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I think I have the system in control now, and have reached the point where I want to add an encoder to the spindle for rigid tapping and better speed control.
My plan had been to add a toothed wheel with a pair of hall effect sensors, one a few teeth away, but half a cycle out of phase for quadrature, and a third for an index. Then connect these directly into the 7i77 channel 5 encoder inputs. (some biasing resistors maybe required also)
The maximum spindle rpm is 3500. I was proposing 40 teeth, but on say an M6 thread with 1mm pitch, I think that's a possible pitch error of .00625mm, which is pretty small, but I guess 100 would be better. I'd appreciate others opinions on this choice please.
Secondly, because of the belt run and lack of clearance around the belt pulley, putting the index tooth on is a much bigger mission than I was expecting.
Can I simply delete it and use a missing tooth, or pair of missing teeth as the index?
What looks to me like it might not so simply work is the encoder quadrature when it reaches the missing tooth, or am I over thinking this?
Thanks

I connected the 7i77 to p1 and the 7i78 to p2, i assume this is the correct order.
I've tried to modify the hal so that the z-Axis is the stepper connected to the first interface of the 7i78. The encoder for the z-axis is connected to the 7i77. Is this more or less done correctly? (hal is attached).
Since the 7i78 has no enable signals for the steppers, is it possible to use the enable pin from the spindle, since i am not using this? and how do i need to mod the hal?
Thanks! 

Got the Mesa 7i94T and 7i77 boards powered up today, and it’s great to finally see the pins show up in LinuxCNC.


 


Also managed to remove the tool holder that had been stuck in the spindle since I got the machine — definitely satisfying to get that out of the way.I’ll shorten the IDC25 ribbon once the board layout is finalized. For now, I’ve ordered breakout boards to avoid cutting cables too early: three for the Heidenhain DB15s, two for the Indramat DB9s, and two for the IDC40 ribbons.


The original Philips 432 hardware is completely gone. I briefly considered replacing the whole cabinet to avoid upgrading the mains fuse, but in the end I’m likely going for a proper electrical upgrade: increasing the main connection from 25A to 40A and switching from a B16 to a C25 breaker (still waiting on the electrician to confirm this setup).Once the wiring takes shape, I plan to capture everything neatly in EPLAN to avoid spaghetti later on. Slowly but surely, things are coming together.

Use PncConf to create a basic minimal config for 7i92 with 7i77, then we can modify it to fit the 7i97T and give it a try.
Simple 3 axis config, no spindle, no I/O, no MPG, nothing else.
Also upload one of the existing configs that run so we can get the card addresses.

I tried using MesaCT to generae the ini and hal files but upon loading in linuxcnc, it produces an error.

Debug file information:
Note: Using POSIX realtime
./main.hal:31: Pin 'hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.4.analogena' does not exist
2243
Stopping realtime threads
Unloading hal components
RTAPI_PCI: Unmapped 65536 bytes at 0x7f0b2d806000
Note: Using POSIX realtime

I do not know how to proceed. Kindly advise.

For information purposes,
Drive 0 - x axis
Drive 1 - y axis
Drive 2 - z axis
Drive 5 - Spindle

Regards,
Kelvin
 

Normally the basic configuration is created by one of the two configuration utilities:
pncconf or MesaCT. These are GUI programs where you enter the intended interface hardware and
basic machine specifications (dimensions, encoder scaling etc) and I/O connections
(limit/home switches spindle controls etc)

Note that the analog out pins are AOUTn. The ENAn+ and ENAn- pins are a switch to enable the
drives (on when enabled)
 

Hi Andy,

Good day. From what i have gathered in the user manuals available in the internet and checking the existing connection from the servo controllers to the non-functioning acramatic 2100 controller,

each servo controller (X, Y, Z, and Spindle) has
1) +-10V inputs (i assume to drive the servo motors)
2) An A & /A, B & /B, and Z & /Z encoder outputs.

I was thinking of connecting the +-10V servo inputs to the 7i77 by its TB5 outputs namely, ENA0+-, ENA1+-, ENA2+-, and ENA3+-.

Then connecting the servo encoder outputs to the 7i77 by its TB3-TB4 inputs namely, QA0 & /QA0, QB0 & /QB0, IDX0 & /IDX0, for all axes and the spindle.

If that is correct, my only problem now would be the configuration under linuxcnc which I have no idea where to begin.

As I have already purchased the Plug-N-Go Kit (7i77 + 6i25) from Mesa, I would like to use them. But will look into your suggestion since they have more pins. Also, it would be generally hard for me to purchase additional boards since I am from the Philippines.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Hi,

Good day. Newbie here. Would just like to crowdsource and steer us to the right direction with regards to retrofitting a milacron arrow with BDS4 axis servo controllers and VFS5 spindle servo controllers.

Any inputs and directions will be greatly appreciated.

I have an existing SBZ 130 i want to retrofit by keeping the original motors+drives, the motors all (3 axis and spindle) are AC 3PH servos with integrated 2 pole resolvers (6 wires - sin, cos, excitation pairs) for their feedback, aside from that I have about 42 inputs and 36 outputs as per the machines original schematics, but I might not use every single one. Moreover, I also want to add a separate rotary milling head for chamfers at different angles later down the line, so how would I go about adding/changing the combination of mesa cards.
The same machine I've seen a successful retrofit using combination of 6i25 7i77 7i70 7i71 7i74, but that system all the motors had absolute encoders
Mine is slightly different model (1998, mine is 2001) and I was recommended from a different person to go with 6i24 (do i need 6i24-16 or 25 and whats the difference??), 7i49 for the resolvers and controlling the drives with 10v analog, but would this work? I'm a complete beginner to this field so I'd like to know before purchasing any hardware. Moreover, do I need the other cards as well? (7i70 7i71 7i74) I understand the first two are for extra I/O digitals but im not sure what the 7i74 does, if someone can explain I would greatly appreciate it.

Edit : I just found out that the 6i24 has about 70 I/O pins, I think that covers my need so I dont need the extra 7i70 and 7i71 right?

I converted my BP knee mill from Anilam 1100M to EMC (now LinuxCNC) years ago using 5i25 and 7i77. I ditched everything except the drive boards and DC power supply for the drives IIRC. I put an Automation Direct GS2 drive for the spindle using the GS2 component.

JT