How to pause Turbocnc

[jimglass]

Is there a way to remotely stop and restart a program running with Turbocnc.

Below is a home built wire EDM I built from scratch.

For now the EDM is controlled by a programmable controller. It is limited to only rectangular moves right now.

In the EDM power supply is a circuit that monitors the spark voltage. When the spark voltage drops, x or y motion is paused until the voltage rises again and motion is resumed. This is easy with a PLC. If the voltage reaches "0" that means burn is shorted out and the machine must stop.

Turbocnc can be paused with the [ESC] key and the program can resume with the [Y] key. Can this be done without striking keys manualy? When I figure this out my wire EDM could be CNC controlled.

Any Ideas,
Jim

[rippersoft]

If the power supply can sense a "burn" condition, can it output the "sense" to a logic circuit? If so, then a breakout board could be used to either send the logic signal back to the computer or trip a relay, etc.

I believe that there is a GCode for pause as well. The key would be to get the logic together to actually tell the computer what the power supply is seeing.

[RotarySMP]

Have you searched the archive of the TurboCNC Yahoo group? This has been discussed there before. I think you need to modify the source code for this, but am not sure.

[jimglass]

The control logic is already in the PLC. The PLC senses the voltage has dropped for a few miliseconds then can send an output to the computer to stop the feed untill the voltage goes high and the CNC program can resume feeding.

Is it possible to use a limit switch input in the break out board then to the computer?

Thanks
Jim

[CJL5585]

Originally Posted by jimglass The control logic is already in the PLC. The PLC senses the voltage has dropped for a few miliseconds then can send an output to the computer to stop the feed untill the voltage goes high and the CNC program can resume feeding. Is it possible to use a limit switch input in the break out board then to the computer? Thanks Jim

You can use one of the pins on the breakout board that is normally a limit switch or emergency stop function. In the set-up you can set the TurboCNC software to be active Low or Active high. You should be able to use an output from the plc under the above conditions, if it is programmed, or you can program the output.

Jerry

[vacpress]

i dont see why you cannot just hack up an old keyboard for the demultiplexing chip and just wire it to 'hit' the keys for you... this seems like a 1hour project...

am i missing something?

[Madclicker]

Use the ultimarc board. It is also an easy way to make a button and joystick control panel.

Ultimarc

[vacpress]

Im not sure it is easiest. For 1, it costs some $, for 2 it needs to be ordered in... If you go and spend $12.00 on a USB keyboard, you can take it apart and have this be a usb interface. If you were crafty you could add a port on it, and make your joystick\pendant\whatever plug into the port... Total cost: some switches plus cost of USB keyboard. Of course, it dosent have to be USB.. Go ahead and use that old $1.00 PS/2 one and that gamepad.. Total cost: time.

[Madclicker]

Originally Posted by jimglass Turbocnc can be paused with the [ESC] key and the program can resume with the [Y] key. Can this be done without striking keys manualy? When I figure this out my wire EDM could be CNC controlled. Any Ideas, Jim

This is the original question. The control signals are electrical not mechanical. Tearing up a keyboard is not going to let him convert from PLC control to CNC control and the Ultimarc board will.

[dkowalcz]

In TurboCNC, go to Configure --> Configure IO Lines, and set up the "Block Hold" function for an input pin.

When that goes active, the execution stops before executing the next block. When it goes inactive again, it'll resume. This is for safety stuff mainly, but just interface your go/no-go signal to it.

In TurboCNC, write your code as a loop so that it takes a lot of very small moves, you'll always move one full unit however small, but if the block hold goes active, you'll definitely pause before the next. Here's an example to move an inch in .001 steps (I haven't tested this, this is just off the top here, but you get the idea):

#1=0.0 (START)
#2=10.0 (DESTINATION)
#3=0.001 (INCREMENT)
N10 G01[#1] F10
#1=[#1+#3]
IF #1 LT #10 M97 O10

Good luck! I see this post is a trifle old, so maybe this info is too late to be of use. I should add "feed hold" to the software as well, or perhaps some EDM specific I/O to make this easier...

[Madclicker]

Well, that certainly is a $0.0 solution....at least for straight lines. Don't even want to think how to cut a circle that could be stopped anywhere with a block hold.

Just my $0.02, but I'd spend $50 to keep from having to write that kind of code...even if all I did was cut straight.

[vacpress]

I think it would be possible\easy to interface a plc with a keyboard circuit.. you might need some sort of latch\relay type dealie.. but nothing over $5