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turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis

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27 Jun 2013 01:50 #36106 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
So you have 4 axes and just need to add one more. Do you have a PCI slot you can put a PCI parallel port card in?

JT

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27 Jun 2013 02:27 #36107 by Nenad
Replied by Nenad on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
Yes I alrady have 4 axis and the PCI parallel port card that is used by the current controller box (in the picture). I don't have the second parallel port card or extra space on the board where I can plug in and additional motor driver.

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27 Jun 2013 02:34 - 27 Jun 2013 02:39 #36108 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
If you only have one PCI slot a parallel port will not have enough pins to run 5 axes. If you don't have an empty PCI slot then a PCI card like the 5i25 with a 7i76 daughter card will give you 5 axes of step and direction plus spindle control and 48 isolated I/O points for general purpose field I/O use. You still need stepper drives but I don't see why you can't use the drives you have now and add one more for the 5th axis.

Jon (Pico Systems) has a PCI universal stepper driver but I'm not as familiar with it but there is a FAQ in the driver section.

JT
Last edit: 27 Jun 2013 02:39 by BigJohnT.
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27 Jun 2013 02:49 #36110 by Nenad
Replied by Nenad on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
Thank you. So if I understand correctly, I need to:

1. Keep everything as is with 4 axis,
2. Buy one more card with paraller port
3. Buy a controller board + one driver for the 5th axis
4. Tinker with the .ini file to somehow tell the program that there are 5 axes now

Regards

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27 Jun 2013 03:23 #36111 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis

Thank you. So if I understand correctly, I need to:

1. Keep everything as is with 4 axis,
2. Buy one more card with paraller port
3. Buy a controller board + one driver for the 5th axis
4. Tinker with the .ini file to somehow tell the program that there are 5 axes now

Regards


Yes, if you have an unused PCI slot a PCI parallel port is the most cost effective way to go.

I'm not sure what the most cost effective stepper driver is, many can be driven from the parallel port.

Basically copy and paste and change a few things in the ini file to get the 5th axis. We can help you with that.

JT

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17 Jul 2013 14:37 - 17 Jul 2013 14:38 #36733 by Arthur Pots
Replied by Arthur Pots on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
Hi everyone!

I have problem with turning my machine into 4+ axis.

With stepconf wizard i done my 4 axis configuration - X Y Z and A as second motor for Z coord (very heavy Z coord should use 2 motors at same time).

Now i need to setup B and C axis for spindle rotary. I try to modify my *.hal and *.ini file - add pins for steps and dir for parport1. Add axis4 and axis5 information in *.hal. Add additional axis to *.ini file.

When i try to start this profile i get error...

File Attachment:


What i do wrong?
Last edit: 17 Jul 2013 14:38 by Arthur Pots.

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17 Jul 2013 15:04 - 17 Jul 2013 15:06 #36734 by cncbasher
Replied by cncbasher on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
if you notice you have an error on line 111 of your test2.hal file ...
parameter or pin stepgen 4 position scale not found ...

have you added the additional stepgen values to your INI file ?

if you still have problems post your hal and ini files as an attachment to your post
Last edit: 17 Jul 2013 15:06 by cncbasher.
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17 Jul 2013 15:23 - 17 Jul 2013 15:27 #36736 by Arthur Pots
Replied by Arthur Pots on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
File Attachment:
Attachments:
Last edit: 17 Jul 2013 15:27 by Arthur Pots. Reason: misstype

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17 Jul 2013 15:42 - 17 Jul 2013 15:44 #36738 by ArcEye
Replied by ArcEye on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
Hi

You have created a 6 axis machine and only initiated 4 stepgens

loadrt stepgen step_type=0,0,0,0


All components are numbered from 0, so stepgen.5 is a sixth stepgen

regards
Last edit: 17 Jul 2013 15:44 by ArcEye.
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17 Jul 2013 16:11 - 17 Jul 2013 16:21 #36741 by Arthur Pots
Replied by Arthur Pots on topic turning a 3-axis machine into a 5-axis
Oh! i see!

Changed to 0,0,0,0,0,0 - it`s generate some more errors, but i fixed it all.

big success - linuxCNC accepts my config files and starts! but axis 5 and 6 dont move lol )

i will try to configure them correctly now. Thanks you for your help!

UPDATE: i do it! just forget to add
"net xenable => parport.1.pin-17-out"
for enable command for second parrport!
Last edit: 17 Jul 2013 16:21 by Arthur Pots. Reason: update

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  1. LinuxCNC
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