DIY Arduino ATC Pathpilot....

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26 Jan 2022 02:58 #233140 by Vmax549
I did find a serial port monitor that got along with PP but I only get to see one side of teh conversation with it. The Arduino is talking but PP does not like it (;-). It IS giving PP the correct responce as I found the COM coding in PP so that part is correct. BUT there is still something PP does not like that shuts the ATC function down again.. I do know it monitors things like the PDB and the VFD and spindle run so maybe it is one of those things not right..

(;-) TP

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26 Jan 2022 09:28 #233160 by snowgoer540
That’s good news.  Check the manual for the ATC install.  It does require the interlock for the vfd, which can be made using a telephone cord (as I recall), and I think the power draw bar gets plugged into a different port.  

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26 Jan 2022 14:04 #233169 by Vmax549
I will have to look and see IF I can bypass those features for testing.

(;-) TP

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26 Jan 2022 14:26 #233172 by snowgoer540
Yep, very briefly looking at the code, it looks like tray_ref_pin might need to be spoofed?

Also, I see this from the notes he sent me that I posted when I posted the files:  

pathpilot will ask the atc what its profile data is, if it does not match what it expects...from the ini file i think, .it will send commands to change the profile data... won't work

as the profile is currently hard coded...so it must be set to match the data sent after the "VE" request or "VL" request..


Finally, with respect to the serial monitor:

I would set thing up on the bench first usiong arduino serial monitor..make sure carriage return is set in the bottom of the screen or nothing will happen as the string is terminated with c/r and must see it.

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26 Jan 2022 16:33 #233195 by Vmax549
The responce from VE matches what the Zbot_atc is looking for I did check that part. It matches exactly.

I think the problem may be missing safety input checks. I know it checks the PDB and VFD running. Maybe more hiding.

I would like to hear from the originator on the exact setup and test sequence as he did get it to work so there must be a trick to it.

(;-)TP
The following user(s) said Thank You: snowgoer540

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27 Jan 2022 20:50 #233309 by Vmax549
The problem seems to be timing issues on startup PP is outrunning the arduino responses and then PP times out and shuts down the ATC function.. The PP codes says it will try 3 times then quit and it does just that. The Arduino resonses show 3 VEs and then a VL but Tormach does not see them before it shuts down.

(;-)TP

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27 Jan 2022 21:10 #233311 by snowgoer540
Heard back from the author:

The number of tools, type of spindle and other things I can not remember must match the tool changer code (in the Arduino file) and the configuration file loaded by pathpilot...it depends on what machine you're running as to what info is loaded up. If hey don't match pathpilot will try to update the toolchanger...and fail as this is not written into the code, it was really a starting point and some coding experience is required I'm afraid.

Unfortunately I got to France in the morning and so could be out of communication next week...

Hope this little snippet helps, I haven't been near for such a long time as my machine is now a knee mill and a toolchanger is far too much work at the moment.


Are you trying to run this via VM or anything like that (not sure it makes a difference). If the arduino is ready, I am not sure why it would miss the commands?

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27 Jan 2022 21:21 #233313 by Vmax549
The PP code shows it makes 3 attempts to get the info . It does not wait around for an answer before it tries again. The monitor shows that it responded 3 times with the VE and then once with the VL command. I do not know WHAT PP is expecting for data so there is no way to compared what is sent verses what is expected. All I can say is it never gets past this point.

I am looking through the code again to see IF I can determine exactly what PP is looking for in the responce string.

(;-) TP

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27 Jan 2022 21:28 #233316 by Vmax549
I did read on a couple of sites where people had to disable the loader in the Arduino because it made it too slow on startup. I did find what PP is looking for but not the exact values it is expecting to see.

still snooping , (;-) TP

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27 Jan 2022 21:40 #233319 by snowgoer540
Are you looking in the python file for the atc?  Off the top of my head it’s zbot something or other.  It has all the serial stuff in it.

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