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Author Topic: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?  (Read 1804 times)

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When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« on: December 22, 2017, 01:44:55 PM »
I've been running Mach4 2.0.3481 for quit a while now, and have observed all kinds of anomalies; and was wondering when the next update might come along, and how often will they occur?  And while we're on the subject of updates, what about an update to the documentation?  Presently it's pretty brief and cryptic.
Re: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2017, 02:11:33 AM »
Hi,
conversations I've had in the recent past suggest that NFS has to few staff to commit the resources necessary to update Mach4s documentation.
NFS is trying to develop Mach particularly for the OEM market as a means of financial survival and documentation just doesn't have that priority.

The forum is the best bet for 'live documentation'.

What sort of anomalies have you encountered?

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2017, 11:58:22 AM »
Anomalies? Where do I begin?

How about if you jog into a Soft Limit, it bumps all three axiis by a few thousands - hit it a few times and pretty soon you are way off.

If you have a Fixture/Work Offset selected (i.e. G54) and you Zero a DRO, it actually zeros the respective cells in the Fixture Offsets table.

The Backlash Compensation is totally broken.

And regarding the forums, I hate to spend time reading a bunch of opinions.  Without a moderator who deletes guesses and trial-and-error suggestions, I find them counter-productive.


Re: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2017, 12:15:55 PM »
And, there seems to be massive memory leaks because sometimes my programs run fine and other times Mach4 just goes bonkers.  So I close Mach4 down and fire it back up again and the programs run fine again.
Re: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2017, 02:20:15 PM »
And when you go above the Soft Max Limit it says you went "over" it, but when you go below the Soft Min Limit, it also says you went "over" it.

When you set the Home position with physical limit switches, and you set Soft Limits below/beyond the physical limit switches, then after you "Home" the machine, you always have to jog inside the Soft Limits before you can enable the Soft Limits.  As a suggestion, if one or more axiis are outside the Soft Limits, Mach4 should warn you about it then hold the "enable request" in stasis (like flashing) until all axiis are within the Soft Limits, allowing you to move (either jogging or moving programmatically). And then when all axiis are within the Soft Limits they are automatically enabled.  Thus ensuring they are not left disabled unintentionally.

Also as a suggestion, if the Soft Limits are defined, Mach4 should initialize with them enabled.
Re: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« Reply #5 on: December 25, 2017, 06:57:36 AM »
Hi,

Quote
The Backlash Compensation is totally broken.

Mach4 does not do backlash compensation that is enacted by the motion controller.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: When (and how often) will the next Mach4 update occur?
« Reply #6 on: December 25, 2017, 07:10:47 AM »
Hi,

Quote
How about if you jog into a Soft Limit, it bumps all three axiis by a few thousands - hit it a few times and pretty soon you are way off.

Does it?. My machine doesn't?

Quote
When you set the Home position with physical limit switches, and you set Soft Limits below/beyond the physical limit switches, then after you "Home" the machine, you always have to jog inside the Soft Limits before you can enable the Soft Limits.  As a suggestion, if one or more axiis are outside the Soft Limits, Mach4 should warn you about it then hold the "enable request" in stasis (like flashing) until all axiis are within the Soft Limits, allowing you to move (either jogging or moving programmatically). And then when all axiis are within the Soft Limits they are automatically enabled.  Thus ensuring they are not left disabled unintentionally.

If you are outside the Softlimits the machine is supposed to stop. Are you saying that your home switches and/or home offsets are such that when you reference your
machine that you are already outside the softlimits? Of course you can program it to have whatever behavior you want including your suggestion.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'