ATC for RF45 Type machines with TTS Tooling

[rwskinner]

You would use the modbus slave lib for the arduino and set up the logic and registers on the arduino, then have Mach poll those registers. You can either use brains to act upon those registers or macros or a combination. Mach will let you extend the inputs and outputs to an external modbus device. If you go that route, then your ATC code can just check the proper inputs and outputs. It takes some thought and planning on how you will accomplish what you want and how you will handle any errors.

For instance, if your arduino handled everything including the stepper, then you can have a register that Mach writes to telling the ATC what tool you want. Then Mach will loop until another register says it was completed or error'd out. when Mach get's that code, you would do a case statement and handle accordingly.

A real quick, off the top of the head example.
Mach writes a 6 to ATC register for tool 6
Mach loops checking register or until times out.
case register
-4: Low Air Pressure
-3: PDB Failed
-2: Retract Failed
-1: Extend Failed
0: incomplete keep waiting.
1: tool change complete
Until Reg<>0 or Timeout
Now handle the code....


So you already figured out, you will write the code for the Arduino or whatever controller you decide to use for the ATC, then write the tool change code using macros and or brains, then everything in between. Fun, Easy project, but not for the faint of heart. If your a newbie, then it will be an excellent learning experience.

Richard

[vertcnc]

Richard,
I appreciate the information on using Arduino. I will have to play around with it and see if that's the way to go. I am guessing if there is enough I/O available on one of the controller boards such as KFLOP, it could be done within Mach 3

[rwskinner]

I decided to use Mach directly to control the stepper and use the native IO for the ATC. I will continue to use the modbus IO for non-critical items such as air pressure, mist coolant, flood coolant, air blast, and stuff that isn't timing critical. The modbus can do it but I just don't feel like rewriting everything and taking the time right now to rewrite it all. What do they say? If it works, leave it alone

[CNC-Joe]

Richard,

- Could you give some more detailed information on how you are controlling your ATC?
- I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Joe

[Bob La Londe]

Thanks Vert !!! - You can never have enough CNC conversion. You do nice work. Looking forward to your post. I have a round column mill in my garage (bought it before the SuperMax YCM-30) that is overdue for converting.... I'd love to do what Dave DeCaussin did to his round column mill... that Z axis is the real tricky part with that machine, though.

Interestingly Dave once suggested a quick and dirty way to handle the old RF-30/RF-31 was to put a stepper or servo directly onto the input from the quill feed, and then reverse the quill spring so it forces the quill down against the backlash. I have an old RF30 I was discussing adding an external ballscrew with a mount that clamps to the quill in place of the clamp that pushes the indicator up and down. I haven't done either of course because I finished my Hurco Mach 3 conversion (will it ever really be finished) and I've been using that for everything.


Anyway, Dave's quick and dirty solution could get you going on your project until you decide how to do something better.

[CNC-Joe]

Thanks for the info, Bob.. I appreciate everything I can get at this stage.
- Hey - did you post your Hurco re-build? I'd love to see it.

Thanks,

Joe

[Bob La Londe]

Thanks for the info, Bob.. I appreciate everything I can get at this stage.
- Hey - did you post your Hurco re-build? I'd love to see it.

Thanks,

Joe

Yes, I posted it here. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/hurco/...onversion.html Some of the early things I posted as authoratative were wrong, but I tried to correct them as I discovered them later in the thread. My next project for this is to power the knee. With only 6" of quill travel I often find myself moving the table up and down several times in a single job setup.

That has made me think twice about the CNC conversion of the round column RF-30 where you can lose X&Y position as well as Z when you move the head up and down. (There is a laser pointer trick that will get you close, but the column has to be perfectly vertical for it to work.)

[CNC-Joe]

Thanks for the link - good build log.

[rwskinner]

Joe,
I'm not sure what to say. You have PM'd me several times and when I reply to your PM your mail box is full or it says you're not accepting private messages. As far as how I control the ATC with Mach3, well, I did post my entire M6 macro on my ATC thread. Is there a specific portion you need help on or what exactly are you looking for? I'm pretty sure I mentioned I was hesitant to post the code because I didn't have time for supporting such a thing at this time. Not trying to be an ass about it, Really, just life is really busy right now. I know I did not clean up my macro or comment it enough for public consumption but again, it was a personal project that was not intended to be public domain.

If you have specific questions, I will do my best to answer them, however, unfortunately, I do not have the time to develop somebody's ATC for them. As rude as that sounds, it is not meant to sound that way, I'm just very busy and can't afford to support the code I posted. Again, be specific and I will help "when I can"

Richard

Richard,

- Could you give some more detailed information on how you are controlling your ATC?
- I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Joe

[waltpermenter]

don't feel bad, judging by his thread and many posts on the subject, joe has had atc on the brain for years but still needs his hand held for some reason. don't mean to sound harsh either but people like this are dreamers not doers. you've provided excellent help and inspiration for a motivated person.
walt

[LeeWay]

Thanks Vert !!! - You can never have enough CNC conversion. You do nice work. Looking forward to your post. I have a round column mill in my garage (bought it before the SuperMax YCM-30) that is overdue for converting.... I'd love to do what Dave DeCaussin did to his round column mill... that Z axis is the real tricky part with that machine, though.

I have a round column HF 42827 sitting in my shop that I got for a very good price. Between $600 and 700 IIRC. Brand new. Well I have had it several years, but it hasn't done more than drill a couple holes so far.
I had intended to convert it at some point. Right now, I have two other CNC mills, so no rush on this conversion, but would certainly like to make it useable.
Do you happen to have any links to what Dave did with his?
TIA.

[CNC-Joe]

Hi Lee,

Dave did not blog his builds here (unfortunately) - but he posted some really nice video's out on YouTube:



He, his son-in-law, and grandson have started a new company, as well: Small CNC and Mill Machines | PCNC | VMC | Fadeceng.com

[CNC-Joe]

Yes, I posted it here. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/hurco/...onversion.html My next project for this is to power the knee. With only 6" of quill travel I often find myself moving the table up and down several times in a single job setup.

- I know what you mean, even on my SuperMax YCM-30 - I only have about 6" in the Z, and have also considered retrofitting the knee rather than the quill. Or do something hybrid like let the knee handle offsets in tooling or something. You can see a bit of the electricals and the beast at: CNC-Joe's WorkShop: CNC Projects - Annies Upgrade:

Yes, I posted it here. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/hurco/...onversion.html
That has made me think twice about the CNC conversion of the round column RF-30 where you can lose X&Y position as well as Z when you move the head up and down. (There is a laser pointer trick that will get you close, but the column has to be perfectly vertical for it to work.)

- This is definitely the same problem on the round column mill conversion. It might be worth considering scratching the round column and building a linear guided way or something for the Z. There just isn't enough Z-travel

Don't mean to hi-jack your build, Vert - please keep blogging -it's a great build.
You seem to be making great progress on it (well - when you're working on it that is)

[vertcnc]

Just an update. Working on mounts for the pneumatic cylinders and then finishing up wiring and should be ready for some testing.

[Bob La Londe]

Just an update. Working on mounts for the pneumatic cylinders and then finishing up wiring and should be ready for some testing.

I am SO! looking forward to seeing the video of that changer operating.

[mountaindew]

Don't want to hijack thread!
The 2nd video you referenced above wow, this Dave guy ...the "d" in what hehe.
Is that Yoda or what. 8 weeks to design and build that machine.
Sorry for hijack but I don't see things like that often.
md

[vertcnc]

Don't want to hijack thread!
The 2nd video you referenced above wow, this Dave guy ...the "d" in what hehe.
Is that Yoda or what. 8 weeks to design and build that machine.
Sorry for hijack but I don't see things like that often.
md

Yah, Dave is quite amazing. Don't forget though, he probably has many connections in the field to help with fabrication of parts.

[Bob La Londe]

Yah, Dave is quite amazing. Don't forget though, he probably has many connections in the field to help with fabrication of parts.

Isn't he also the original founder of Fadal?

[vertcnc]

Yes, Dave is the "D" in Fadal.

[vertcnc]

Here is video of the working Tool Changer. Just need to verify operation some more, then I will speed it up some.