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Offline ART

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #300 on: August 14, 2014, 07:14:43 AM »
Dan:

  Here is a new version of the plugin ( you need only to update the plugin, it is version 1.14.)

Now, when you command the spindle, the bottom line of the program will show the signal
being found, the speed set and % of PWM set. Hit the history button to see all messages.

 Can you tell what it says if you command a 50% RPM of the spindle? As I recall you use a PWM of
50 hz. So the result will tell me if thats running well. If the superPID doesnt work after that, Id
recommend you use the "Signal Negated" signal selection. PWM can be a positive or Negative
signal, it may just be you need it negated.. ( mine is..)
 
Art

Offline Sage

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #301 on: August 14, 2014, 09:13:53 AM »
Hi Art:
Things are fast and furious here for you so I'll just summarize my findings on 12a version. I didn't see the 14 version until just now. I'll try soon but I'm not using a spindle.

1. Losing settings seems to be fixed for me now. I restarted several times and it was ok. I'm sure I would have lost settings before.
2. The Y offset setting I put into home/offsets in M4 does not seem to be acted on. I have to enter 6.4" because my table ref's at the far end. Yesterday the DRO would pick up the 6.4 value after a ref and put it on the DRO but today with 12a it remains at 0.0

3. My ref Y (or the LED next to the Y DRO) is always green. No settings seem to change it. The port status leds in Darwin follow the switch status fine and in the diagnostic screen the switch led follows the switch on/off ok. Settings for X axis logic are the same. X Ref led acts normally. It's just the Y that's stuck green. Homing, REF and Ref all work fine.

Sage

Offline ART

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #302 on: August 14, 2014, 10:19:16 AM »
Sage:

   Interesting., Ive reported abug as well that after homing I cannot jog until I cycle Enable.

This happened to me only once, then acted normally and it turned out that turning off my nonexistant
Z axis which was set to "homeinplace" fixed the error. I turned it back on and the error was gone.

 I think this is an M4 error.. as I dont control the Ref'ed LED's.... Im checking with the guys but something is a bit hinky with homing..

thx for the report, Ill let you know what I find.

Art


Offline ART

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #303 on: August 14, 2014, 12:27:46 PM »
Hi All:

  Well, heres the next version of Darwin, again only the plugin has changed on this one. It deals with homing and Estopped limits.

When homing youll now get debug messages on the status bar, press history to see them all in order. You may, if you wish , check the ETrip box for a
home switch. Darwin will turn it on and off as required and warn you. Your offsets should be properly calculated even if you home when on a switch
which is now ignored ,,,but your warned.

 Let me know if this fixes anythign for you Sage..

Art

Offline Sage

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #304 on: August 14, 2014, 12:55:01 PM »
Hi Art:

[edit: I guess you were posting the new version while I was typing. I'll take a look. In the mean time maybe this will shed some light]

I had similar issues with Ref and homing wherein I had to cycle the enable / disable to get it to respond to jogging after doing a Ref.
It turned out to be a conundrum (if that's the right word) between what Darwin wants and what Brian said concerning "never using active low" for Mach signals. I was trying (without success) to satisfy both. It goes like this.
 My home switches issue an active low (ground) signal. This is what is required by my PMDX132 BOB in order to make it's (physical) leds light so that's the way I want to keep it so I can look at the BOB and troubleshoot problems. It's happy to pass any level along but I want the leds to light on switch activation (low).
These home signals are buffered and go straight to the parallel port so Low is active.
Darwin requires it's led (icons) to be lit when the signal is active so I need to configure the port pin in Darwin to be reversed for that to happen. Darwin is then happy. Icon lights when switch is low.
But when I get into Mach, it's expecting a High as active and lights it's LED's (icons) for a high signal. So for Mach to recognize my active low signal I have to apply the "active low" check box in Mach to make the reversal.
For reasons unknown Brain stated that you should not use the active low checkbox in M4 but there is no other way to satisfy both Darwin and M4 without it.
 With all the crashing and confusion I may have missed something but it's all working now (inverted in Darwin and M4).
Before I applied the "active low" in M4  I assume M4 never saw the home switch and even though Darwin moved the axis and stopped on home, M4 was merrily waiting for a switch activation (to high) and required an enable / disable to get it out of that loop every time I homed or Ref'd.

Anyway, everything works now. The only confusion now is the icons in the M4 diagnostics page show off (not lit) when the home switches are activated. This makes sense though as apparently high = lit and I have low signals. I can live with it.

On another topic:
Do you know if the issue with M1 not being recognized has been looked at?
and I assume the next version of M4 will correct the issue with the enable / disable having to be toggled a couple of times to get the charge pump to come on (and stay on).

Thanks for you efforts

Sage

« Last Edit: August 14, 2014, 01:01:08 PM by Sage »

Offline ART

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #305 on: August 14, 2014, 06:28:36 PM »
>>Anyway, everything works now. The only confusion now is the icons in the M4 diagnostics page show off (not lit) when the home switches are activated. This makes sense though as apparently high = lit and I have low signals. I can live with it.

  Ill check why that is..doesnt make sense to me to not be able to change the active level....

>>Do you know if the issue with M1 not being recognized has been looked at?
and I assume the next version of M4 will correct the issue with the enable / disable having to be toggled a couple of times to get the charge pump to come on (and stay on).

  No clue. Thats a M4 issue they havent got to yet I suppose. :)

Art

Offline Sage

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #306 on: August 14, 2014, 07:44:01 PM »
Hi Art:

I checked out Darwin V145 with M4 1936 and it seems to work as good as V14 as far as stability etc. I think.

Not sure if these are new observations or if they went un-noticed before.

When I start up I noticed that on M4 diagnostics screen the Home switch status is in-correct. I have to trigger the home switches (manually) once to get the led icons to indicate the correct polarity. (according to my previous post) The Table was not on the switch so the level is high so the icon should be showing lit but they aren't. If I trigger the switch and let it go the icon comes on (as it should be) and it's fine from then on. (until I restart the machine again)

I'm confused by the Ref X,Y,Z Leds (icons).
With V145 the Ref Y icon is no longer stuck green like it was before.
When I press a Ref button the icon goes red and when the Ref is done it goes green. It stays green then even if I jog off the home switch. So I'm not sure what the icon is supposed to indicate since technically it's no longer Ref'd if I move off the switch. I goes red again if I ref again and back to green when done.

I still can't get the value entered in M4 homing and offsets for the Y axis to transfer to the DRO when the ref is done. This used to work back in (I think) Darwin 1.1 but I've done so much messing with home settings I might have screwed it up. Problem is everything to do with homing works physically and logically so I'm not sure what settings could be changed to make that work again.

Sage
« Last Edit: August 14, 2014, 07:46:56 PM by Sage »

Offline ART

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #307 on: August 14, 2014, 08:47:00 PM »
Hi Sage:

>>When I start up I noticed that on M4 diagnostics screen the Home switch status is in-correct. I have to trigger the home switches (manually) once to get >>the led icons to indicate the correct polarity. (according to my previous post) The Table was not on the switch so the level is high so the icon should be >>showing lit but they aren't. If I trigger the switch and let it go the icon comes on (as it should be) and it's fine from then on. (until I restart the machine >>again)

   Known Bug: Reported to the M4 team awhile back, its on their list.

>>I'm confused by the Ref X,Y,Z Leds (icons).
>>With V145 the Ref Y icon is no longer stuck green like it was before.
>>When I press a Ref button the icon goes red and when the Ref is done it goes green. It stays green then even if I jog off the home switch. So I'm not >>sure what the icon is supposed to indicate since technically it's no longer Ref'd if I move off the switch. I goes red again if I ref again and back to green >>when done.

    This is proper. The Green means the system is properly referenced. When you turn on the system it doesn't know its position is accurate or not, once homed the position is KNOWN to be accurate, so its green from then on. When you press Ref again, its no longer a valid known good position, until it verifies it by hitting the home switch.

>>I still can't get the value entered in M4 homing and offsets for the Y axis to transfer to the DRO when the ref is done. This used to work back in (I think) Darwin 1.1 but I've done so much messing with home settings I might have screwed it up. Problem is everything to do with homing works physically and logically so I'm not sure what settings could be changed to make that work again.

  It shouldn't set the position coordinates other than to set the offset in the machine coordinates.

Consider homing this way. You turn on the system and a number appears in the DRO's. You dont KNOW its valid, perhaps the table moved while power was off. So the REF led is red to notify you of that. SO you ref. and in your settings you have told it the home switch offset is 20mm.
The axis ( lets just consider one for now..), moves to the home switch and hits it. What happens next is the REF led is turned green to notify you the Machine coordinates will now be accurate coordinates showing at all times the distance from the home switch. BUT, you've entered in the config
that your home offset is 20mm.
  While darwin was homing the machine, it took note that the switch was hit at a particular spot, it also notes how long it takes to decelerate to a stop.
 It then sets the Machine coordinates ( not your current work coordinates) to a value equal to your offset( 20mm in this case ) + the decel distance.
 
 SO what would that be if the deceleration took 2mm to stop..for example as on my system. The Machine coordinates will now read -22 mm. Its unknown what  your current work coordinates will read. Its also unimportant. The idea is that you will have a button in which the code "G53X0Y0" will be in.
 
 SO you home, the machine coordinates now read -22mm. You now press that button which you'd label "Goto Home", which really tells the system to
 go to a machine coordinate of 0,0,0 ( which is home..).
  
 Your work coordinates now read any weird number..who knows. BUT..if you now zero your axis, your work coordinates now agree with your machine
 coords and all is at zero. Everyones happy.
  
  Why all this you say? Lets say your cutting a job.. but it looks as if you have lost a few steps. You pause the run. You press RefAll,
  the above process happens. You dont however press any zeroing buttons, the above process will simply correct for any lost position, you can
  now continue your run with the axis now accurate with any lost steps removed. Its best to have a REF system which simply makes sure that
  your machine coordinates are accurate with referance to an actual origin. So the home offset is simply the distance from your home switches
  to that origin. SO when you home repeatedly, nothing will seem to change.. unless you zero after homing, or tell the system to "G53X0Y0Z0" and
  then home. Typically it isn't important for the current position to match the work coordinates, but it IS important for the machine coordinates
  to be accurate indicators of distance to the home switch. It allows softlimits and such to be accurate.
  
  This is why, unlike Mach3, there is no moving of the axis off the switches automatically. While that's sometimes handy, its handier to
  have a ref system that doesn't disturb your current zeroing in a job..unless steps were lost in which case ref'ing fixes it on the fly.
  
  
  Sorry for the verbosity.. :)
    
  Art

Offline ger21

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #308 on: August 14, 2014, 09:08:14 PM »
   
  Why all this you say? Lets say your cutting a job.. but it looks as if you have lost a few steps. You pause the run. You press RefAll,
  the above process happens. You dont however press any zeroing buttons, the above process will simply correct for any lost position, you can
  now continue your run with the axis now accurate with any lost steps removed. Its best to have a REF system which simply makes sure that
  your machine coordinates are accurate with referance to an actual origin. So the home offset is simply the distance from your home switches
  to that origin. SO when you home repeatedly, nothing will seem to change.. unless you zero after homing, or tell the system to "G53X0Y0Z0" and
  then home. Typically it isn't important for the current position to match the work coordinates, but it IS important for the machine coordinates
  to be accurate indicators of distance to the home switch. It allows softlimits and such to be accurate.
 
  This is why, unlike Mach3, there is no moving of the axis off the switches automatically. While that's sometimes handy, its handier to
  have a ref system that doesn't disturb your current zeroing in a job..unless steps were lost in which case ref'ing fixes it on the fly.
 

Actually, I'd prefer a bit more verbosity. ;)

Can you clarify how Mach3 can disturb your current zero? Homing is homing, isn't it? And re-homing at any time should just restore your home position, and not affect the offsets? Or is Darwin's homing more accurate because it factors in the decel?
Gerry

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Offline ART

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Re: Mach4 Printer Port Discussions
« Reply #309 on: August 14, 2014, 09:48:08 PM »
Gerry:

   The only way its more accurate is that is doesnt move off the switches. Mach3 moved off, but it didnt accelerate, it just
moved off at full set homing speed. This means a few steps "could" have gotten lost by the "auto move to zero" process. It
didnt accelerate because it was the driver doing it, and it wasnt smart enough to know how to properly accelerate, though it
tried. Repeatability should be higher in M4.. for some thats no change, for others its an increase in accuracy.

 Mach4 CAN move off zero, it will just take a script button to do so. Im assuming here that due to M4's design mechanics, buttons
for such things will appear quite quickly in several options so anyone can kinda take their pick of how they want "their" home to behave,
thus eliminating the ever ongoing discussion of "I think it should be this way...not YOUR way dickhead..". M4 was designed to be all
things to all people, so Darwin is designed to allow for whatever type of end behaviour you wish, it doesnt force any particular behaviour
beyond what I find necessary. The Scripting and threading in M4 should allow for some very interesting screens..and custom canned cycles
of motion.

Art