Just curious on general reliabilty of Mach software.

[Darc]

Hi guys, I recently downloaded Mach 2 and had a bit of a play with it, I gotta say I'm alot more impressed with than I thought I would be.
I'm keen to implement it onto a couple of grinding machines, anywhere from 3 to 6 axis.
Has anyone used it for 6 axis, and if so can it move all 6 axis at one time?
I also noticed it had provisions for 6 axis but only 3 encoders, is this correct?
I really liked how user friendly it is, I just hope it's the same when operating a machine.
I think they've done a damn good job.

[ger21]

It can move 6 axis at once. The encoders will only give you position DRO's, and I think you are right, there are only 3. These can not be used for closed loop, if that's what you had in mind.

And yes HE has done a good job (It's a one man operation)

[JRoque]

IMHO, Mach is as solid as they come. There are so many features and it's so flexible it's hard not being able to make it fit. If you think about it, you just download the software, install it on almost any PC and now you have a rock solid piece of industrial software that not long ago required proprietary hardware. On top of all that, it's very inexpensive.

BTW, I believe the limit on the encoder inputs is for practical purposes - not very many 6 axis machines out there requiring encoder inputs. If a market would open up, I wouldn't be surprised that Mach would quickly support it. For what it's worth, I've written an external application that could control all 6 axes and send them encoder input proving again Mach's flexibility.

Regards,
JR

[ynneb]

Just curious on general reliabilty of Mach software.

So far so good for me. I only use 3 axis though.
It is been constantly developed and new features are been added at a very rapid rate.
So far all the new features have been freely passed on to existing purchasers.
The software writer is easily accessable and is open to good suggestions, and quick to impliment them too. I made a suggestion about a "Shuttle feature" and it was only a matter of days b4 it was implimented and ready for download.
For 150 bucks Its definately the best priced CNC related software ever.

[Chris D]

For 150 bucks Its definately the best priced CNC related software ever.



That is a very big understatement.

Chris

[Darc]

Thanks guys, when you say it isn't suitable for a closed loop system, do you mean that if I have encoders they are used only for the readout and not for motor positioning at all.
I notice that Mach 3 seems to have support for 4 encoders.
So am I correct in thinking this software can still be used for stepping motors?

[miljnor]

i haven't been using it for that long but I believe the encoder input is just for readout purposes and mach relys on the motor controler boards for the "closing the loop". So if your using steppers with encoders they are just their for the ride and wont control anything. (wish it was closed loop, but I don't think windows environment would be freindly enough for that).

[JFettig]

I have had a few weird things happen with mach2/3 but overall I have been quite pleased(much pleased upgrading from turbocnc)

Jon

[miljnor]

BTW, I believe the limit on the encoder inputs is for practical purposes - not very many 6 axis machines out there requiring encoder inputs. If a market would open up, I wouldn't be surprised that Mach would quickly support it. For what it's worth, I've written an external application that could control all 6 axes and send them encoder input proving again Mach's flexibility. Regards, JR

could you post the file JR or email it to me?

[JRoque]

Hey Michel,

What I have is very much ingrained with my other setup. It receives encoder data from a microcontroller via USB and "pushes" buttons in Mach using W32 API. I did manage to get data from Mach back to the microcontroller using Mach's serial port support. That will become useful when I add an LCD to the pendant to display the three DROs.

I'm not sure how my program can help you though. Are you using Keygrabber or how are you getting your encoders data into Mach?

JR

[miljnor]

havn't started that portion of my project yet. but I like to gather as much info as I can on things before getting their .

and your project sounds interesting, and since reinventing the wheel is not that fun I thought I would see what you did.

But since your using W32 api (and I know very little about this) it would probably be too much to learn from a post.

[Darc]

Thanks for all the input, yep after playing with it extensively, I think I might purchase it. We ordered a Router that should leave the US any day and I think it comes with Mach2.
I've been trying to use parametric programming and it seems to work, the main thing I couldn't get to work was the IF function, does this support this type of programming?