Difference between revisions of "Mach4 SimpleMotion drive plugin"

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(Added configuration pictures)
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==== '''Mach4 configuration''' ====
 
==== '''Mach4 configuration''' ====
−
1. Open the Mach4 Configuration dialog
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'''1. Open the Mach4 Configuration dialog'''
 +
 
 
[[File:MachConfigurationTab.png|400px]]
 
[[File:MachConfigurationTab.png|400px]]
  
 +
'''<br>
 +
2. Enable the SimpleMotion drive plugin from the plugins tab.'''
  
−
2. Enable the SimpleMotion drive plugin from the plugins tab.
 
 
[[File:MachConfigurationPlugins.png|800px]]
 
[[File:MachConfigurationPlugins.png|800px]]
  
−
The program should ask to restart Mach4 after enabling the plugin. Restart Mach4 before continuing.
+
3. The program should ask to restart Mach4 after enabling the plugin. Restart Mach4 before continuing.
 +
 
 +
'''4. Select the SimpleMotion drive plugin to be used as a motion device'''
  
−
Select The SimpleMotion drive plugin to the motion device
 
 
[[File:SelectMotionDevTab.PNG|400px]]
 
[[File:SelectMotionDevTab.PNG|400px]]
 +
 
[[File:SelectMotionDev.png|400px]]
 
[[File:SelectMotionDev.png|400px]]
  
 +
'''5. Open the Mach configuration again as in the step 1'''
  
 +
'''6. Configure the motors.'''
  
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* Motors
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Select each used motor and configure them as following:
−
** Counts/unit, velocity, acceleration, reverse
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* The motor indexes are always one smaller than the SimpleMotion axis numbers. For example, Motor0 means drive 1 in the SimpleMotion bus.
 +
* How many steps the motors should move for each unit of measure
 +
* The maximum velocity of each motor
 +
* The maximum acceleration of each motor
 +
* Motors can also be reversed here
 
[[File:MachConfigurationMotors.png|800px]]
 
[[File:MachConfigurationMotors.png|800px]]
  
 +
'''<br>
 +
7. Axis mapping'''
  
−
* Axis mapping
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Enable the axes used in your machine. The following picture shows 3-axis machine where the spindle motor is also controlled by Mach4. The axes X-C (0-5) are for motion, and the OB axes (6-11) can be used for controlling a spindle motor.
−
** Select motors. The motor index numbers in Mach4 are one smaller than the motor driver numbers in the SimpleMotion bus. For example, Motor0 in Mach4 controls the motor driver 1.
+
* Enable used axes
−
** One OB (Out-of-Band) axis can be selected for being used as a velocity or position controlled spindle. An OB axis can be selected for position controlled spindle in the Mach4 spindle configuration, and for velocity controlled spindle in the SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration.
+
* The motor indexes are always one smaller than the SimpleMotion drive numbers. For example, Motor0 means drive 1 in the SimpleMotion bus
−
** Do not enable axes without motors
+
* Select a motor for each axis. Slave motors can also be set for an axis if they use more than one motor
 +
* Do not enable axes without motors
 +
* The spindle control type  (velocity or position-controlled) will be set later
 
[[File:MachConfigurationAxisMapping.png|800px]]
 
[[File:MachConfigurationAxisMapping.png|800px]]
  
−
 
+
'''8. Homing / Soft limits'''
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* Homing/SoftLimits
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* Set the homing order. If some axes have the same number, they will be homed at the same time
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** Set the homing order
+
* Enable soft limits for motion axes
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** The homing direction is selected in Granity software, not here
+
* Set the soft limits to prevent axes from hitting their physical limits. If you don't know what to put here, you can also configure them later
−
** Set home in place if needed
+
* The homing direction, offset and speed are selected in Granity software when using this plugin
−
** Set soft travel limits
+
 
[[File:MachConfigurationHomingAndSoftLimits.png|800px]]
 
[[File:MachConfigurationHomingAndSoftLimits.png|800px]]
  
−
 
+
'''9. Spindle'''
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* Spindle
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* Set min. and max. rpm for the spindle motor if it is controlled by Mach4.
−
** Set min. and max. RPM.
+
* The max. rpm set here doesn't have effect to the real speed of velocity-controlled spindle. Running a velocity-controlled spindle by here configured max. speed runs the spindle motor by the maximum speed configured in the motor driver.
−
** A position controlled spindle can be selected here if it's enabled in motors tab
+
* If the spindle is position-controlled, the spindle motor should be selected in the "Step/Dir Spindle Axis"-dropdown. Before this, the axis must be enabled and mapped like described in the step 7
 
[[File:MachConfigurationSpindlePos.png|800px]]
 
[[File:MachConfigurationSpindlePos.png|800px]]
  
 +
==== '''10. SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration''' ====
 +
Close the Mach configuration and open the SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration
  
−
==== '''SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration''' ====
 
 
[[File:PluginConfigurationTab.PNG|400px]]
 
[[File:PluginConfigurationTab.PNG|400px]]
 +
 +
Set the following settings. The default values work in most cases.
 +
* SimpleMotion V2 adapter FTDI port number
 +
* SimpleMotion V2 buffer max. fill percentage
 +
* In the case of using a velocity-controlled spindle, its axis should be selected here. The list shows only mapped and enabled axes that are not selected as position-controlled spindle
 
[[File:PluginConfiguration.PNG|600px]]
 
[[File:PluginConfiguration.PNG|600px]]
−
* FTDI port number, usually 0
 
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* Buffer max fill percentage. Defines the percentage of the motor driver buffer used for buffering motion.
 
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* Select a velocity-controlled axis to be used as a spindle
 
−
** To use an axis as a velocity-controlled spindle, enable it as an OB axis in the Mach4 settings and select the same axis from this list
 
  
 +
'''11. Save the SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration by pressing "OK", and start using the software!'''
 
== Other ==
 
== Other ==
  

Revision as of 17:35, 11 January 2018

Mach4 is a CNC motion control software developed by Newfangled Solutions. The Mach4 SimpleMotion drive plugin is needed to run motor drivers connected to SimpleMotion bus with Mach4.

Requirements

The following things are needed for building a CNC machine using Mach4 and motor drivers connected with SimpleMotion bus:

  • Atomi, IONI or Argon-based motion system, e.g. CNC mill, connected with SimpleMotion bus
  • Windows PC
  • Mach4 software + license
  • SimpleMotion adapter depending on selected motor drivers

Mach4 installation

  • Download and install Mach4
  • Download the plugin files to the Mach4 plugin folder
  • Read the Mach4 installation, configuration and operation manuals before use

Configuration

Motor driver configuration

Configure the motor drivers with Granity software:

  • Motor specific settings
  • Set position mode for every driver except for possible velocity-controlled spindle motor
  • Set suitable max. speed
  • Configure homing for all possible axes to ensure the positioning accuracy
  • Set soft travel limits

Mach4 configuration

1. Open the Mach4 Configuration dialog

MachConfigurationTab.png


2. Enable the SimpleMotion drive plugin from the plugins tab.

MachConfigurationPlugins.png

3. The program should ask to restart Mach4 after enabling the plugin. Restart Mach4 before continuing.

4. Select the SimpleMotion drive plugin to be used as a motion device

SelectMotionDevTab.PNG

SelectMotionDev.png

5. Open the Mach configuration again as in the step 1

6. Configure the motors.

Select each used motor and configure them as following:

  • The motor indexes are always one smaller than the SimpleMotion axis numbers. For example, Motor0 means drive 1 in the SimpleMotion bus.
  • How many steps the motors should move for each unit of measure
  • The maximum velocity of each motor
  • The maximum acceleration of each motor
  • Motors can also be reversed here

MachConfigurationMotors.png


7. Axis mapping

Enable the axes used in your machine. The following picture shows 3-axis machine where the spindle motor is also controlled by Mach4. The axes X-C (0-5) are for motion, and the OB axes (6-11) can be used for controlling a spindle motor.

  • Enable used axes
  • The motor indexes are always one smaller than the SimpleMotion drive numbers. For example, Motor0 means drive 1 in the SimpleMotion bus
  • Select a motor for each axis. Slave motors can also be set for an axis if they use more than one motor
  • Do not enable axes without motors
  • The spindle control type (velocity or position-controlled) will be set later

MachConfigurationAxisMapping.png

8. Homing / Soft limits

  • Set the homing order. If some axes have the same number, they will be homed at the same time
  • Enable soft limits for motion axes
  • Set the soft limits to prevent axes from hitting their physical limits. If you don't know what to put here, you can also configure them later
  • The homing direction, offset and speed are selected in Granity software when using this plugin

MachConfigurationHomingAndSoftLimits.png

9. Spindle

  • Set min. and max. rpm for the spindle motor if it is controlled by Mach4.
  • The max. rpm set here doesn't have effect to the real speed of velocity-controlled spindle. Running a velocity-controlled spindle by here configured max. speed runs the spindle motor by the maximum speed configured in the motor driver.
  • If the spindle is position-controlled, the spindle motor should be selected in the "Step/Dir Spindle Axis"-dropdown. Before this, the axis must be enabled and mapped like described in the step 7

MachConfigurationSpindlePos.png

10. SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration

Close the Mach configuration and open the SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration

PluginConfigurationTab.PNG

Set the following settings. The default values work in most cases.

  • SimpleMotion V2 adapter FTDI port number
  • SimpleMotion V2 buffer max. fill percentage
  • In the case of using a velocity-controlled spindle, its axis should be selected here. The list shows only mapped and enabled axes that are not selected as position-controlled spindle

PluginConfiguration.PNG

11. Save the SimpleMotion drive plugin configuration by pressing "OK", and start using the software!

Other

Versions

Version Comments Download
0.1 The first beta release

Known issues

  • A possible small bump after disabling or stopping motion due to aborted buffered motion

TODO

Velocity limitCVL


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