Screenset closest to Fanuc styles?

[gearsoup]

Hello all,
I'm OCD. Annoys my wife and co-workers quite a bit.
Anyone out there familiar with Fanuc mill control systems? I was wondering if anyone has made a Mach screenset and keypad/switch layout to closely resemble an OEM control. Not looking for carbon copy or anything, just a little more...factory looking I guess.

[ger21]

I've seen something like that at the Machsupport forum, but don't know if it was ever finished, or released.

[Al_The_Man]

Are you talking pre i series?
These controls were pretty much Plain-Jane, functional, but what you would normally get from a DOS based control, the display was either monochrome or 7 colours and virtually no graphics.
I personally prefer the simpler screens, the early Siemens were nice, colour, but basically 2 or 3 colours legends and were dark grey or black on a silver screen.
The Fanuc i based PC style has alot more graphic options.
Al.

[gearsoup]

yeah, basically talking like an 0M control, or perhaps like the 18-M control that I get to stare at for 65 hours a week. I'm not talking colors so much, but I'd love to have a pendant that replicates the feel of an OEM control. Switching a knob to go into edit, again to go into memory, again to go into MDI, etc. etc.

Not sure exactly what it is I'm looking for to be honest. I don't even have a machine yet, and I most likely won't have it up and running until the end of the year. Maybe all I'm looking for can be had in one sweet pendant/control panel.

[Al_The_Man]

The problem is that systems like Mach depend alot on software control because they do not have the luxury of hardware I/O as a commercial system with a PLC does in order to implement a full hardware operator panel.
There are some functions that you cannot beat having a hardware operator in the form of a rotary switch or tactile push button.
For e.g. feedrate overide when rapiding into a part is nice to have that immediate crank down to 0 feed and check the distance-to-go on the screen.
Al.

[gearsoup]

Hmmm.... I wonder how difficult it would be to get most options mapped to a key press. Such as turning on Optional Stop, Block Delete, Single Block. Common CNC functions (at least, common to those that run machines in the "real world").

If you could assign those functions to say, an S key, I can't imaging it would be too hard to cannibalize a ps2 keyboard or some such device, wiring in actual push buttons in place of those certain keys. Maybe someone has done this already....must go do some research...

[ger21]

The problem is that systems like Mach depend alot on software control because they do not have the luxury of hardware I/O as a commercial system with a PLC does in order to implement a full hardware operator panel.

There are many options available to create full hardware control panels with Mach3. You can use PLC's, Pokeys, MODBUS devices, and many other options.

[UWP_Wes]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Man The problem is that systems like Mach depend alot on software control because they do not have the luxury of hardware I/O as a commercial system with a PLC does in order to implement a full hardware operator panel. There are some functions that you cannot beat having a hardware operator in the form of a rotary switch or tactile push button. For e.g. feedrate overide when rapiding into a part is nice to have that immediate crank down to 0 feed and check the distance-to-go on the screen. Al.

Yes! There is no substitute for a physical knob to override the feed. Also, no CNC should be allowed without an MPG handle.

The biggest problem with Mach3 IMHO is that it is not a real-time system. The "buffered" system used means that hitting feed hold does not happen instantly. Until that is overcome, I can not consider Mach3 to be a "real" control.

[jrobson]

Originally Posted by UWP_Wes Yes! There is no substitute for a physical knob to override the feed. Also, no CNC should be allowed without an MPG handle. The biggest problem with Mach3 IMHO is that it is not a real-time system. The "buffered" system used means that hitting feed hold does not happen instantly. Until that is overcome, I can not consider Mach3 to be a "real" control.

Hi

I posted this in another thread, with a kflop and perhaps others you can wire feed hold in to work instantly. Mach3 through the printer port is too slow to be a "real" control anyways, you need to use a controller board.

I'm trying to make a screen more towards the Fanuc style of logic with regards to input and display, but I've been told that flash is the only way because of limitations in the editor. So it will be either expensive to have it done, or take a long time to diy it.

[CNC Lurker]

I haven't used this screenset, but found this via one of the banner ads here on the zone today:
Fanic Screen Set

Price not posted though: "Call for pricing".