Advanced Search

Hi all,

I've been working on a design for the control cabinet of my Maho MH400E.
I initially planned a relatively simple retrofit using Mesa cards, but after running into issues with the servo motors and spending quite some time trying to understand what was going wrong, the scope of the project gradually grew.

Along the way I ran into a few challenges:

1. I'm not an electrical engineer, so there was (and still is) a lot to learn.
2. Cost: this kind of hardware isn't cheap. Given the scope of the project, I deliberately chose components from vendors with strong documentation and long-term availability, to reduce risk during commissioning and future maintenance.
3. Time — or perhaps more accurately: patience.

After some frustrating attempts with QElectroTech, I ended up using SolidWorks Electrical. It certainly wasn't trivial either, but I do think it pays off in terms of built-in consistency, cross-references between components and wiring, and the ability to generate reports directly from the design.
This isn't meant as an endorsement, just my personal experience.

At this point the SWE license has expired and I want to move on to the actual build, once the remaining mechanical designs (servo motor mounts in particular) are finished.

Given my limited experience, I'm reasonably happy with the result so far, while fully expecting that there are still issues and blind spots.

What I ended up with:

1. An EtherCAT-based setup using Beckhoff I/O modules
2. Delta servo drives and a VFD with EtherCAT support
3. Replacing the original Heidenhain 1 Vpp → TTL encoder cards with Beckhoff 1 Vpp encoder modules
4. Schneider Electric and Phoenix Contact components for relays, power supplies, circuit breakers, etc.
5. Reuse of the original 400 V → 110 V transformer, the cabinet itself (with heat exchanger), the hydraulics pump and the lubrication pump

Still TODO (design-wise):

1. Control cabinet layout
2. Mechanical design for the servo motor mounts

At this stage I'm mainly looking for a sanity check on the overall architecture and safety-related choices. If anyone with experience in industrial control cabinets or LinuxCNC + EtherCAT setups would be willing to point out potential blind spots or "this will bite you later" issues, I'd really appreciate that.

I'm not looking to optimize for cost or replace major components at this point, but I am very interested in feedback on correctness, robustness, and failure modes — especially regarding EtherCAT behavior under LinuxCNC.

Due to forum size limits the attached PDF is a flattened version without internal cross-references. I do have a fully cross-referenced version available and can share it privately if someone wants to take a deeper look.

The problem is most likely related to the issue with  LWR and LRD/LRW modes that was discussed earlier.
You must at least get that fixed before you can rely on that error message.

automata has a solution. You cannot run lcec with those drives. automata attached
the code for another component to use with the Yaskawa drive.
attached as C file with a Makefile. Download and compile the code.
Use it as a component in hal.
I know it can be a handful to do this, I would foresee some experimentation to get this right.
Edit: I looked in the code and that isn't a ready-to-use component.
There is a lot of work needed to get this to work.

Frankly tar_san, I understood you have the drives on lone for evaluation, right?
Do yourself a favor and return them and get some other servo drives.
I can not spend that much time in getting this going. Hopefully someone else can.

from what I've been able to figure out from the drawings and manual provided and in the video, the "voltage fault lamp" on the Indramat seems to indicate an internal problem with the -15v/0v/+15v supply..
check the voltages on the relevant pins on the L6 connector.. ( might be one to scope )
the X axis doesn't seem to be causing an issue? but the Z and sometimes the Y axis trip out?
from the drawings that might be one or more brakes not releasing? as that appears to be linked through 19K2?
without the full schematic I'm guessing at the function of some of the contacts shown on what we do have.

Do you have a link to the manual for the HKD breakout?

Also make sure you do not have cable power enabled on the 5I25.

Hi,
Please excuse me for asking more questions.

The following parameters for homing are specified in Collin Bardini's .ini file.

HOME_SEARCH_VEL            = 15.625
HOME_LATCH_VEL            = 15.625
HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS        = YES

CIA402_HOMING_ENABLED = 1
CIA402_HOMING_METHOD=-2
CIA402_HOMING_SEARCH_VELOCITY=20000
CIA402_HOMING_LATCH_VELOCITY=7000
CIA402_HOMING_ACCELERATION=131072

Which of the two parameters determines the homing speed and acceleration? 
If the parameters are valid for CIA402, what units are they?

EDIT:
I figured it out. It's the lower values.
However, I still don't know what the units are.

Now I have an additional problem, though.
After completing the homing movement, the axes jump 1-2 mm and go into fault mode. The error can be acknowledged and the axis is referenced.
In the ini file, I have set HOME_OFFSET = 0.0 for the axes.
Where is my mistake?



Thank you in advance.
 

7I43 SVST4_4 pinout  (created with mesaflash) is:


 


 

I'm not a Linuxcnc guy, however I do make and fault find control panels for lots of different machines.. 
is there a possibility of you posting the complete wiring schematic for the control panel? It may be something entirely seemingly unrelated is causing the problem. 
 

Hi.
I set up my machine and everything worked for me, but there is a small problem: The direction of movement of the X-Axis is not up to standard.
Please tell me how to change the direction of movement of an axis on a machine? How to swap + and - places? The machine is assembled on an ASD-A2 EtherCat. System LinuxCNC 2.9.2.
I tried to configure the change using scale using the following code:net x-vel-cmd    =>  scale.3.in
setp scale.3.gain -1
net x-vel-cmd-DAC  scale.3.out  =>  lcec.0.X.srv-vel-cmdand changing the .iniENCODER_SCALE = -1but the machine goes crazy and does not work normally.

try the P1-01 servo parameter.

github.com/linuxcnc-ethercat/linuxcnc-ethercat/pull/461

There is a bug in the linuxcnc-erhercat if you just set the negative option

Bonjour à tous, j'aimerais bien moi aussi fabriquer ma table plasma , tout seul je suis pas sur de la finir un jour, je voulais tester un peu le forum, savoir si il est suffisamment actif pour me lancer avec vous, je suis prêt à partager toutes les étapes pour les prochains créateurs.
J' ai bien conscience qu'ici ont devrait plus discuter de la partie paramétrage de logiciels, mais avant d'acheter n'importe quoi, je préférerais profiter de votre expérience.
Merci 

Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

To have a button with an object name of state_stop_pb be disabled when the estop is on and enabled when the estop is off.
To have a button with the object name of state_on be off when the power is off
And to answer your question to have a button disabled when a program is running add the object name to the following dictionaries
JT

Good to hear that you are making progress.

[edit]
I would be interested to know how tool offsets are handled in the tool table for lathe tooling in the milling spindle on such a mill-turn machine. On a lathe the tool offset is different to a mill in the sense that the length of the tool is an X-offset as opposed to a Z-offset. That is why I have made two different TCP (mill / lathe) modes in this sample config. I wonder if that is actually necessary or if lathe tool offsets are handled just like milling tools.
 

Hi Folks,

im still living. Wanna give you a status update:

1. The spindle taper is fixed (Needed to be Laserwelded and reground)
2. New spindle bearings
3. I scraped the geometry of the Y axis. Which was a major step, and im not satisfied with the bearing points. (Geometry is excellent) When it gets warmer in Germany i want the moglice all the guide ways. Epoxy is already ordered.
4. I reassembled the B axis. In january i hope to reassemble the spindle and mount it to the B axis. I need the spindle and B axis ready and mounted to the X axis slide to check and scrape (even for moglice scraping is needed) the geometry.

Kind regards and happy new year,
Jochen

At this stage, I would bypass the contactors so the Indramat is on when the power is connected to the machine (maybe through estop chain) without LCNC and manually give an analog signal to the indromat using a 1.5V AA battery. If the Z axis moves, you can continue to troubleshoot the following error. If it does not, then the indramat is dead.