Bridgeport ATC Success ,.. but some Install Questi

I'm trying get my carousel atc working on my milltronics. It looks very similar to yours. I've done a fresh install using the new 2.6 with Debian. I am struggling to figure out how to do it. Can you post your files so that I and everyone else can look at what you done. Thanks!

Tkamsker, have you returned from vacation yet?

Hi
yes now i am back ,.. at day work a lot was on stack ,..
i am right now working on cancel button (it does not work correct )
and we need an next and previous button
i hope i can do that till sunday ,.
so i think then it makes sense to public it.

i do not have any experience how to publish something here in that wiki or forum
so please someone who has experience (or rights - send me an pm and i put in an drawing my scripts and short explanation

so i think then most people will be served right ?

thx
thomas

Hi Thomas

I should publish what you have on this thread first, as several people are following it and waiting for you to do so.

When you have done that, we can add an entry to the contributed components section of the main wiki, which is where all the other toolchangers are
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ContributedComponents

regards

Hi,
ok here is the before final version -
(I4 Stands for Iteration 4 )
A short description from my side :
First a short descritpion of the project (on my old homepage which i ĺl port in winter to a new one so forgive me port 8080 )
www.tkamsker.at:8080/web/pub/bridgeport-412-i-retrofit
and Umsetzung www.tkamsker.at:8080/web/pub/umsetzung is where the achieved work is documented

The System is based on an Linuxcnc 2.6.x and uses Rewrite and a lot of Gcode magic. The General Mechatronic board is used and works verry well.
i build several pcb s to connect to the hardware. The ATC Relevant is an simple voltage divider and fast bridge to seperate the 24v part from FPGA Card.
The ATC (see the fotos) uses 2 Contact less switches (hall ?) where one gives an click per pocket and the 2nd is the click of first tool.
i use the 3rd switch for the RPM and orientation it gives one click per revolution.
the system has 2 config files where one is for testing which simply accept homing where the machine is the 2nd is search for the end switches. (which are magnet switches on the machine and are handeled by the 2nd pcb )
so if system is homed the carousel knows it is not initalized.
at first Tx command (i recommend T1 M6 but T5 M6 should also work ) it searches for the First pocket and starts toolchange process.
(The parameters are to be set easily in the ini file )
basically thats it.
If for instance an error ocurs no movement of the arm or air is done an error is displayed.
remark : the component should have an error reset but this doesent work i fix it after this email ,)-
we have seen that it is neccessary for putting tools into the carousel to have next and previous button.
This i will do tomorrow

spindle orientation :
i tried a lot since weeks fact is that spindle orienatation seems only to work with an encoder which gives A, B and Index signal.
i now have no time to fix that
that is why i have an 2nd component which handles primitive spindle orientation.
M19 R0 works.
it should also handle an angle but that doesnt work and i have no time to fix that now.

i write for the senior operator also an handbook which will be like an ariplane checklist ,.. s oif there is interest if it is mature enough iĺl publish it here as well
thomas

A lot of work in there Thomas

For those without a good working knowledge of German (like me), English versions

translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=...eport-412-i-retrofit

translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=...eb%2Fpub%2Fumsetzung

Just needs a config folder and component file(s) now

regards

Hi,
yes a lot of work thx.

About german version as sayed it is the old version
my sinister plan is to migrate it to new version of software (has some fatures i want/need) and then finnish it and do also an english version

i did use add file direct from the linuxcnc firefox browser. ,..
i tried now edit function and insert button
but it seems it doesent work so iĺl send you an mail
thomas

Thanks for sending me the files so I could have a look at them Thomas.

It looks like I can use a lot of what's in there. And I guess there are several others who also would like to see a working ATC config.

About that..... you seem to have other interface cards than most others here. I hadn't seen them before, and I'm not sure they are much known around here?

www.generalmechatronics.com/en/linuxcnc

From their website I can see that they have made a full LCNC interface system, much like Mesa and Pico. They have also inlcuded full driver and interfacing software.

The question then is how different will the config files end up being? I guess you haven't put much effort in to learning the other I/O cards since you have decided to use that.
But I would hope there isn't that much difference, and that we shall be able to translate between the different systems. I would guess most others here are using the Mesa cards, which also includes me. So I hope you are willing to make the whole software package as easy as possible to port between the different hardware solutions used here. I guess that means doing the main logic functions as separate files from the ones reading the hardware I/O. That way we can replace only the hardware specific files as needed.

Even though the config you sent me isn't a finished one I must say this is something you know a lot more about than me. So I'm really glad you decided to do this and share it with us with less programming skills.

One question though. On M19, spindle orient. Do you plan to stay on the 1 pulse per revolution of the spindle way of doing it? For me that would be a terrible waste because my mill already have a built inn and working encoder with 1024 PPR full quadrature with index. And my spindle will have to be exactly aligned for tool change. So I will most definitely use that for my spindle orient.
In this thread tnl.lambert presents that he is working on an updated version of how to do a M19 in LCNC 2.6. I hope he is willing to share his work with us, and it sure would be good timing if he is able to finish his work on this soon so we can implement it as part of this feature package.

It now looks like there are skilled programmers (which I'm not unfortunately) putting together all that is needed for us with an ATC to have them working.
For me that’s probably the last piece of the puzzle to make LCNC a full replacement for my old controller. I think it is an important milestone, and I know there are several others who also think so.

So thanks for sharing your work with us Thomas. I will contribute what I can, and I hope we can help each other’s make our ATC's work and at the same time present a ground setup that others can use as a basis to make also their ATC's work.

Anders

hi,
i am sure that you can use 100 % of the carousel component
it is designed for that (my next step will be to use it for the cnc lathe (turret tool changer i designed) with a ncbox (if i get the 2.6 to run there )

and about mesa i started the config coming from an mrs card it took me less than an hour to adjust it.
The mesa card is verry similar than the general mechatronics but the GM is newly designed (and made in hungary ) so i knew i had to learn so i decided to start with the newer one

and that is the reason there is an extra hal file for the changer

but my plan was to publish it when i consider it finished with an example in simulator mode (or for the ncbox )
and an good description ,..

about the M19 you don't need to use my workaround it would be mechanically verry difficult to build in an encoder on the bridgeport
and the factory don't need it. so please if you have an working M19 stay with it.

and i had tested 3 ways of achieving the ATC

i think that the way with rewrite and having some magic in the NGC files is the best and most flexible way for all uses.

My plan is to use that config
in my small VMC as well and on the lathe

so i hope it is good use i am working now on the reset button then it will be used in the factory to prove the stability
and next step will be the next and previous button

thomas

From tkamsker

So here is my working version
People need to remove GM related stuff if they want to try but the comp and NGC Files are there as an start