Drip Feeding a Fanuc 6M B "Trouble"

[Scott_M]

Hello.
This is my first post here . I have been poking around for a few days looking for a solution to our dilemma. ( Very nice forum , Thank You !! )

Our Hardware is as follows
Kiwa K1 VMC with Fanuc 6M b control ( With tape reader and rs-232 port )

Software
We have been using EditCNC and ConnectCNC for a couple of years now for transferring files to and from the machines memory. This has always ( and still is) working fine.

We have been getting into some larger g-code programs that will fill the 6m's memory , hence the need for DNC.

I found this post yesterday and thought all our troubles were solved. Here Chris D says

Like all Fanuc controls, you may or may not have the features needed to do it. What you need on the machine is this...

Tape Mode on the mode selector switch.
RS-232 serial port on the machine.

If you have those two features, then you should be able to "Drip feed". You will need to set the parameters up for the proper handshaking and communications speed. I would recommend X-on X-Off handshaking ( I believe Fanuc refers to that as "control codes are used".

Make sure the software you are using is configured for the same protocol. If you are using hardwire handshaking, make sure the cable is correct.

TO use...

Put machine in Tape mode.
Press Cycle start... machine waits for CNC program

Send program to machine from your software
Machine begins running the cycle.


Single block, dry run, etc. all work fine with Tape mode.

Chris

This is not working for us. We have tried several ways of sending
IN "Tape Mode"
Tape reader switch in all 3 positions ( Get 008 alarm with any position other than "Auto" )
Cycle start then send from pc ( This brings up a send dialog on the pc But the 6m does not seem to see it.)
Send from pc then cycle start ( Same deal )

Could the "Configuration" settings be different for DNC than for regular file transfer ? Or can we assume that if it sends and receives fine in file transfer mode that our settings of
Baud rate (4800 )
Data bits (7)
stop bits (2)
parity(even)
and Flow Contol ( XON XOFF )
are ok ?
Or could it be something as simple as the 6m looking for a special character ?
Our G-Code normally starts and ends with the percent character %

If You guys have any ideas on what we should try next or more likely Point out something obvious that we missed, We would really appreciate it.

Thanks a bunch

Regards

Scott

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[lakeside]

what file extension are you using? Try .txt or .dnc for file extention

[Scott_M]

Hi Mike

Thanks for the prompt reply !!

We have been using .nc as a file extension ( The default in EditCNC ) and also works fine for transfered files.

But we will try it with .dnc and .txt right away !

Thanks again

I will report back.


Scott

[K1Brett]

Scott and I are working together on this problem.
I tried .dnc .txt with no luck.
My first attempt at file transfer, years ago ,resulted in a loud pop that shut the machine down. I had the transfer wire wrong.
Machine restarted O.K. I got the file transfer working.
Could tape reader be blown.
Brett.

[K1Brett]

I opened the side panel on the machine and peeked at the tape reader section.
It has a healthy looking Green Light on the board there.
Brett.

[Dan Fritz]

I've got some good news and some bad news for you. First, the good news:

The Fanuc 6M can drip-feed super long files.

The bad news:

You can't do it through the RS232 serial port. Only a few of the very late model Fanuc 6Ms could do it. The best solution is to connect a BTR link (Behind the Tape Reader). If you pay attention to your Fanuc's paper tape reader, you will hear the little capstan roller "click" when you press CYCLE START in TAPE mode. That's the Fanuc trying to read a paper tape. It won't even try to read through the serial port.

There are two solutions to this problem on the Fanuc 6 (and also on the older Fanuc 5M and 3000C controls). One is to buy a BTR board for about $1400 and then connect the board's serial port to your PC. That requires that you have RS232 DNC software for your PC in addition to the special BTR board. We like to use the BTR board made by ADR corporation.

The second possible solution is to "direct connect" the LPT (parallel printer) port from your PC to the Fanuc 6M's mother board. This lets you use parallel BTR software on the PC to emulate the paper tape reader. This approach is a bit less expensive because you don't have to install a special board. The only downside to this is that you must use a rather short BTR cable, so your PC can't be more than a few feet away from your CNC.

We sell BTR kits (software and BTR cable) for $1195, and it's guaranteed to work or you pay nothing. Our West coast distributor also sells the ADR boards and cable kits.

For more info on our direct BTR link, check out www.sub-soft.com or our West-coast distributor at www.rym.com

[Scott_M]

Hi Dan

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I have been reading a lot of posts this morning and a lot of them ended in..." you need a btr board"

I was really hoping we would not need one. Although your description does sound accurate. Right down to the capstan on the tape reader clicking.

The $1400 is going to be pretty tuff for us right now. I think we will have to peruse the classifieds here. and maybe even check with fanuc on the capabilities of this particular 6M B.

I think for the time being we may have to "Chop" our code into smaller chunks.

Thank you all very much !!!


Regards


Scott

[Dan Fritz]

Here's a set of hints for making your files smaller. If you can't get your CAD/CAM post processor to do this, you can use a good g-code Editor like our PC-DNC Editor to reformat the file.

1) Eliminate all N-numbers
2) Eliminate all space characters
3) Use G91 for all point-to-point moves (really!)
4) Do not use decimal point formatted numbers (really!)

Here's what happens when you use all these steps together:

(before)
N1000 X1.2345 Y2.3456 Z3.4567
N1001 X1.2348 Y2.3456 Z3.4571
N1002 X1.2354 Y2.3456 Z3.4577
N1003 X1.2360 Y2.3456 Z3.4580

(after)
X3Z4
X6Z6
X6Z3

Of course, you'll want to keep a few absolute (G90) blocks in the program at the tool change points so you can pick up in the middle of the file if you need to.

Notice that all the redundant "Y" value are gone, and the non-decimal formatted numbers are much shorter. You may find that by using this techique, you can make your long 3D program fit in the Fanuc 6M memory. This works especially well if the point-to-point distances are small.

Good luck!

[bkelsey]

I don't know how much memory you have now, but I was looking at:
http://www.fanuc.net/mme.htm
http://www.memex.ca/
for some additional memory on my lathe with a 6T controller. Looks like you can go either 128K or 512K. I think I've got 64K on mine.

[Dan Fritz]

You can also drip-feed a Fanuc 6T or 6M by connecting the parallel printer port of any PC to the tape reader port on the Fanuc mother board. We have the cables, software for DOS or Windows, and all the info you need.

Visit www.sub-soft.com/nctext.htm and read about the BTR connection.