5I25 - 7I85S - 7I66-8 Setup

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17 Nov 2012 17:20 #26700 by JaysonWallis
Hi All,

I have ordered and received the following boards from Mesa 5I25 - 7I85S - 7I66-8. (Very fast and curious service)

I am now at the stage of trying to connect these to Linuxcnc and can not find the relevant information on where to start. Is anyone aware of a thread on setting up a config file for this combination?

A prod in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jayson.

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17 Nov 2012 22:48 #26710 by PCW
Replied by PCW on topic 5I25 - 7I85S - 7I66-8 Setup
It would help if you described what hardware you want to control and how you want to control it

The standard 7I85S config file (7i85sx2) for the 5I25 has 4 stepgens,
4 encoders and one sserial port on the DB25 connector (the header has the same set)
If you are intending to use step motors with feedback I suspect you will have to
create a hal file from scratch or heavily modify a sample file.

There are example hal files for normal step/dir configurations
(hm2-stepper) If you copy one of the ini files in the hm2-stepper directory
for example

cp 5i23.ini 5i25-7i85s.ini

and then simply change the three lines at the top of 5i25-7i85s.ini

DRIVER=hm2_pci
BOARD=5i25
CONFIG="num_encoders=4 num_stepgens=4 sserial_port_0=0x"

you should have a config that will at least start (a normal 3 axis step/dir config)
The following user(s) said Thank You: JaysonWallis

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18 Nov 2012 06:18 #26730 by JaysonWallis
Thank you PCW,

I do plan on using the 7I85 with step and direction drives with encoder feedback and the 7I66 as general I/O's.
Building the hal file from scratch will not be a problem I was just unsure how to go about starting.

The information you have provided should get me well on my way.

Thanks,

Jayson.

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09 Dec 2012 12:54 #27438 by JaysonWallis
Just a quick update to say thanks to PCW.

I have Linuxcnc talking to the boards and the machine almost finished.

Just a quick note for future reference, I had a few days of pulling my hair out trying to get the 7I66 to work.
I read all the info on here but nothing helped until I finally checked voltages against the manuals
The 7I66 needs a minimum of 8 volts and I was feeding it with 5... :blush:
PCW says in many threads for people to check the field voltage, I should have paid attention to that earlier...

Here is a quick video of testing my interface




I now just need to link the encoders back into Linuxcnc and all will be good.

Thanks again.

Jayson.

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09 Dec 2012 15:20 #27441 by cmorley
Replied by cmorley on topic 5I25 - 7I85S - 7I66-8 Setup
Now that's a nice set up ! I really like the custom engraved buttons !

This is the first time I've seen anyone use Gscreen - It seems you have customised the controls a bit?
Nice job ! Nice conversion!

Chris M

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09 Dec 2012 20:25 #27450 by BigJohnT
That is a nice panel and monitor setup.

Does the X axis motor limit your travel turned inward like that?

John

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10 Dec 2012 13:57 #27494 by JaysonWallis
Chris,

I an using Gscreen unmodified but I have linked in dials for max velocity, Feedrate Override and have a dial for jogspeed as well and the buttons and MPG of course.
The one for jogspeed works but is not displayed at present so I will need to fix that.

John,

The motor mounted as it is reduces X movement by about 80mm. This still gives me 800mm. If I have a job that needs the extra travel I will have to mount it differently.

Regards,

Jayson.

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10 Dec 2012 16:27 #27495 by cmorley
Replied by cmorley on topic 5I25 - 7I85S - 7I66-8 Setup
What are you using to select jogspeed? encoder, rotary switch, potentiometer?
I assume you are using halui to adjust the jograte?

I ask as I am now working on the controls for this in Gscreen.
it will need to be done in Gscreen as linuxcnc proper does not keep track of the current Jograte.
So for Gscreen to display it , it must be in control of it.

Nice machine - I bet your having fun!
Chris M

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10 Dec 2012 17:56 #27499 by JaysonWallis
Hi Chris,

I am using rotary switches for the controls fed into a teensy ++ and using the hidcomp component

Yes I am changing halui.jog-speed.

I may have made a mistake using the teensy for the controls as I am occasionally suffering from interference on the usb which disables the controls but I'm sure the changes I made yesterday will have solved that issue :laugh:

If I cant get the usb sorted I will use a Mesa solution.

I am definitely having fun with both the mill and Gscreen and thanks for the comments on the machine, I am pleased with it so far.

Jayson.

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