Prototrak Plus Retrofit with Mesa 7i77 & 5i25 cards

Many, many thanks!

This is got to be getting close. This is the highest "gain" range yet.



Welcome your thoughts.

Many thanks!

Looks pretty good. Congratulations. Now you just need to get that Z axis hooked up.

Todd, Thank you!!! Could not of tuned it w/o your advise.

The z is not necessary just now. I think I will try the demo soon.

Thanks!

Edit: I change the "ferror" and "max ferror" (i think this was the .ini files edited to 1.0 each) and that fixed "joint 2 following error".
My question is how to make program stop for manual "z" setting? It runs the sample program, just wont stop for manual setting.

A better way is to short circuit the feed back loop for the Z with a line like this in your hal program.
net z-pos-cmd <= axis.0.motor-pos-cmd => axis.0.motor-pos-fb

(You will probably have to comment out this line "net z-pos-fb => axis.0.motor-pos-fb")

Thanks you, Todd!

Attached are the .ini and .hal files (to keep all in 1 place), I am thinking that the way the .hal file was correct, but apparently not so, still have ""axis.0.motor-pos-cmd"" not found. Is there any suggested reading?

Many thanks!!
Edit: Paste section of .hal file of area in question:

"" # ---PWM Generator signals/setup---

setp hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.1.analogout2-scalemax [AXIS_2]OUTPUT_SCALE
setp hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.1.analogout2-minlim [AXIS_2]OUTPUT_MIN_LIMIT
setp hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.1.analogout2-maxlim [AXIS_2]OUTPUT_MAX_LIMIT

net z-output => hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.1.analogout2
net z-pos-cmd axis.2.motor-pos-cmd
net z-enable axis.2.amp-enable-out

# ---Encoder feedback signals/setup---

setp hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.counter-mode 0
setp hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.filter 1
setp hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.index-invert 0
setp hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.index-mask 0
setp hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.index-mask-invert 0
setp hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.scale [AXIS_2]ENCODER_SCALE

net z-pos-fb <= hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.position
net z-vel-fb <= hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.velocity
net z-pos-cmd <= axis.2.motor-pos-cmd=> axis.2.motor-pos-fb
# net z-pos-fb => axis.2.motor-pos-fb
net z-index-enable axis.2.index-enable <=> hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.index-enable
net z-pos-rawcounts <= hm2_5i25.0.encoder.02.rawcounts

# ---setup home / limit switch signals---

net z-home-sw => axis.2.home-sw-in
net z-neg-limit => axis.2.neg-lim-sw-in
net z-pos-limit => axis.2.pos-lim-sw-in

#*******************
# SPINDLE S ""

Try this

Many thanks,Todd!! I should be the one to congratulate you, for hanging in there with me!

Works well!! Will run the whole sample at fast feed. The one thing is, it cuts a "mirror image", can I use the "setp hm2-5i25.0.encoder.00.index-invert.0." or / and "setp hm2-5i25.0.encoder.00.index-mask-invert.0." in each axes, to change this variable?

many thanks!

You've probably fallen into the trap that many new cnc users fall into when configuring their first moving table machine. Sounds like you have one (or both) of the axis moving the wrong direction. The normal convention is to have the long axis be the X axis and for the tool to move relative to the work piece. A positive direction move would be the tool moving from left to right, but on a moving table, a positive jog is the table moving right to left. Similarly a positive jog for the Y axis would be moving the table out. It may seem confusing at first, but you need to think which way is the tool moving when you jog, not which way the table moves.

There are a number of ways to reverse an axis. With a servo set up probably the simplest way is to change the sign of the encoder scale for that axis in your ini file. (It is possible there might be a couple of other places were you might have to change a sign to keep the correct behavior, such as homing.)

Oops, Thanks Andy for the correction. (I knew there was something else, but I just could not think of it at the time.)