Hello Guest it is March 29, 2024, 05:31:40 AM

Author Topic: Use motor to bend a wire...help or suggestions  (Read 503 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Use motor to bend a wire...help or suggestions
« on: September 08, 2020, 11:04:45 PM »
Hello,

I have a motor that spins freely 360 degrees, it's not geared and it is not moving on an axis it just spins freely.

At the end of the motor is a tube to hold a wire (the tube can catch and release the wire). We are only making between 30-60 degree bends. The motor has a home sensor (detects a metal pin when the shaft reaches the sensor).

My question is, what is the best way (or configuration in Mach4) to command the axis or orient it precisely.

The way we want it to work is (picture for reference):
    1. all axes are homed initially on startup
    2. the bending motor moves from home to a position where the wire can be fed in
    3. the bending motor moves to bend the wire
    4. the wire is released from the tube
    5. the bending motor moves back to accept a new wire

We will be programming it all into an MScript and don't need any help on the software side, just suggestions on how to use the motor in Mach4.

Should we map the motors as rotary axes? How do you calibrate the steps per unit on a motor that is not connected to a moving part? In other words, how do you know the actual position moved?