HOW TO PICK A MOTION CONTROL BOARD

Hello all,

I'm new to Linux CNC and trying to decide if it will work for the lathe I want to retro fit it on. I have an old Clausing Colechester 15" CNC with a very dead Anilam Crusader II L control. The Servo Amplifier Drive is an Indramat 3 TRM 2 and seems to be in good working order (no smoke or fumes coming from it). I have most of the manuals for the machine, which helps if you know what you're doing - not helping me much right now though.

Here's what I want to do and maybe someone can tell me I'm dreaming or suggest a way for me to do it or a product. I want to get rid of the Anilam Crusader II L controller, literally through the junk in the trash. In its place, I'd like to use one of my old computers with Linux CNC on it and buy a motion control board and connect it to the computer and the servo drive box.

So it seems to me all I need is a motion control board that works with Linux CNC and my Indramat 3TRM2 drives.


Does anyone know what board would work for me or could you tell me if I'm missing something ? I have the manuals in PDF format if you'd like to look at them too.

Any help is appreciated,

Richard

_If_ the Indramat drives are analog in (+-10v)
_and_ there are encoders on the axis,

Mesa or Pico systems hardware (which are both supported by LinuxCNC)
should work direcly with it

rwallace0921 wrote:

Hello all,

I'm new to Linux CNC and trying to decide if it will work for the lathe I want to retro fit it on. I have an old Clausing Colechester 15" CNC with a very dead Anilam Crusader II L control. The Servo Amplifier Drive is an Indramat 3 TRM 2 and seems to be in good working order (no smoke or fumes coming from it). I have most of the manuals for the machine, which helps if you know what you're doing - not helping me much right now though.

Here's what I want to do and maybe someone can tell me I'm dreaming or suggest a way for me to do it or a product. I want to get rid of the Anilam Crusader II L controller, literally through the junk in the trash. In its place, I'd like to use one of my old computers with Linux CNC on it and buy a motion control board and connect it to the computer and the servo drive box.

So it seems to me all I need is a motion control board that works with Linux CNC and my Indramat 3TRM2 drives.



Richard

I'm pretty sure these servo amps take analog velocity command inputs, but it would be good to verify
that. You also need a circuit to sense fault status from the amps and send an enable signal
to them. These functions vary for different makes of servo amps, so something has to be
cooked up for each variety, but it isn't complicated.

The other thing is to find out what position feedback device is used, either encoder or
resolver. If a resolver is used, then you will need a resolver converter or input module to make that
signal usable.

Finally, what does it used for the spindle? If a 3-phase motor, do you have 3-phase power?
If not, a VFD is a good thing to get. You can get phase conversion, variable speed,
reversing, and braking, all in one unit.

Jon

The Anilam Crusader (dead control) manual says it outputs a +/-10V signal to the servo drives for X,Y,Z (I'm only using 2 drives because it's a lathe) The manual also says there is a customer supplied 24v signal and based on the pin out information I have of the dead controller, I can figure out where that goes. The manual also says there is a X, Y, Z limit and these need a 24v signal and if that signal is broken, then the respective axis is inhibited. I guess if I get a battery and make all those signals on the connector, in the correct pins, I could possibly move the servo just to see if it is working before I buy a motion control board.

A fault is mentioned on the pin out, but I'm not sure if that is the same as the fault status. It doesn't seem to have a voltage needed for it.

Manual also says encoders are used on the servos for position feedback. I was talking to a place called CAMSoft and they said I need to upgrade all my encoders and it got pretty expensive with them.

The spindle is a 3 phase motor, and I did get 3 phase power to the lathe and that seems fine, but I'm not sure yet how to control the spindle. There are levers on the front of the lathe for adjusting the gears (speed), so I'm guessing I just use the controller to turn the 3 phase spindle motor on & off and the gears to adjust the speed... There is also an encoder on the spindle motor which looks like it's there for position feedback when cutting threads, not sure how I'm going to get that working yet. I would like to get a VFD, but not sure I can afford it right now.

Was hoping for starters to get a motion control board that would be a good fit for what I have and also for any upgrades, like a VFD.

I will call Mesa and Pico tomorrow and find out what they suggest.

I'm thinking from this point, for me to continue forward, I need that motion control board, would you both agree?

I really appreciate the help here!
Richard

P.S.
Here is a link to my Anilam Dead Controller Manual, Page 4 has all the pin out information incase you have a few minutes to look at it.: dl.dropbox.com/u/4434215/CLAUSING%20CNC%...S/3TRM2%20MANUAL.pdf

rwallace0921 wrote:

The Anilam Crusader (dead control) manual says it outputs a +/-10V signal to the servo drives for X,Y,Z (I'm only using 2 drives because it's a lathe) The manual also says there is a customer supplied 24v signal and based on the pin out information I have of the dead controller, I can figure out where that goes. The manual also says there is a X, Y, Z limit and these need a 24v signal and if that signal is broken, then the respective axis is inhibited. I guess if I get a battery and make all those signals on the connector, in the correct pins, I could possibly move the servo just to see if it is working before I buy a motion control board.

A fault is mentioned on the pin out, but I'm not sure if that is the same as the fault status. It doesn't seem to have a voltage needed for it.

It probably is a logic signal level. You don't need to worry about it at first, but it would be good to
eventually rig it to the E-stop circuit.

Manual also says encoders are used on the servos for position feedback. I was talking to a place called CAMSoft and they said I need to upgrade all my encoders and it got pretty expensive with them.

Well, depending on the resolution, you may or may not want to upgrade. I think this machine is too new
to have light bulbs in the encoders, but you might want to check on that.

There is also an encoder on the spindle motor which looks like it's there for position feedback when cutting threads, not sure how I'm going to get that working yet.

Well, the Mesa and Pico Systems boards can both handle VFD and spindle encoders.

I'm thinking from this point, for me to continue forward, I need that motion control board, would you both agree?

Yes, there is not much doubt. You really cannot control analog servos with step pulses out the
parallel port.

Jon

I called Mesa and will be getting the 5i25 + 7i77 boards, but in the mean time I'm trying to get my servo motors to move by using a battery on the correct terminals. I've tried a few things with no luck. I'm beginning to think the drive might have some problems, but before I tear it out and send it to someone to check I was hoping someone could help me out.

I printed out the manual for the Anilam Crusader II L and tried follow the pin-outs for the connection to the Indramat 3 TRM 2. The manual said X, Y, Z limit had to have a 24v signal to enable the drive to move the respective servo(s). So I put 24v to the X limit and then tried to a 9 volt battery to the X drive. Absolutely nothing happened. I tried a few other combinations with this and still nothing. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the 3 TRM 2 drive and could give me some hints. If it helps, I have both manuals for the control and 3 TRM 2 Drive in PDF and will provide a download link here. If the link doesn't work, I can email them to you too.

Appreciate the help,
Richard
3TRM2 MANUAL: dl.dropbox.com/u/4434215/CLAUSING%20CNC%...S/3TRM2%20MANUAL.pdf
ANILAM CONTROL: dl.dropbox.com/u/4434215/CLAUSING%20CNC%...00110-OEM-Manual.PDF

There seems to be a few enable signals. I'm looking at the pinout information and the signal that suppose to into the connection, it seems I'm not putting the right connection together to get the drives moving.

This PDF is too big to attach to the forum, but here's a link. I'm reading Page 23, 24, 25 and I have to use the page numbers on the PDF program not the pages on the document itself.
dl.dropbox.com/u/4434215/CLAUSING%20CNC%...Service%20Manual.pdf

This PDF is just the maintenance document for my lathe. I also have the PDF's for the Drive and the Control too.

thanks,
Richard

The drive PDFs or at least the connections would help.
I think you are right there are still some enable conditions unsatisfied
(is the main motor power enabled?)

Here is the drive PDF document. Please let me know if you find anything. I'm still trying to get through it.

dl.dropbox.com/u/4434215/CLAUSING%20CNC%...S/3TRM2%20MANUAL.pdf

thanks,
Richard