Light Machine Corp. Benchman XTr (retrofit)

MacGalempsy wrote: Any thoughts on why m19 does not index the spindle?

All that M19 does is set a couple of HAL pins. It sets a pin saying "orient the spindle" and another pin with the requested angle.

You then need a PID component to be activated to move the spindle to the setpoint, just as with any other axis.

Have a look at this Wiki page for one of the many ways that this can be approached:
wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?SpindleOrient

If you found the software to communicate with the VFD I would really like to have that! I called and they told me it was unavailable. I'm sure my unit is probably configured correctly but for the long term operation, I would like to be able to work with it in case of changes!

If the vfd is internally PID controlled, can I still run another PID?

Happy Caturday!

flic.kr/p/r48gbu

Mac,
Just a wild guess but if you configure the VFD for torque mode then you can read the encoders and run an external PID. Configured on Velocity mode I believe it uses the internal PID settings. There is a "custom" configuration mentioned in the Benchman manual and I'm pretty sure that places the VFD in torque mode so the external PID can have an actual effect. I assume two PIDs would cause a conflict. Again it is just a guess but it seems logical. I'm still not there... I still need to run some wiring but I AM ready to run a quick cut file just to verify movement. Good luck!

Does anyone have in their stuff information about the spindle setup? I would like to see how it is assembled without pulling the whole thing apart.
Thanks,
M