Newbie- Drip feeding Fanuc OM

[CNCMike]

Hi all,
We are new to CNC machining and have never drip fed our Fanuc OM controller before. What changes do we have to make to allow MasterCam to drip feed to the OM controller? We have sent small programs from MC to the controller using the RS232 port which were then run from memory.

I was told to drip feed we can use the same port, but need to change several parameters in the controller. Changing these parameters will allow drip feeding, but no longer allow running from memory. What parameters would they be?

We haven't actually tried to drip feed as of yet, so it may work as is, but I wanted to get some more info before we tie up the machine playing around. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Mike

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by CNCMike I was told to drip feed we can use the same port, but need to change several parameters in the controller. Changing these parameters will allow drip feeding, but no longer allow running from memory. What parameters would they be?

I have never heard of not being able to run from memory if DNC is added.
I believe that all models of the 0 rely on having a switch installed by the MTB or added on by someone that can program Fanuc Ladder, a switch has to be added that tells the CNC to drip feed, this is done by the switch turning on a bit G127.5 in the BMI, which is one of the communication register to the CNC side.
Al.

[CNCMike]

Thanks for the reply. I agree something has to be changed in the OM like you said, but what are the changes? I will try drip feeding tomarrow and see what happens as is.

Any other suggestions? BTW, what is MTB and BMI?

Thanks, Mike

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by CNCMike Any other suggestions? BTW, what is MTB and BMI?

MTB Machine Tool Builder.
BMI is the Fanuc Basic Machine Interface, it is the communication means from CNC to the PMC (Ladder) side.
DNC should be in the descriptions manual, I will see if I can pull it up.
Al.

[CNCMike]

Thank you for the information, anything helps! I will give drip feeding a shot tomarrow and reply with the good or bad news.

Mike

[cam1]

Hi: Just my 2 cents; from the Mastercam side of things, don't use subroutines for any of the operations.

regards

[CNCMike]

No luck drip feeding today. I can only receive files from the machine. I can't even get a file from MC into the machine now. There must be a setting that is wrong under communications in MC. I am not sure I would know how to go about drip feeding even if our controller was capable of it. Can anyone give me step by step directions?

Thanks for the help, Mike

[CNCMike]

Just an update, I can now send and receive programs. I am still working on drip feeding if anyone has any ideas.

Mike

[Al_The_Man]

You need the information in the Connection Manual (Function) send me an email address via PM.
Al.

[CNCMike]

I sent you a PM Al.

[nabil_elbadri]

hi gents i am using OM with mastercam but i don't send programs directly from master cam to machine, i use a softwre as an interface between the pc and the machine the software is (MULTI DNC) i belive if u van send from pc to machine and the contrary this means u don't need to (CHANGE ) any thing in the setup either the machine setup or the pc set up, all what i do when i need to use the drip feed i select TAPE mood in the main switch and select send prog in te pc press start icon in the multi dnc software and after i press start in the machine and the program statrt run block by block with out any trouble
i hope this will help
thanks

[CNCMike]

nabil_elbadri,
I realize now the problem I am having is that there is no Tape/Remote knob on the controller. However, I was told you didn't need this knob to drip feed, but you would be required to manually change a parameter to drip then manually change back to read from memory. I can't seem to get it working with the help of many people, so I am waiting to hear back from the MTB for the final word. Looks like we may need to upgrade the control.

Thanks, Mike