Lathe turret tool changer with absolute encoder

I'm at the point in my retrofit where the last 2 big things I would like to wrap up are the spindle winding selection and the tool changer,  I'm unsure how to proceed with the tool changer.

It's a pragati 8 tool , driven by a 3 phase motor and absolute encoder with a prox switch for tool clamp verification. This turret simply runs the motor forward or backward and has a internal cam system for unlocking , no prawl , no locking pins , no lifting.

I have the 3 phase motor running off a mollom vfd and I can manually cycle the tool changer forward or reverse , the vfd supports +10v analog signal and can have a reverse input.

The output from the encoder is 3v but i forgor to grab a pic of that page.

I have the encoder and prox switch powered,  the prox switch is wired to a input on my 7i95t and is functioning.

my mesa setup is 7i95t-7i83-7i84

debian 12 , linuxcnc 2.9 gmoccapy

I guess I'm looking for advise on how to proceed , tool changer setup seems unique to every machine . And I can't find much info about absolute encoders , I would be up to ditching the encoder and going with some kind of "tool home" sensor if it's easier.



 

Thank you for the direction , I was reading about carousel  bit last night , looks like it will fit the bill.

For wiring of the encoder should the signals be connected to the i/o of the 7i95t ? I'm still confused on that part but I did find an example from bigjohnt who uses a similiar encoder and I believe that's how it was wired.

You are correct,  I misunderstood the data sheet.

your explanation is great and now I actually have an understanding of what is happening.

From the factory it only usues bits 1-3 and parity , i have connected all these and can see them cycing in hal show.

I'm going to try and sit down over the next few days and try to see if i can get this going , thanks for all your help so far.

 

Started working on it this evening , I have a couple questions since I can't find an example to use for reference.

What pins to I connect my encoder in bits to ? I thought it was sense-0/1/2/3 etc but i was mistaken

When I do get that setup how do I setup so it knows what encoder Input = tool 1? , I played with the emco changer comp and it referenced a truth table that you could configure.

I now have the atc moving through carousel.

net bit1 carousel.0.sense-0 did the trick , same for parity 

It roates the changer but only for a couple tools. And it seems to always take the long way around

Still need to figure out how to tell it what tool is what but were getting somewhere.

Do you have "dir=2" in the loadrt carousel line?  

yes i do

Can you _jog_ the carousel in both directions?

yes i can jog both directions with the jog pins and when i do select a tool using m6t1/2/3/4/ it will move both directions , it just only seems to see a couple pockets even though *carousel.0.current position* is counting pockets up to 7.

 

also worth noting i do not have bit 8 actually hooked up as this machine did not use it from factory and running the extra wire is not something i really want want do , requires removing the tool changer and all associated wiring.

 

attached is my hal and ini so you can see what i have going on.