Mitsubishi controls on Kitamura

[onthebumper]

I hear that Kitamura is using Mitsubishi controls on thier machines.

Anyone have any opinions or experience with the Mitsubishi controls? Just wondering how good or bad this could be.

[Al_The_Man]

Mazak have traditionally used Mitsubishi control on their machines, as a Mitsubishi Integrator I can vouch for the support being A1, compared to some of the other big names.
Al.

[underthetire]

Reliability is ok, support in some areas like here, well, there is none. Screen layout is rather confusing on a straight Mits, thats why companies like Mazak and Mori both have there own front ends on. All in all, better than some other controls that i've worked on.

[neurosis]

We just had two 3xg's installed this week. So far just getting the ethernet set up has been a pain. Our local applications guy doesnt have any experience with the control so its been a little hit or miss so far.

We have yet to figure out how to transfer a program from the data server to the control memory. I am hoping that by next week we can get the small stuff figured out so that we can really get in to the control and see what its made of.

[camsys]

Hello All,

It's too bad that neurosis is having a hard time setting up Ethernet on the 3x, it's really very simple on the Mits (most likely a 730 or 750). You really only need to set 3 or 4 parameters to be up and running. Some of the things that
need to be considered with ethernet are:
1) A static IP address, and appropriate subnet mask
2) An FTP server somewhere on the segment
3) You can most likely get NC explorer from Kiamura, this runs on XP and treats the controller like any network drive with drop and drag function.

As far as experience with Mits goes, Kitamura developed their own user interface that looks like a generic fanuc interface. At times it may be desireable to use
the default Mits user interface which has windows and tabs that are very intuitive
and easy to use.

The Mits offers a great price/performance point, and has a very fast processor. Lots of great and easy operating feature like buffer edit which lets you edit the active program while its running in automatic mode, and you can use the USB like your NC memory (i.e. edit and save and run) when your programs are really really BIG!

Many features that are options ( =more $$) on other controls are standard as well.

[neurosis]

Our applications guy spent two days trying to get the ethernet working and struck out. I was told that there are some very severe limitation to the kitamura front end at this point and in fact they do not even have serial (rs232) communication working at this point. They (kitamura themselves) could not even help us to get two machines working on the same network although I believe that I know what the issue is (their documentation only explains how to install a single machine and it appears that is all that they are trained to get working). Even when we are able to access the data server on the machines, you cannot copy a program from the data server to the control memory. There is NO way to list programs that are stored on the data server unless you go in to windows on the control. There appears that there is no way to access a remote pc drive in any way including by ftp.

So far this has been a painful experience that I hope they get resolved soon. I tried to call them yesterday and have not heard back from them. I may try to call them today and see when they will have these issues taken care of. As of now, the ONLY way that we can get programs in to the control memory is via thumb drive.

[camsys]

Neurosis;

Is the ethernet setup yet?

Can you at least ping them on the LAN?

I think the problem with the data server may be tied to how the
disk is partitioned. The mits might need to see a D:\ drive.

Maybe you can ask the people at Kitamura how to turn off their interface,
and turn on the default Mits HMI. this would get you into the parameters
(to do the Ethernet if needed, and memory transfers etc.)
and be able to ascertain if the hard drive on your NC's are visible, at least
to the Mits HMI.

I seen one of the Kitamuras configured for full 5 axis with the Mits 750
control, and it really is a fine machine, and when they get you through
the problems you're having, I'm sure you'll be very pleased with
your machines.

If you don't hear back from Kitamura, post here .

[neurosis]

We can ping both machines on our network.

We can make sub program calls from the data server using "M98 <Oxxxx>, D0". So we know that there is access to the dataserver. You cannot see the dataserver from the controls front end. You must use a sub program call to access it or go in to the windows side of the control.

We can only have one machine connected to our network at a time due to how they have the machines set up. If we unhook one we can see the other. If we hook it back up, the dataservers are inaccessible but we can still ping the machines using the "local" ip address.

Each machine has three IP addresses. A local, a global, and something that they are calling an HMI. We assign the local, the HMI is supposed to be internal but unique for each machine, and then its Global is the same on each machine which we think is the problem due to how the routing tables are set up.

Here are our IP addresses.
Machine 1
10.1.10.52 local
192.168.100.2 HMI <unique for each machine
192.168.100.1 global <same on each machine

Machine 2
10.1.10.53 local
192.168.100.3 HMI <unique
192.168.100.1 global

Once you set the ip's up you have to modify the routing tables on the machines and the computer that you wish to connect to them with. The problem lies with the way that they are telling us to set up the routing table on the PC and I believe that the machines cannot have the same global ip for this to work.

They want us to add a route to our machines

route -p add 192.168.100.0 mask 255.255.255.0 10.1.10.52
route -p add 192.168.100.0 mask 255.255.255.0 10.1.10.53

which common sense tells me that this is NOT going to work.

Even if we are able to get that issue dealt with, we still would like to be able to connect to our PC from the machine control or vice versa to transfer programs. There is no way using their front end to transfer programs to or from the control memory other than by memory card (that we know of). We are very familiar with fanuc controls and all of the functions that would make this possible are missing from this control as far as we can tell and that was confirmed according to our applications guy. It shocks me that even serial communications is not possible.

Again, I need to get them to answer my phone calls to be 100% certain but I have been having a hard time getting them to respond which is making this even more frustrating.

[camsys]

You are correct about the Global IP address setting....
If you put a sniffer on the LAN with all machines hooked up
with the 192.168.100.1 global you would see a conflict related
to duplicated IP addresses, that's why you can only have one
plugged in at a time.

The global ip should be unique, but still part of the same subnet.
So if your LAN subnet address is 10.1.10. each machines global
should have a unique address on the last byte i.e.

Machine 1 global parameter 1926 may be 10.1.10.52
Machine 2 global parameter 1926 may be 10.1.10.53
Machine 3 global parameter 1926 may be 10.1.10.54

The parameter I think you're referring to as HMI is #11005, and it
should be unique for each control.

The local IP is how the control basically communicates with itself internally.

I think if the ethernet parameters are configured correctly, you should be able
to have all the controls plugged into the LAN without a prob. Keep in mind that
there are additional sets of IP parameters 9711 - 9715 that can be configured
to see a FTP server on the subnet. The mits is a FTP client, but there is an
app available form Mits that runs on XP and can send/rec from server to CNC
via drag/drop functions. It basically treats the CNC's like another network drive on your PC side.

Be careful with these params, because the ability for the control to carryout internal comms could be jeapordized---- let your vendor do it, or let Kitamura guide you.

Hang in there!

[neurosis]

1926 is indeed 10.1.10.52 for machine 1 and 10.1.10.53 for machine 2.

1934 is 192.168.100.1 on "both" machines.

11005 is 192.168.100.2 for machine one and 192.168.100.3 for machine 2.



we have configured 9711 - 9713 to view the "Host?" PC (ftp server) but there is no way using kitamura's front end to access it.


This is how we have the machines configured now and it is in conflict.