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New CS Lab plugin 3.122 released

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Fledermaus:
CS Lab introduced its latest plugin 3.122 a little over a week ago. The focus of this update was to correct  problems that some users, myself included, were experiencing with the MPG. The update itself takes place in two steps. First, the CS Lab Maintenance utility is run in the usual way, and updates the Mach4 plugin and the controller firmware. Power should then be removed from the entire system. When it is next switched on, the MPG module firmware will be automatically updated. A message to this effect is shown on the Mach4 screen.

As far as I can judge to date, the MPG operates correctly following this fix. For those unfamiliar with it, the CS Lab MPG module works similarly to those found on industrial mills. Operation is controlled by the real time firmware within the units. This makes the encoder noticeably more responsive than one operating via Mach4. Providing your acceleration and velocity limits are not exveeded, motion will follow the encoder movement whilst it is turned, and stop when turning ceases. This is very reassuring compared with systems that run on after turning stops. Should the encoder be turned too quickly, steps will be lost, but the resulting motion will always be a whole number of steps.

Understand that when the MPG is in use, CS Lab implements its own motion planner, and Mach4 motion is temporarily inhibited. After use, the pendant should be switched to its OFF position so that normal Mach4 operation can resume.

Thanks are due to Andrzej Rogozynski at CS Lab for his work in identifying and fixing the problems.

Allan

BucekIND:
Hi Fledermaus,
I am retrofitting an old VMC with a CSMIO/IP-S and simDrive motion gear. I was nearing the end and had nearly finished configuring Mach4 and testing the machine when I came across an issue with the MDI input becoming non-responsive. I wasn't sure if that would also cause issues with G-code execution.
I saw that there was an update available so I updated the plugin and the module firmware to see if that would fix the issue. The update does seem to have fixed the intermittent MDI issue but now I cannot control the spindle speed. When I activate the spindle using either the button in Mach4 or a direct M03 S1000 command in either MDI or G-code, the CSMIO/IP-S analogue outputs stay at zero volts.
I have tried setting both analog-0 and analog-1 as spindle output in the csmio plugin config panel but both are non-responsive. I have verified that the outputs are not physically damaged using another computer running the old plugin and firmware.
Have you experienced anything similar since upgrading to newer firmware? Have I missed a config option somewhere?

Cheers,
Josh

Fledermaus:
I did have to re-program the analogue output, which had for some reason been disabled in the CSMIO plugin. Having done that, however, everything worked fine.  I have been drilling this morning, and the S command is working perfectly both from the MDI and from a Gcode program.

Note that I have the IP/A, and maybe it behaves differently from your IP/S.

Allan

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