PMDX-SmartBOB-USB
Mach4 Plug-in Release Notes
Version 0.33.159
6 Nov 2015


Table of Contents

  1. Support and Updates
  2. Latest Plug-in Version Release Notes
  3. Issue with Input Signals and Mach4 Startup
  4. Probing Features and Restrictions
  5. Real-Time Signal Display (updated for this release)
  6. Homing Features and Restrictions
  7. PMDX-126 Expanded Inputs (updated for this release)
  8. Sample Mach4 Profile (Optional)
  9. Previous Plug-In Versions

(1) Support and Updates

Support for the PMDX-SmartBOB line of products is available on our support forums here: http://www.pmdx.com/pmdx-forums/

Plug-In Updates: We announce new versions of both Mach4 and the SmartBOB Mach4 Plug-In software on our forums. You can subscribe to receive an email whenever we post an annoucement so that you always have the latest features and bug fixes.

Documentation Updates: We also announce new versions of the PMDX-SmartBOB Quick Start Guide and the upcoming User's Manual on our forums.

(2) Latest Plug-In Version Release Notes

New features since Version 0.31.147:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.31.147:

Known Issues:

**WARNING**

If your profile contains macros for M3, M4 or M5 like the ones installed by the Mach4Hobby installer in the "Mach4Mill" profile, you MUST delete these files in order for the PWM spindle speed control to function. The macros as provided with the "Mach4Mill" profile DO NOT WORK, and they are not needed for the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB to function. See the instructions below on how to delete these files.

If you used the Mach4 Loader's "Copy Profile" button to copy the "Mach4Mill" profile to a new profile, that new profile will contain these macro files. If you copied the "PMDX-Sample" profile to a new profile, that new profile will not contain these macro files (see note below). If instead of copying an existing profile, you clicked on the "Create Profile" button to create a new profile, that new profile should not contain these macro files.

NOTE that if you installed the PMDX sample profile from plug-in version 0.13.63 (Nov 2014) or earlier, that profile may contain these macro files. You will need to manually delete them (see below for instructions). EVEN IF YOU TOLD THIS LATEST INSTALLER TO INSTALL THE SAMPLE PROFILE! The installer does NOT overwrite an existing copy of the sample profile.

If you have created custom versions of the M3, M4 or M5 macros, or have Lua code that affects that functionality, you will need to test them with the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB plug-in to see if the plug-in still works with your macros.

To delete the M3/M4/M5 Macro files: Presuming that you intalled Mach4 in the default "C:\Mach4Hobby" directory, these macros files are stored in the "C:\Mach4Hobby\Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros" directory. If you installed Mach4 into a different directory (for example, "C:\MyMach4"), the substitute that directory name for the "Mach4Hobby" directory in the directory path mentioned above (it now becomes "C:\MyMach4\Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros"). You should see two files for each M-code. For example, "M3.mcc" and "M3.mcs". You must remove both of these files for each M-code, either by deleting them or by moving them to another directory.


(3) Issue with Input Signals and Mach4 Startup

Symptoms of Mach4 Startup Input Signal Problem

Sometimes, when you start Mach4 with a PMDX-SmartBOB connected and enabled, the input signals from the SmartBOB will not be properly handled by Mach4. If you display the "Machine Diagnostics" tab in Mach4, some of the input signals that come from the SmartBOB will show as active when they are in fact NOT active. If any of these signals are assigned to limit switches then Mach4 will not allow motion towards those limits until the inputs are properly synchronized. Toggling that input signal will cause Mach4 to then display the proper input signal state.

NOTE: This only happens on Mach4 startup. Once Mach4 and the SmartBOB plug-in and device are running, the input signals function as they should.

This happens only on some computers, and only on input signals from the SmartBOB are defined as "Active Low". Even then, this does not always happen.

Work-Around

Our work-around for this problem was for PMDX to add a delay to our plug-in. During startup, the plug-in inserts a delay between the time Mach4 tells us it is OK to start reporting signal values and when we actually start reporting them. By default this delay is set to 250 milliseconds. This works for a variety of computers here at PMDX, but it may not work for you. If not, see the steps below to adjust the delay.

If you see the symptoms described above, then try changing the startup delay as follows:

If you still see the input sigals displaying incorrectly on startup, increase the delay some more and try again. If you reach the maximim startup delay and you still see the input signals displaying incorrectly, contact PMDX support. Meanwhile you should be able to use the "Manual" work-around described below.

Manual Work-Around

Opening and closing the "Mach Configuration" dialog will also correct this problem. Go to the Mach "Configure" menu and select "Mach". When the "Mach Configuration" appears, click on either "OK" or "CANCEL". This causes the SmartBOB plug-in and the Mach4 core to resynchronize and Mach4 will display the correct input signal states.

(4) Probing Features and Restrictions

The PMDX-SmartBOB's probing implementation makes the following assumptions and restrictions:

WARNING: There is a bug in Mach4 builds up through 2568 that can cause the Mach4 core to hang if the limit switch input is active when a G31 command is started. This was partially fixed in build 2568, but running the G31 command from the MDI window still exhibits this problem. G31 commands inside of a GCode file work properly in build 2568.

(5) Real-Time Signal Display

The SmartBOB plug-in allows you to show a window that displays the states of the input and output signals as they appear to the screw terminals or 26-pin ribbon header pins on the SmartBOB board. This can be used to help diagnose issues with signal assignments in Mach4 and also to make sure that the SmartBOB is "seeing" the signals you have connected to it.

To display the real-time status of the I/O signals, go to the Mach4 "Diagnostic" menu and select the "PMDX-SmartBOB-USB" from the drop-down list. On the diagnostics window that is displayed, click on the "Show Real-Time Input/Output Status" button. That will display another window to show the states of the input and output signals. This new window defaults to being always on top, meaning it will always be on top of any other window, including the main Mach4 display. If you don't want that behavior then un-check the "Stay on Top" check box.

The real-time status uses colors to show the state of the input and output signals:

(6) Homing Features and Restrictions

Homing Assumptions and Restrictions

The PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Plug-In and firmware are designed with some assumptions about the machine's configuration and some restrictions as to what machine configurations are supported. These assumptions and restrictions only pertain if the SmartBOB is selected as the "motion device" in Mach4.

The plug-in will generate an error message and abort the homing sequence if the configuration does not meet these restrictions. Some of these restrictions will be removed in future releases of the PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in.

The assumptions and restrictions are:

Homing Operation

The PMDX-SmartBOB-USB takes the following steps to home an axis:

Future versions of the SmartBOB plug-in will allow the user to configure all of the parameters used in the homing sequence above.

(7) PMDX-126 Expanded Inputs

The SmartBOB plug-in now supports the PMDX-126 in "Expanded Inputs" mode. When "Expanded Inputs" mode is enabled, there are an additional 4 input signals available. The additional inputs signals are named "PinE", "PinF", "PinG" and "PinH" to match the signal names on the silkscreen on the PMDX-126 circuit board. This means that the PMDX-411 has 9 input available (all through the PMDX-126), the PMDX-410 and PMDX-422 have 12 inputs available (9 through the PMDX-126 and 3 from the PMDX-410/422's J10 connector). See the following table.

Inputs Available in Expanded Inputs Mode
PMDX-411PMDX-410/422From PMDX-126
Pin10Pin10Yes
Pin11Pin11Yes
Pin12Pin12Yes
Pin13Pin13Yes
Pin15Pin15Yes
 PinANo
 PinBNo
 PinCNo
PinEPinEYes
PinFPinFYes
PinGPinGYes
PinHPinHYes

Expanded Inputs Mode Assumptions and Restrictions

The SmartBOB plug-in and the PMDX-126 board have certain requirements and restrictions in order for Expanded Inputs mode to function properly.

Expanded Inputs Mode Input Signal Sample Rates

When in "Expanded Inputs" mode, inputs Pin11, Pin12, Pin13, Pin15, Pin E, PinF, PinG and PinH are sampled at a rate determined by the charge pump frequency, which has a fixed (non-user editable) value depending on which SmartBOB device you have. PMDX-411 devices sample at 2.5 KHz (every 400 microseconds). PMDX-410 and PMDX-422 devices sample at 300 Hz (every 6.67 milliseconds). The difference in sample rates is due to the RC filters on the PMDX-410/422 input signals, which limit how fast we can sample. The PMDX-411 does not have these RC filters and thus can run at a higher sample rate.

(8) Sample Mach4 Profile (Optional)

If you selected to install this sample profile during the plug-in installation, there will be a sample Mach4 profile on your system that is pre-configured to use the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB. The profile is named "PMDX-Sample". This profile has the following configuration:

There are two ways to run this profile:

!! IMPORTANT !! We strongly suggest that you NOT make changes to the sample profile, since it may be overwritten in future plug-in updates. Instead, make a copy of the profile, like this:

If you want to change the PMDX-Sample shortcut on your desktop to run your new profile name:

 


(9) Previous Plug-In Versions


Version 0.31.147 (18 Sep 2015)

New features since Version 0.30.136:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.30.136:

Known Issues:

Version 0.30.136 (1 Aug 2015)

New features since Version 0.29.128:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.29.128:

Known Issues:

Version 0.29.128 (16 Jul 2015)

New features since Version 0.26.117:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.26.117:

Known Issues:

Version 0.26.117 (29 May 2015)

New features since Version 0.25.111:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.25.111:

Known Issues:

Version 0.25.111 (3 Apr 2015)

New features since Version 0.23.107:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.23.107:

Known Issues:

Version 0.23.107 (3 Apr 2015)

New features since Version 0.22.106:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.19.100:

Known Issues:

Version 0.22.106 (2 Apr 2015)

New features since Version 0.19.100:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.19.100:

Known Issues:

Version 0.19.100 (24 Mar 2015)

New features since Version 0.18.97:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.18.97:

Known Issues:

Version 0.18.97 (16 Mar 2015)

New features since Version 0.17.86:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.17.86:

Known Issues:

Version 0.17.86 (11 Feb 2015):

New features since Version 0.16.82:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.16.82:

Known Issues:



Version 0.16.82 (26 Jan 2015)

New features since Version 0.15.77:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.15.77:

Known Issues:



Version 0.15.77 (12 Jan 2015):

New features since Version 0.14.72:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.14.72:

Known Issues:

**WARNING**

If your profile contains macros for M3, M4 or M5 (like are installed by the Mach4Hobby installer), you MUST delete these files in order for the PWM spindle speed control to function. The macros as provided with some Mach4Hobby installations DO NOT WORK, and they are not needed for the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB to function.

NOTE that if you installed the PMDX sample profile from previous plug-in releases, that profile may contain these macro files. You will need to manually delete them. EVEN IF YOU TOLD THIS INSTALLER TO INSTALL THE SAMPLE PROFILE! The installer does NOT overwrite an existing copy of the sample profile.

These macros are in the Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros directory. You should see two files for each M-code. For example, "M3.mcc" and "M3.mcs". You must remove both of these files for each M-code, either by deleting them or by moving them to another directory.

If you have created custom versions of the M3, M4 or M5 macros, or have Lua code that affects that functionality, you will need to test them with the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB plug-in to see if the plug-in still works.



Version 0.14.72 (16 Dec 2014):

New features since Version 0.12.53:

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.12.53:

Known Issues:

**WARNING**

If your profile contains macros for M3, M4 or M5 (like are installed by the Mach4Hobby installer), you MUST delete these files in order for the PWM spindle speed control to function. The macros as provided with some Mach4Hobby installations DO NOT WORK, and they are not needed for the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB to function.

NOTE that if you installed the PMDX sample profile from previous plug-in releases, that profile may contain these macro files. You will need to manually delete them. EVEN IF YOU TOLD THIS INSTALLER TO INSTALL THE SAMPLE PROFILE! The installer does NOT overwrite an existing copy of the sample profile.

These macros are in the Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros directory. You should see two files for each M-code. For example, "M3.mcc" and "M3.mcs". You must remove both of these files for each M-code, either by deleting them or by moving them to another directory.

If you have created custom versions of the M3, M4 or M5 macros, or have Lua code that affects that functionality, you will need to test them with the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB plug-in to see if the plug-in still works.


That's All Folks!