which uses an inductive switch.
The probe is a Renishaw MIP and a PI4 interface. The probe interface output can be either TTL or SSR (Solid State Relay).
This SSR is capable of switching only 40mA..

The LPT input is an optocoupler with a 24 V supply.
Because I do no want to risk damaging the probe interface I am looking for a way to connect the toolsetter and probe interface separately.

I was hoping the solution could be found in the software.
But, as you say, I am beginning to believe that some electronics may be necessary...
Some suggestions would be great...!

Thanks!

Rich


 
 

Rich,
Attached is a schematic that may provide a starting point for you.
It's a quick mod of the circuit I use to connect an active high probe and 2 active low touch plates to Mach's probe input.
My BoB uses TTL inputs, I converted this diagram for your +24v input case (so I

This will match up with the TTL interface levels for the probe.
Not knowing what levels you tool setter outputs, you may need to make some more tweaks. The touch plate inputs in the diagram are TTL.

The idea here is to convert all inputs to active low, tie them together and use a single pin in mach that is configured active low.
When any input is active, it pulls the BoB input to Gnd and hence creates the active low input event for Mach.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the schematic...

It will require some tweaking, but it indeed is a good starting point.

Next few days will be a litte busy  because of work. I will dive into it this weekend...

Thanks again!

Rich

Hello,
I have fixed tool setter on machine, and free movable pcb plate for measure top of material. Now I need instead that movable pcb to fix new kind of setter on Z axis, and pull down and up with some drive (servo, magnet, or whatever better you know). Can anybody help me to realise this
Thanks

I use two probes (ZTO and 'real' probe), and i just tie the signals together with a AND gate. So yes - 'some electronics needed'.
Ah - you may also need a dummy plug in the unused socket when only using one.

Cheers
Roger

Thanks for answer, but I wired every think OK and working well.
Only need setup movable probe somewhere near spindle on Z axis on something as actuator to push down probe lover then spindle, measure, then pull up higher then spindle.