Current turning capabilities status

emcPT wrote:

Issuing:
"G0 A1" the toolholder should rotate 1 degree in one direction
"G0 A359" the toolholder should rotate 2 degrees in the reverse direction

This precisely why on the last toolchanger I wrote and on others prior to it, I did not even consider using a rotary axis and defined it as LINEAR

Then you just need to work out how many units equal the ATC move you want and you can issue positive or negative move commands directly
to the stepgen.NN.position-cmd

Regards the orient component, speak to Thomas (tkamster)
He is trying to use it on his set up and may be able to assist

regards

Thank you Mr Andy and ArcEye,

This is a bit confusing to me about the direction that I should take as there are some options (maybe ladder or a component - that I do not have a clear ideia about it). Both options are on the dark side for us.

My current idea:
Using ANGULAR axis. I think that we can implement all that we want, if in some part off the tool change process we gained access to the current position (or current slot) and the desired slot position.

For example:
Machine currently is in slot 3 (lets say 90.40 degrees)
A tool change is requested to slot 5 (lets consider 152.00), lets say, in the command line using T0505

Now, if I can catch the current position that is 90.40 degrees and the desired position (that is 152 degrees), if I can program something that is trigered due to the tools change, I think I can manage to output the needed amount of travel and direction.

My current dough is to know if such thing exist; this is, if I can execute something that is triggered due to the tool change, and if I can have access to the linuxemc internals (position, status ....) during that execution, and if I can issue move commands also in that execution.

If this is covered in the documentation, we were not able to find it.
Thank you

Hi

iocontrol outputs several signals for a tool change, all of which are documented here
linuxcnc.org/docs/2.5/html/man/man1/iocontrol.1.html

A component can connect to a stepgen (assuming a stepper ATC) and directly command movement via stepgen.NN.position-cmd

In a 'typical' toolchange component

The component connects to iocontrol and receives the tool-prepare tool-change signals
It processes the number required against its current position and calculates the movement required to that tool number
It outputs the required move (can be directly to the stepgen)
When move is completed, the locks in place etc. it returns the tool-changed signal to iocontrol and motion continues

It is only the details based upon the relays, rams, switches etc that varies, the principle is fairly general

There are 3 toolchangers in the contributed components section of the wiki
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ContributedComponents

I am about to add a 4th, which is a variation which has a carousel of tools

They might give you some ideas.

To help get your thoughts clear, it can help to write a flow chart.
The signals you will get from iocontrol , the physical and electrical steps in the actual tool change for your machine and what you are going to do to interface them and command the required tool change.
The more you can break it down into steps, the clearer it becomes and the easier to implement.

regards

Thank you very much.
I will try to understand it based on the examples. I will post if I have problems.

An update,

Most hardware now arrived.
We were able to move the large AC motors in both X and Z axis - that was quite a long work - and we started to work on the A axis for the tool change. We can also use the hydraulic pump to clamp and unclamp the turret. Also most limit switches are working.
Max speed is conservative as the servo drives are underrated to the servos, but we can still use the lathe at 6 m/min (236 inches/min).
We must now figure out to home the axis using the index, but we will use the available documentation.

Thank you all that helped reaching here.

HOME_USE_INDEX = NO - If the encoder used for this axis has an index pulse, and the motion card has provision for this signal you may set it to yes. When it is yes, it will affect the kind of home pattern used.

www.linuxcnc.org/docs/html/config/ini_co...d_sub_axis_section_a

www.linuxcnc.org/docs/html/config/ini_homing.html

JT