THC plasma configs, with HOW TO.

More
27 Jul 2018 07:51 - 25 Sep 2019 17:26 #114937 by tommylight

forum.linuxcnc.org/plasma-laser/35449-another-plasma-component
linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/plasma/plasmac-user-guide.html

Please use the above config for plasma machines as it has all the possible features included.
Thank you PhillC.




Several different configs for Plasma cutters with simple THC that output UP/DOWN/ARCOK signals and for THCAD, one is for stepper motor driven machine using parallel port, the other is for a servo driven machine with one stepper driving the Z axis using 5i25/7i77 for servo and parallel port for the stepper control. Added for Mesa cards, added for a full servo system with Mesa 5i25/7i77, added for THCAD etc.
Most of the instructions are included in the files, but here is some short info on the usage and capabilities:
-You have to edit the hal and ini files for it to work on your machine as every machine has differences.
-Make sure that the values you enter correspond to your machine.
-Use a text editor like Nano, Gedit, Pluma, Geany, do not use word processors like openoffice.
-Use Inkscape for drawings and conversion to gcode, using gcodetools included with Inksape, set the Z height to 0 in the gcodetools configuration window.
===Features and capabilities===
-Fully automated torch height control for plasma cutting.
-Does not require any post processor.
-Uses gcode directly exported from Inkscape.
-Does not need any touch off, subroutines or remapping.
-Does not require using offsets
-Settable pierce height
-Settable cut height
-Settable THC speed
-Settable pierce delay
-Settable pierce gap
-Corner lock with settable threshold
===How it works===
-At every M3 it does the following:
--move the torch down till it trips the floating switch
--move the torch up to the height set in the "Sw.Travel" plus the "Pierce gap"
--fire the torch and wait for ARCOK signal
--wait for the Pierce delay if set
--move to the cut height and commence motion
if the signal for ARCOK fails ( miss fire ), it will retry the number of times set at the bottom of the ini file
if it looses the ARCOK signal while cutting, it will stop motion and retry to fire the torch
===Requirements===
-Must have floating head with a switch. For ideas please visit:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCS0X88R7n7P2jIFwhIkw2Qw/videos

For more info, use this thread and please ask for anything that is not clear before complaining.
Do not send e-mails, i will not reply to them.

Added a version for 2.8pre, it is cleaned up and easier to edit, use with parallel port and Up/Down/ArcOK
Updated READ ME

Added a full servo version for 5i25/7i77, use for servo motors on all axis, Up/Down/ArcOk, named plasmats
Added a config for Mesa cards using stepgens. Config named "plasmat" Up/Down/ArcOk
Added a config for Mesa cards using stepgens. Config named, THCAD. Has also provisions for generating ARCOK signal from the preset min/max voltage, so no wiring for arcok needed.

WARNING : All configs need a bit of editing to work with your hardware, most have explanations, so do some reading before testing on actual hardware.
When posting questions, please do include all the informations about your machine.
All configs are for Linuxcnc 2.8pre, they come with NO liability, implicit or otherwise, and are provided as is under GPL.
Last edit: 25 Sep 2019 17:26 by tommylight. Reason: More info, more configs.
The following user(s) said Thank You: BigJohnT, chimeno, Clive S, edgemir, Grotius, Plasmaguy, snugglylovemuffin, thefabricator03

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Jul 2018 17:42 #114973 by Grotius
Hi Tommy,

I will explore your code ! Thanks dude.

Your attachments are not available at this moment. Maybe upload it again.

I have maybe a suggestion for the pyvcp screen. I think without seeing the attachments, it is based on a pyvcp add on screen.
A few weeks ago, i had the idea to use the same signal names from pyvcp panel for a glade panel. :lol:
So someone can do this trick if he likes. And upload the glade panel into this topic, with the ini line for loading the panel correctly.

For example : in the thc_vcp.hal file
Connect : net THCStepSize pyvcp.Spin-THCStepSize => mult2.0.in0
This one : pyvcp.Spin-THCStepSize is the name for the glade panel (pyvcp) and the signal after the dot (Spin-THCStepSize)
In glade the you have to use the spinbutton / resolution / min and max just like the orginal pyvcp screen.

It's not difficult to do this. I think it will be a improvement to the orginal application. Also we can adapt more options to the code like arc-lost... etc. Hmm something to think about.
The following user(s) said Thank You: tommylight

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Jul 2018 21:34 #114989 by tommylight
Thank you Grotius,
It does have arc lost already and it will stop motion after a period that can be set in the ini file (usually 0.2 to 0.3 seconds so it does not go far when it loses the arc ), it is at the bottom of the ini.
In case it retries for the set number of times in ini and does not get the ARCOK signal ( usually happens when the plasma gets overheated and needs to cool down or when the air pressure gets to low ) it will trigger an e-stop and switch off everything, including the drives if they are wired properly.
As for glade, i would love to give it a try, but i just do not have time for it. Am working as general manager at a local factory and building 4 machines at the same time from scratch, working on another retrofit, finished another one two weeks ago, etc.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
27 Jul 2018 21:59 #114991 by rodw
Tommy, Great to see some mesa configs using your toma work.
Grotius, click on the page icon, not the i button and you'll be able to download.
I spent some time writing a document last night that I think that will become an introduction to plasma with Linuxcnc.
I'll add a link to this thread.
The following user(s) said Thank You: tommylight, Grotius

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
28 Jul 2018 06:44 #115003 by tommylight
This is the last retrofit i did on an ESAB Ultrarex UXD-P 2500, it uses servo drives controlled by Mesa 6i25/7i77 with the added stepper drive for the Z axis connected to parallel port. Proma THC used for torch height control as they have proven very reliable. Also added to "show your stuff" thread with youtube video of it working.
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/34986...nuxcnc-and-proma-thc
This one uses the config uploaded at the beginning of this thread.



And this is the control panel.



Regards,
Tom
Attachments:
The following user(s) said Thank You: Grotius, thefabricator03, jay1st

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
28 Jul 2018 15:41 - 28 Jul 2018 16:18 #115015 by Grotius
Hi,

Rod, you are right !! thanks dude.
It would be great to have a introduction document for plasma, great work Rod !

Tom, thanks for your work dude.
Which person are you on the picture? the right one?

I have made a glade panel. and it works ! For me it was quite easy to do. Had a 4 or 5 difficulties to merge, but no problem.
Here the picture of the standard glade panel i made and tested for signals.
Now second item is to make a nice looking tab for Axis and for Gmocappy and Gscreen.


In the zip files, all connections to the glade panel are made in : thc_vcp.hal
In thc_toma.ini i load the glade screen in.
I have set my parport adres to 1110 instead of 378.
So this zip file is only for those who want to explore this, this file is only for information and backup info for a thc project.
There will come more of this kind of backups. On my git it is only uploaded when complete version is ready to merge with linuxcnc master version.
Attachments:
Last edit: 28 Jul 2018 16:18 by Grotius.
The following user(s) said Thank You: tommylight

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
28 Jul 2018 16:15 #115016 by tommylight

Tom, thanks for your work dude.
Which person are you on the picture? the right one?


I am the one behind the camera ! :)
BTW, in the picture under my user name, that is my foot in a dogs mouth !
I think my picture is in my profile besides a KUKA KR150 robot, leme check......yup i am still there leaning on that poor robot !

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
28 Jul 2018 16:31 - 28 Jul 2018 16:32 #115017 by Grotius
Hi Tom,

Its a Kuka connected to a KR2 version kabinet i think. If you have difficulties with Kuka, you can ask me by mail. :)

What a nice dog is that. Why is this dog cheating on you?
I hate police dog's or fight dog's like pitbulls. They destroy your life just in 1 minute if you have no knife in your pocket to kill the dog within 15 seconds ;)
Last edit: 28 Jul 2018 16:32 by Grotius.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
28 Jul 2018 18:04 #115024 by tommylight
Thank you, but i am good with KUKA, hell i hacked them to function stand alone even when they are not built for that. I have the same nick name on the robot-forum.com.
The dog chewing on my foot is not mine, i own a 50 KG rottweiler.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
29 Jul 2018 11:42 #115055 by Grotius
Hi Tom,

I have expanded the glade interface this morning to a Axis side screen instead of a Axis tab screen.
For me it's quite easy to adapt this Proma thc feature into a Grotius screen layout.

A short question. Is it possible to disable the probe function? So yes, we can adapt the probe section interface to this feature.



The full project code :

File Attachment:

File Name: axispromat...reen.zip
File Size:28 KB
Attachments:
The following user(s) said Thank You: tommylight

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: snowgoer540
Time to create page: 0.507 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum