Axis switch from mdi to manual mode and back

Rick G wrote:

Thanks, good info I will take a look.

Rick G

Let me know if it will be as BigJohn told. I have the same problem as you.
I use external operator panel (siemens lathe) and switch manual->mdi and mdi->manula is possible only with mouse.

I added next strings to /usr/bin/axis
###string 671
### self.set_mdi_mode = False
###string 3066
### comp.newpin("set-mdi-mode",hal.HAL_BIT,hal.HAL_IN)
###string 782
### set_mdi_mode = comp["set-mdi-mode"]
### if self.set_mdi_mode != set_mdi_mode:
### self.set_mdi_mode = set_mdi_mode
### if self.set_mdi_mode:
### root_window.tk.eval(pane_top + ".tabs raise mdi")
###
and some strings in panel.hal
## switch from MDI window in MANUAL/AUTO window
net user-manual-mode <= pyvcp.set-manual-mode-btn
net user-manual-mode => axisui.set-manual-mode
## switch from MAN/AUTO window in MDI window
net user-mdi-mode <= pyvcp.set-mdi-mode-btn
net user-mdi-mode => axisui.set-mdi-mode

And it works!

Thanks everyone for the info.

Before I could run a g code file from the joy pad using an MDI command such as...

In my ini file
[HALUI]
MDI_COMMAND = o<home> call

and the sub home.ngc

o<home> sub
g53 g0 z0
g53 g0 x0y0
o<home> endsub
M2

and that worked fine.

However

o<home> sub
(debug, CAUTION HIT RESUME TO RAPID MACHINE Z THEN X AND Y TO G53 HOME POSITION)
M0 (pause)
M110
g53 g0 z0
g53 g0 x0y0
o<home> endsub
M2

would cause an error.

aike,

I edited the axis file as shown by your post and magically the hal pin was created, hooked that up to a button on the joy pad and now all is well.

Thanks.

By the way I bounce back and forth between manual and MDI mode when setting up and I do not know how many times I have entered M3 or M5 without looking and thinking I was in MDI mode only to be in manual mode and instead of the desired result I accidentally set a feed override. So as I was editing axis anyway I went down to around line 2584 in axis.

def activate_axis_or_set_feedrate(n):
# XXX: axis_mask does not apply if in joint mode
if manual_ok() and s.axis_mask & (1<<n):
activate_axis(n)
else:
set_feedrate(10*n)


and commented out

# else:
# set_feedrate(10*n)

To disable the feedrate shortcuts on my machine.

Rick G

To save anyone else a bit of work, here's a patch file for 2.5.3 Axis to implement set-mdi-mode.

This patch also implements an axisui output pins that reflects the current manual/mdi tab. I did this so that I could use one button on my pendant to flip between Manual and MDI modes using the toggle2nist hal thingie.

Download the patch from here , save a copy of /usr/bin/axis and then do:

To make use of the above from an xhc pendant, add the following to custom_postgui.hal

...changing 'xhc-hb04.button-mode' to the button of your choice and 'N' on each line to the toggle and toggle2nist numbers you want to use.

If you don't have a 'spare' toggle or toggle2nist then check in custom.hal for lines like 'loadrt toggle count=2' and 'addf toggle.2 xxx-thread' and add another toggle and toggle2nist.

HtH.

Thanks for sharing.

Rick G

I want to connect some physical buttons for changing axis from manual to mdi, but can't connect to axisui.set-manual-mode pin when starting. The program terminates with the error "Pin 'axisui.set-manual-mode' does not exist"
I guess that axisui is not loaded yet at the time hal goes to connect the pin, so how does one use it?