Problem- emc 2.2.2 bug reports ?

[Gads]

Hello new to emc but refuse to give up. have found a number of problems in the setup of my machine and curious who do you send bug reports ?
one big problem is stepconfigs handling of pulley ratios.

I have been in the mechanical field for 20+ years and stepconfigs ratios are backwards aswell as flawed.

example my z has a ratio of 19 motor turns to 1 srew turn, the screw would be a 1" lead but this dosn't ork right.

I can make the system work both ways with different results.

also ratios as i know them are 1;1, 2:1 etc.. as the screens tell you but
my setup wants them entered backward 1 motor too 2 screw. when its actually 2 motor to 1 screw.

curious if anyone has noticed this or am i missing something, have been burning the candle at both ends some nights.

Gads

[acondit]

Gads,

If I recall correctly, you have to enter steps/rotation (motor/driver 200 fullstep, 400 half step, 2000 10microstep, or whatever), gear ratio between motor and screw (direct drive 1:1, or gear ratio) and the turns per inch (tpi) of the screw.

To report an error I would suggest going the the irc chat on linuxcnc.org.

They just released 2.2.3 which includes some fixes to stepconf.

Alan

[Gads]

hi acondit
i dont know about the old stuff but at least in step config somethings wrong. i didnt measure anything when i did x and y but after finding problem with z i went back and found things where off in a run test and ended up reversing the ratio 2 motor too 1 lead.
the gecko is a preset when you run stepconfig except for microstep setting which i had set fo 2 for half step. maybe the preset gecko files are wrong. i'll look into linuxnc and see if i can report my findings.

thanks again
gads

[acondit]

Originally Posted by Gads hi acondit i dont know about the old stuff but at least in step config somethings wrong. i didnt measure anything when i did x and y but after finding problem with z i went back and found things where off in a run test and ended up reversing the ratio 2 motor too 1 lead. the gecko is a preset when you run stepconfig except for microstep setting which i had set fo 2 for half step. maybe the preset gecko files are wrong. i'll look into linuxnc and see if i can report my findings. thanks again gads

Gads,

Unless you are running a gecko with the optional step multiplier (G212, or added G901), they are fixed 10 microstep not halfstep.

Alan

[Gads]

Acondit i'm running g210's that have jumper for selecting steps 1,2,5m,10m
from what i understand i can remove a board from these and its basicly a g201.

i havn't installed the 2.2.3 release yet but downloaded it and looked over bug list and
didn't notice anything.

maybe you have seen this but in mini interface there is no machine power button. i thought maybe it looked for charge pump but turned charge pump on and cant get past
e-stop/machine power error. estop working fine. i now i can use the other interfaces but
i like the features in mini's layout.

thanks again

[acondit]

Gads,

Sorry I can't help you with Mini because I use Axis.

Alan

[samco]

what version of emc are you running?

sam

oops - should read - 2.2.2

I know this was change recently.. you might want to try 2.2.3

sam

[Gads]

Hi samco I just upgraded lastnight from 2.2 - 2.3, I have things working so i don't know if i'll go back through stepconfig to see if anything changes. I just spent more time than i think i should have with what appeared to be simple ratios. mach3 setup was a sinch. as for my problems with mini gui i think i found on sherlines web site that alot of home/limit functions are removed and some other stuff. so thats not something i'll bother trying to get going.

Thanks Gads

[samco]

Understood.

You have to remember emc started as a nist (us government) machine controller to standardize machines for government contracts using current computer technology. When the hobbyist got a hold of it - they modified it and made emc1. This worked well but was not very easy to change its setup unless you where a programmer. A bunch of the developers saw a way they could improve it by adding the flexibility to be able to control almost any type of machine. Using the hal model that was spear headed by John Kasunich (jmkasunich on #emc irc) this made emc very flexible. You can hook virtual pins from from motion/io to external pins - run them thru hal software modules like PID, Stepgen, inverter, dbounce, encoder among other objects. You also have access to software ladder logic (classic ladder) integrated into emc2. Again - this make emc2 very configurable. You can control things as simple as a diy router all the way up to machining centers with tool and pallet changers.

But

This flexibillity also makes it more complicated. You need to read thru the manual and hal information to understand how it all works. The stepconf is an attempt to make simple stepper machines easier to configure. It is brand new. You can always go back down to the ini and hal files to make more tweeks.

Manuals
http://linuxcnc.org/docs/

[Gads]

Pickin up what ya puttin down Samco

when I build my system I spent a lot of time looking for info and had read up a little on emc. If I remember this stuff was written back before pc's and internet where imagined.
I had downloaded emc at the time and attempted to use but threw in the towel early because of my ignorence with linux etc..and the instant success with mach. Having some programming experience and knowledge of emc's roots my first thought was that
with this software must be full qwerks if it involves the government and pre PC technologie. I would be curious to know if todays emc is still NIST standards or is this a public continuation of a dead government project. Don't get me wrong I'm not looking for someone to ***** at, I realize the effort people have put into this stuff for free. I think I had an impression that with the time emc has been around that thing where more advanced and info was easilly available. I was looking for some input from people who have used stepconfig to see if I was missing something in what seemed like a cut and dry initial setup screen before I tried reporting what I feel is a bug.

Thanks Gads

[samco]

The developer that wrote the step-conf took a look at your issue and made a change to how the line is worded. This should clarify it. Hope this helps. It will be in the next release (or you can get it from cvs trunk).

[Gads]

Hi samco and thanks for your effort. from the looks of the new screen you
posted the wording would appear to be diff. if this is the case systems settings shouldn't change if step config is rerun without changing the existing numbers. I think you or acondit mentioned something about pre step config setups that required motor steps or teeth counts.

I have been very pleased with emc2 so far, running large programs etc.. and have been trying out axis and tkemc. ? any sites have pre written code for adding functions to axis or tkemc. would like to add a edit screen or change the program display to editable. i would like to find a site that has code that can be cut and pasted into my hal or ini files rather than learn the whole process of programming python,hal etc.. I have started playing with the panel using the manuals to figure out some of this stuff.

Thanks again for your efforts
Gads