Random ATC - How to program?

[MotoDan]

Hello all,

Recently I posted a problem I was having with the ATC on our VMC. It turns out that I didn't fully understand how a random dual-arm ATC is supposed to be programmed. Evidently, tool #1 is not necessarily ATC position #1. Can anyone shed some light on how to call up tools on this type of ATC?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[Matt@RFR]

Dan, it'd be helpfull to know the brand of your machine.

On Haas mills:

For programming you just call up a tool as normal: M6 T1. No need to stage tools as the control looks ahead and stages them for you.

In MDI: Either type Tx and hit ATC Forward (or reverse). Or look at the pocket number of the tool you want and type Px and hit ATC Forward (or reverse).

The control keeps track of where each tool is so you don't have to.

[laka]

Our Matsuura's are similar. You don't need to worry about which pocket a tool is in, just call it up T2M6 like normal. To speed up the toolchange process, whenever a "T#" is read by the control without an "M6" behind it, it will position the carousel so that the next tool is ready to change. If we have a program using tools 4 and 5, immediately after the T4M6 line, the next line will simply be T5.

[MotoDan]

Our machine is an Excel 510 (Fanuc 0M-C) with an 18 pos dual-arm ATC. My understanding is that the pocket number doesn't necessarily coincide with the tool number because of the random (ie quicker) nature of the ATC. It has been suggested that the tool data registers might be the cause of our unexpected result. What I would like is for tool #1 to be located in pocket #1 and so on. This would help in the confusion of where to place each tool and make the related Txx tool call in the program. I have both the MTB's manuals for the Excel as well as the Fanuc manuals, but can't seem to find a clear description on how to use this particular ATC.

[MotoDan]

OK, here's what I've found: I can manually change (via MDI mode) all tools (T1-18) EXCEPT for tools T02, T04, and T13. All 18 of my tool offsets are set to the same value. Is there some parameter that I can look to see what's wrong with these 3 tools?