Hi,
Can I use the homing switches as limit switches?
Is there a 'best way' to set-up the limits on a machine like mine?
Yes you can combine home and limit functions in one switch ......but why?
If you combine the x++ limit switch and also make it your x axis home switch then WHEN HOMING Mach will have to
ignore the switch activation as a limit and treat it as a home switch activation. So just while your machine is making
maximum extent excursions Mach has to ignore limits.....yeah right.....that's a good idea!.
If however you have separate limit and home switches no confusion exists. The limit switches are ALWAYS at the max
extents, any activation causes the machine to stop....no ifs or buts...always. Your home switches can be anywhere,
it is common to mount them just short of limits but they could in fact be anywhere in the travel zone. Using home offsets
allows you to define 'Home" as the lower left corner say but the home switches activate near the middle of travel in all axes.
It also means that you can use switches optimized for each job. For instance snap action microswitches have a defined
hysteresis and are superb home switches whereas proximity switches with ill defined hysteresis are not. They do make excellent
limit switches however as they can easily be mounted in such a fashion as not to be destroyed by an over-limit excursion.
Mach4 and your Hicon Integra have swags of spare inputs....why not use them and make your machine control robust?
In Mach3 when so many people had only a single port with only five inputs it was necessary to combine switches because of
the lack of spare inputs.....that is WELL BEHIND you now, so use the advantages that the software and hardware controller
offer.
Craig