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Output Configuration
« on: November 02, 2010, 07:12:03 AM »
Hello All,

I hope you are a patient bunch cause I feel I have some pretty elementary questions.

I have recently purchased Mach 3 (wish I had found you when I thought camsoft was the only option) and have all but set up a 4 axis retrofitted manual mill with a motorman robot for parts loading.

Mechanically the system is a beautiful thing but I'm afraid I score 0 when it comes to pins and ports and so on.

I use a Galil DMC2143 controller with an ICM 20105 optically isolated break out board, connected via an ethernet cable to the PC running Mach 3 (The PC has no parallel port if that is of any consequence and a USB to serial converter as an alternative to the ethernet cable seems to me like a bandaid solution? - not that that has probably anything to do with anything).

What I need is to connect a set of 24VDC relays to operate mill functions: Spindle on/Spindle off, Coolant on/Coolant off, a solenoid energise/de-energise, and a momentary VDC signal to the robot for cycle start (achieveable via relay on then off command I presume?).

I have no issue connecting the 24VDC output supply and the relays to the Galil output pins on the breakout board, the issue is how to set the pins in the config section in Mach 3, ie: what relates to what?, and what commands other than M3, M4, & M5 can be issued to switch the relays? Is VB programming required? (god I hope not).

I have read the Mach3 and Galil plugin literature relating to outputs yet I have no idea how to get Mach 3 to control them.

Are there any step by step guides for the those of us who are completely pin and port setup'dly challenged or can anyone offer some advice? Any suggestions will be much appreciated!
Re: Output Configuration
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2010, 10:58:09 PM »
It can get a bit confusing, but it's not too bad.  First of all, Galil Out1-Out8 are represented by Mach pins #41-48 (port 1).  You use these pin numbers on the Output tab of the Mach Ports & Pins setup screen.  It sounds like you need four outputs and probably an Enable output.  I would map Output 1-4 to pin #41-44 and map Enable1 to pin #45.  Don't forget to enable all the outputs you are using.  Second, go to the Spindle Setup tab on the same screen and map the outputs to spindle CW, spindle CCW, Flood, or Mist as required.  For example, you can map both spindle CW and CCW to Output 1 and Flood Coolant to Output 2.  An M3, M4, or manual spindle 'on' activate Mach Output 1, which will now turn on the Galil Output 1.  Likewise, an M8 will turn on Galil Output 2 and an M9 (coolant off) will turn it back off.  Note that you can map out Mach Output to any Galil Output, but it gets confusing if you start mixing numbers.

You didn't say what function the solenoid will have, so you might have to write a Brain to control that Output.  Watch the Brain videos if you need help on this, they are very good.

Mike
Re: Output Configuration
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2015, 03:22:11 AM »
I am using Mach3 with a Galil 1850 (ISA) controller and it works fine. I also want to add mist coolant, flood coolant, and  spindle drive features. I purchased a parallel port Mach3 breakout board and cable, and have configured Mach3 to use pin1 for the spindle CCW, pin2 for the spindle CW, pin3 for M8, and pin4 for M7, and unchecked the disable spindle and flood/mist relays boxes. I also selected PWM control of the spindle, and intend to use the 0-10 volt output to drive my VFD on the spindle motor.  

I have the breakout board connected with a pin to pin DB25 cable to LPT1 (selected as the port in setup), and with a USB cable to provide 5 volt power to the breakout board as required. I also have an external 24V power supply connected to the breakout board 24V and Gnd pins.

Relays 1 and 2 are both on, and the 0-10V signal is at 9.986 volts. I have run driver test.exe and all is excellent up to and including 100 kHz. Sending M7, M8, M9, M2, M3, and M4 commands show the expected LED's on the diagnostic screen, but the relays never change. Changing speed (e.g. S2000) changes the speed in the speed window, but the 0-10V signal never changes. The relays only change very briefly when I use Explorer to navigate to a file, but soon return to the previous state. I checked Pin 4 of the cable and it remains at 5 volts regardless of sending M9 or M7 commands.

When I installed Mach3 I Selected Parallel Port Driver in the Select Program Components Screen, but I had to chose the Galil-st-Barker etc. option instead of printer port on the Select Control Device Screen. Does this disable the printer port? Is it feasible to use the break-out board with the Galil controller, or do I need to use the Galil output pins to control relays?

If I need to use Galil pins to control the spindle, is there a good way to create the 0-10 volt signal? I do have servo motors and amplifiers that use a -10 to +10 volt signal and a spare axis which might be of some use. If necessary I could also set up a micro-controller with PWM output and a 3 bit input to get a variable DC level, but that seems rather difficult.

Bob