Messages

1

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: 407 spindle controller and plasma cutter

« on: June 25, 2020, 05:04:40 PM »

I should have mentioned that this is in conjunction with my pmdx-424 board.

2

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / 407 spindle controller and plasma cutter

« on: June 25, 2020, 12:21:16 PM »

I am trying to set up a cnc plasma cutter. I'm not sure how to tell the plasma cutter to turn on or off between cuts. I was wondering if the PMDX-407 board might do this or is there another easy solution?

3

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 25, 2020, 11:51:28 AM »

Okay, I will try making the mentioned change. I think I am good to go for a while now. I just need to research how to hook up the E-stop and the limit switches. I'm going to spend some time sorting out my CAD-CAM program as well. I know I've mentioned this before but I really appreciate all the help you have provided. I would have been lost without it. If I have additional problems I will try starting a new thread. Thank you.

4

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 23, 2020, 06:55:07 PM »

I had a fairly productive day today. I didn't find the image you mentioned of what should be seen in the Macros file. What I have in there is the following list:
  load_modules.mcc
  load_modules.mcs
  m6,mcc
  m6.mcs
  m162.mcc
  m162.mcs
  m163.mcc
  m163.mcs
And that's it. I'm wondering if I should be unplugging the SmartBob from the computer whenever I shut down? I was leaving it in but that seems to be when I've been getting the device not recognized window.
Anyway, I went through what you told me, I renamed the sample profile. I couldn't find another copy of the plugin. I may have just had it on a thumb drive or something. Anyway, I plugged the PMDX-424 into the USB port, started Mach4 and I still had the Lua error. However I didn't have a device not recognized error so I loaded Mach4 and went in to configure/controls/motors and adjusted some parameters and made some movements. I can't adjust these parameters after changing them once. I assume this is to keep you from accidentally changing them. So I would close Mach4 Hobby. whenever I would try to restart it I would receive the error that another instance of Mach is already running even though I just closed it out. So I would shut down and restart. Once I got the device not recognized window again but I just went in and reinstalled the VCP driver and that seemed to fix everything. Its not showing up in Device Manager/Ports like it was before but it says it was successfully installed and I'm not getting any errors and the 424 board is working like it should. Anyway I did this process several times today, shutting down restarting, plugging in the USB cord, adjusting parameters. At the end of the day all three axis were moving within an accuracy of about three thou per inch so I called that good enough for now.
I do have one other thing I'm not sure how to change. When I make a positive x move the gantry moves in the negative direction and the same with the z axis, a negative move moves the axis in the positive direction. Other than that I'm quite satisfied with how things seem to be working. Looking forward to actually loading a program and starting to burn metal. I've still got some work to do before then but appreciate all the help you've been giving me. I feel like I'm on my way there. So, two questions really, should I unplug the 424 board after shutdown and how to get my two axis's moving the right direction.

 no exclamation points in Device Manager

5

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 20, 2020, 06:09:56 PM »

Arrrg!! Just when I thought we'd gotten over all the rough patches... I went in this morning and made all the changes you'd suggested (The screen 3 change had already been made). Then I went into MDI and input G1X1. and clicked on the enable button then the cycle start button. Nothing. then I noticed the enable light was off on the 424 board. I forget what I did next, I think I looked at the History screen and there was some text in there that was like .03 inches tall, way too small to read. I think this is where I decided to just restart the system, not sure and its not in my notes. When I did, I got that old "USB device not recognized" error. When I click on that box I get a message that says: Error: One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message.
When I clicked on the message, it brought up a tree like the one under Device Manager. It said:
USB root hub (2 ports)
  Generic USB Hub (6 ports)
  unused port
  unused port
  unused port
  USB mass storage device
  Unknown device
  unused port.

Okay so the unknown device had the yellow triangle with the exclamation point in it. I double clicked on that and got the following message: USB serial bus controller in control panel windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems (code 43).
So I went into device manager and it had the same list under USB serial bus. I looked in Ports next and it only showed COM1 not COM3 as before. So I tried repairing the VCP file, no luck. Then I tried removing the VCP file completely, then restarting and re-installing it. The computer says it successfully installed the VCP files but there is still nothing in Ports under device Manager except port (COM1).
About this time I realized I could read the History window by double clicking on the button. The first time I did it, it had some messages about not finding the SmartBob board but the last time (after another restart) it said: Lua error occurred while opening filecannot open C:\Mach4Hobby\Profiles\PMDX-424-Sample\Macros\mcLua.mcc No such file or directory.
Seems like two steps forward, one step back. And just when I thought I had everything solved. I am wondering if it could be a computer problem. I have had hard drive problems with this computer before. Not looking forward to moving everything over to a new system though, plus I don't have one handy. Thoughts?

 

6

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 19, 2020, 06:43:53 PM »

Okay, I went back to the shop this afternoon and started the machine. Same situation as before. Z on y axis, Y on Z axis, no x axis movement. X was ghosted in jog. so I tried to get back to the screen where I setup the machine a week or two ago. Where there was the tab for axis mapping. I couldn't get there because it was all ghosted. So I went in and created a new profile and restarted Mach4 and got into the axis mapping configuration screen there was a red x on motor zero which matched the error I got in the History window (axis 0 commanded while disabled). Then I have green checkmarks on y axis with motor one in the box and z axis with motor two in the box. Then I noticed that the next box is A axis and it has a motor 3 in the box. So, out of curiosity I went back into Mach 4, MDI and put in G1A1. and hit the cycle start button and, voila, the x axis moved. Way too much though, I shut if off by hitting the stop button and then put in G1A0, hit cycle start and the machine returned to x zero. The problem was the z axis (designated as Y) moves way too little (about a quarter inch maybe) and the X axis (designated as A) moves way too much, about nine inches for a 1 inch command. So I tried to get back to the screen where I set up the motor parameters but it seems everything is ghosted again. I know this is getting to be a mach4 problem which I'm still learning and not a PMDX issue but you have been so helpful in the past I would appreciate it if you might be able to give me guidance regarding these new issues. I will see what I can figure out elsewhere in the meantime. Thank you for your help so far.
 

7

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 19, 2020, 01:43:47 PM »

Progress! I have movement! A couple issues though. I tried redoing the screw terminals. Un screwing the screws pulling out the wires, re-inserting them and screwing the terminals back down. I then fired up everything. I couldn't locate the jog screen so I tried inputting commands in MDI again. I got movement on both the Y and Z axis's (when commanded) . However when I command a y move the Z axis responds and visa versa when I make a z command the y axis responds. I'm assuming this is an easy fix. Okay so then I tried an X move, again in MDI, and got nothing. That's when I noticed a message in the History window that said "axis 0 commanded while disabled". I don't know if it was there before inputting the x axis command or not but I'm guessing it was after. Anyway about this time I found the jogging button and tried jogging in y (the Z motor moved) and Z (the y motor moved) but the x axis buttons were ghosted. I haven't tried the multimeter test yet. I will be going back to the shop this afternoon to see if I can figure out how to correct everything. Any suggestions would be much appreciated and thank you 12 strings for all the help so far. I can't believe it was such a simple fix as redoing the connections. Now if I can just get the x axis working as well. I'm about ready to try wiring up the limit (homing) switches and the E-stop and can't wait to start burning parts although that's still a ways away.

8

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 17, 2020, 03:44:05 PM »

I got to the shop today and took photo's of the electronics. I do have dir on 8 of the gecko, step on 9 and com on 10. I have nothing hooked up on the disable connector. I was guessing its for emergency stop which I haven't wired up yet, Or maybe not, but its open right now. I do have black and green to phase A and red and white to phase B. I did a resistance check at the drive by probing the screws that hold the wires down. I got zero resistance on both phase A connections and phase B connections.
However I tried to do a voltage check on the power supply wires. I stuck one probe (the black one) on the power ground terminal (1) and then as soon as I touched the power terminal (2) I got a nasty spark so I backed off from doing anymore testing. I did see that the power led in the geckodrive was still lit afterward so hopefully no damage to the drive.
Anyway, attached are some pictures of the electronics.

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SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 15, 2020, 08:50:06 PM »

I've come up with some stats on the motor and power supply. I have three Nema 34 motors rated at 4.05 volts, 4.5 amps current, .9 ohms resistence, 6.8 mH inductance and 640 oz-in of torque. I also have a fourth motor on the Z axis which is a Nema 23 rated at 3 amps current, 1.2 ohms resistence, 4.7 mH inductance and 2 Nm torque. My power supply is rated at 1200 watts, 60 volts dc and 20 amps. The input is 110 volts, the drivers are connected to the output side which should be 60 volts, correct?
I will check the motor connections. Can I do this at the drivers? all the cables are heat shrinked and not easy to get at the wires. Everything is in drag chains and all cable is shielded.
I've attached the pdf's for the power supply and the X and Y axis motors. I'm still not sure where to run the common wire for the output. I have the two plus outputs attached to the driver power (2 into 4)and the two minus outputs attached to driver power ground (again 2 into 4). In other words there are two terminals each for plus and minus on the power supply and I have these split into four wires going to each of the four  geckodrives.
 I'll have to try to take a picture of the wiring next time I'm at the shop. Should be tomorrow.

10

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 14, 2020, 10:09:53 PM »

I have a bit of an update. No luck yet with getting the machine to move but I did run across a post that said that the choice between a one ten volt power supply and a two twenty volt supply depends upon the inductance of the motors being used. I'm using fairly large motors. 640 oz-in, 45 volt at 4 amps. So maybe 110 is not enough volts to turn them. I need to calculate the inductance and see if I can figure out what size supply I need to use. I just set mine up for 110 because it was "easier". I'm going to try to find the formula for calculating this again. Does anyone here happen to know what the formula is?

11

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 13, 2020, 04:32:30 PM »

Okay, one thing I was wondering about. My power supply output has two positive terminals, two negative terminals and a common terminal. I don't have anything hooked up to the common terminal. Wondering if I should have it connected to something and if so, what. I tried to get a pic but its a pdf file.

12

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 12, 2020, 06:11:16 PM »

Yes the led flickers upon execution of a movement command. Yes the common, step and dir connections from the 424 board are connected to terminals 8, 9 and ten on the Gecko (203v) which are marked as common, step and dir. I have the motors wired to terminals 3, 4, 5, 6, winding A is blk(3), winding -A is green (4), winding B is red (5)and winding -B is white (6). I have the red power wire from the supply connected to terminal 1, the power terminal on the gecko  and the black wire from the supply connected to terminal 2, the ground wire on the gecko. One thing I should mention is that I have the power supply wired for 110 volts. It said it would supply either so I figured 110 would be easiest to wire and if I needed more power I could rewire it later. I'm running 640 oz-in steppers. I think they are rated at 3.5 amps. I meant to grab that info when I was at the shop but forgot. The power supply is rated at 15 amps I believe.

13

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 12, 2020, 01:02:44 PM »

Okay I will check the wiring between the SmartBob and the gecko's. I did notice the led's on the SmartBob flickering once, usually I've been concentrating on the monitor.
The motors do have holding torque, at least I'm sure the x axis does as I was trying to count the number of teeth on the motor gear (rack and pinion) and had to shut down so i could move the axis.
Again, thanks for the help. The more I work on this, the more it feels like a driver issue. Mach4 and the 424 board seem to be doing what they are supposed to be doing. I am not sure I have the power supply wired correctly. Its wired to the drivers and they send power to the motors. Is that correct?

14

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 10, 2020, 02:30:06 PM »

Okay I finally got the info you requested. Under motor configuration, the step/dir pinout configuration is Normal. Step/dir common configuration says step/dir common is ground.
for motors 0 to 3: Step pulse width is 5us, step polarity is active high and Dir polarity is Normal.
I tried to input numbers into the boxes on the control configuration screen (the one with the graph) but couldn't get it to accept any keyboard inputs for counts/unit or velocity in units/min.

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SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Re: newb question Lua error, machine not moving

« on: March 09, 2020, 02:46:52 PM »

Okay, I looked at the machine today. Under control configuration it has counts/unit. The box is blank. Under velocity in  units/min the box is blank. under acceleration in units (sec 2) the box is blank. also the boxes for G force, backlash, Reverse and Enable Delay (ms) the boxes are all blank.
Also under axis mapping slave 1 is blank. I am using the dual motor feature on my x axis. These are assigned as motor 3a and 3b. Should I have something in the slave 1 box? Also under toolpath the boxes for Disable VBO tool path, use a frame to draw the tool path and use lazy Tool Path Update, the boxes are all blank.
I'm thinking I should have some info in some of these boxes,in particular, the counts/unit and velocity in units/minute. Wouldn't you agree? Not sure what to put there though. Any help is appreciated.