Toma/Proma HAL for Mesa Board -Basics

@Hi Snuggly,

Wich gui are you using? Axis with Toma pyvcp add on screen?

Okay, so I just need to copy pasta in the hal files from the Toma and write in the pins? Still don't quite know how to do that yet.

Have mercy on my soul PCW! Lol. I'll try to figure out the contextual commands and adapt them to my build.

I would also like to know what would be the equivalent of
stepgen.2.position-cmd
stepgen.2.position-fb
so it can work with Mesa stepper and servo cards.

Good question.

1. It can be the equivalent as : position.in + postition.offset = position.out
That is the core function of making the up and down signal possible without following errors.

In my case axis 3 is z axis.
net zpos-cmd joint.3.motor-pos-cmd stepgen.3.position-cmd
net zpos-fb stepgen.3.position-fb => joint.3.motor-pos-fb

If i want to make a component myself for thc it would be connected something like this :

net zpos-cmd joint.3.motor-pos-cmd position.in
net zpos-in position.in stepgen.3.position-cmd

net zpos-fb stepgen.3.position-fb position.out
net zpos-out position.out joint.3.motor-pos-fb

Then the calculation would be like item.1
The orginal offset component to see at man page is calculating in different way.
The component name is here for example : position
The component signal names are for example : in, out
The component variable name is for example : offset. It can have a offset value of 0-100mm for example.

If you read it other way :
position.offset = 50 (input value from thc)
g-code position = 1050
net zpos-cmd joint.3.motor-pos-cmd 1050
net zpos-in 1050 stepgen.3.position-cmd
net zpos-fb stepgen.3.position-fb 1100
net zpos-out 1100 joint.3.motor-pos-fb

For Snuggly,

Hacking into the Toma code is not a good idea to start with.
Maybe ask PCW for advise, he knows what you need to start good with Mesa.

Proma's thc.hal file would need to be edited for any hardware other than a parallel port using their pinout and used with LinuxCNC <2.8. In addition, some parts of their ini file would be needed. Also, their example is for LinuxCNC 2.7 so would need adjustments for 2.8 (mainly changing "axis" to "joint") This requires some hal knowledge but this is not Mesa specific.

@Tommylight,

If you want to experiment you can try this module i wrote in 5 minutes : position.comp
To install it copy into directory src / hal / components and then open terminal and type: sudo halcompile --install position.comp
Check the output file in : /usr/lib/linuxcnc/modules/ the name there will be position.so
If you have run in place, copy the position.so file also into your run in place version path : rtlib



To test you can set variable with halcommand : setp offset 50.
I will try this also if it works tommorrow, this code is not tested, compiling was okey !! :evil:

in your postgui.hal file : loadrt position.comp

@Grotius
Thank you, i will give it a try as soon as i can, to busy pulling 18 hour work days.

@PCW
It works on 2.8 without any changes, the wizard just asks if i want to modify it and it does, it works always.
Latest machine i retrofitted uses servo motors on all axis ( industrial ESAB 4X2.5 meters work area ), i just changed the Z axis to a stepper and added a drive wired to the parallel port. It works perfectly with 6i25/7i77 driving servos. It has been two weeks without a single issue, working from 8AM to 6 PM (some days till 11 PM ). Last time i visited it was doing over 300 small parts per sheet, 3mm thick.
I would call that reliable.
B.th.w. what is the equivalent of those stepper signals on a servo system ? I did start working on it but life gets on the way a lot.
Oh and thank you for the good quality products, i have plenty of them all over the places ( bedroom, workshop, office at the factory i am managing etc ), but not enough time to put them to good use.