Planning - Bridgeport Interact 1 linuxCNC Retrofit

OK,

I'm going to go mechanical panel. So what do you think of this layout? I think it will meet all my needs and I think it looks pretty clean. Took me a bit to draw it out.




The little grey block is the vfd control panel, I didnt want to draw it out! lol

Andy,

Good catch - I was a bit tired last night when I finished it! I'll change to E-Stop

I have one MPG located on the knee of the mill. I am currently using axis at the moment for a GUI but I may change to touchy at a later date. I was thinking that if I placed my controls as they are now, I can handle any GUI and any later changes to my setup. I may be duplicating existing GUI controls but I would have less "mouse" work to do this way.

The Overrides will be potentiometers, unless there is something easier to implement? What switches did you use? or did you use potentiometers as well. I'm just rough drafting here to get an idea of how I would like it to look/act.

Any skepticism or suggestions are welcomed!!

You probably have some 8-bit analogue inputs available on one or more Mesa cards, if you look through the software modes.

I'm sorry Andy I don't understand this statement.
Where can I go to read up on the Software Modes? I believe you are speaking of calling different software modules to interpret inputs a specific way?

I'll read up on my 7i77 manual for the inputs section to see if what you are speaking of is contained there.

EDIT: Found it

cncnoob, I like your layout, nice rendering. I am surprised that you included jog button since your machine has joy sticks that do the same thing and are more convenient.

For the overrides the 7i77 has 4, 8 bit analog inputs. You should take a look at my hal file to see how to connect those. You have to set the 7i77 SW mode to 2 when it is initialized. It's at the top of my hal file, but I don't recall the detail. If you have trouble finding it I can dig out the details. I thought about using an encoder, but want to know the position by looking at the knob.

csbrady,

Thanks! Yes I also have both of the Joysticks connected and working with the machine. I included the buttons because I wanted another place to control the axis movement. A bit of duplication perhaps.

I was pondering the idea of using an axis selection switch with my MPG as well [Placing the switch directly on the knee beside the MPG]. That way you can stand in the same location and move each axis with the single MPG without having to reach for the Pendant. However that may get too complicated, still just a thought.

I got my 610C EXE box working with the MPG, with your HAL file it was a breeze to install and understand. Not exactly the way you have it, I had to hard code in the HAL file - so far every time I try to include in the INI I break something.. Ill get it one day!

Andy,

Thanks for the links and helping me out. Ill be reaching out to you and csbrady very soon with questions on how I messed up everything and ask you to help dig me out!

BTW, the link you posted earlier- to your panel-, I really like how well you built your panel. Quality work!

cncnoob, I just realized that you don't have a servo enable button on your control panel. The way your mill is wired you need to have a a button or a relay to turn on the servos. I looked at eliminating the button, but decided that a switch was simpler and probably better.