Bracket use on OT control.

[g-codeguy]

Will be calling or emailing Fanuc tomorrow, but thought I would ask here anyway. All our lathes have Macro B option. We have OT, 18-T, 16-TT, and 21i-T controls. Think we also have a 6- (T ?) control, but I don't program that one as a general rule.

I can't use brackets inside a canned cycle on the OT control. Until today I never gave it much thought. Just figured it was because the OT isn't as new or powerful as the other controls. This requires me to make modifications when converting an existing program from one of the other lathes.

Is it because of the control, or is there a parameter that would allow me to use brackets inside a G71 cycle?

Thanks.

[WGoyer]

Well you need to actually have the Macro B option in your control. It was an extra cost option. Even if you do have the option, your keyboard may not have the proper keys to hand edit a bracket. We have a 0MC in our shop that has the option, but not the keyboard. In our case, if you create the program with the Macro B statements off line and load them via RS-232, they will display on the screen and execute properly.

Warren

www.uptimecorp.com

[g-codeguy]

As I've already stated, all our lathes have Macro B. They were purchased with the option. I know the keyboard on an OT doesn't have brackets or an equal sign. We use SuiteFactory for our program management. All programming is done in an office, not at the machine. In the case of the OT lathe some modifications have to be made in SuiteFactory, and then the program is reloaded.

Been too busy so far today to get in touch with Fanuc. I have a feeling that brackets inside a canned cycle can't be used on this control.

[stevo1]

Dale,
You have my attention. I have never come across that before . So does the program alarm out when reading the brackets or does it just not take the calculations within the []? I will do some digging and see if I can find anything. Please keep us posted if you get any info from Fanuc as I am very interested in hearing the cause and solution to this one.

Stevo

[g-codeguy]

Steve, still don't have it solved. More experimenting to do, and another call to make to Fanuc Tuesday.

I am getting 005 P/S ERROR. The Fanuc guy got error 009 when he tried it. He found that eliminating the brackets got rid of the error. I was surprised. I know you can input #1=.5+#500, but always thought using an address required brackets X[.5+#500].

Don't know if the Fanuc guy ran the whole cycle, or if he stopped it when it didn't alarm. What I found was that it would run the cycle without the brackets until the last pass, and then I would get 004 alarm. This suggests to me that brackets are required when using an address.

I didn't remember what the alarm was so I wrote a short op to test, and also gave it to the Fanuc rep to try.

X1.Z1.
G71U.05R.01
G71P11Q12F.01
N11G1X.5
X[.5+#500]Z.5
N12X1.

To answer your question, the turret would move to X1.Z1. and then alarm. I know from past experience that it would make some cuts before alarming if I had the brackets further into the program. The problem is that it won't read the brackets.

I can, and do, make use of brackets everywhere else in my programs. Just not in a canned cycle on this lathe.