mesa 5i25/7i77 Yaskawa servo

Hi there. I am working with Barney towards getting linuxcnc controlling a 3 axis servo machine. It comes with Yaskawa servo drivers that require a plus/minus 10 volt analogue input. We have obtained a MESA 5i25 and a 7i77 which we assume came matched and loaded with the software to do this sort of job. Barney has described the hardware in a previous post.

We’re still at the stage of learning how all the software components fit together. To get started we have pointed and clicked our way through Pnconfwizard and loaded the result up with LinuxCNC Config Picker. We gather that Pnconfwizard is still a bit flakey and that we’ll have to understand and edit HAL files.

The config picker terminates with an error. The debug file information
“./my_LinuxCNC_machine3.hal:28: Pin ‘hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17’ does not exist. “

This is from the line in the HAL file

“net x-hall-in <= hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17 “


I read this instruction as loading a software variable “x-hall-in” with one of 3 encoder signals from the X axis encoder. Is this correct? Subsequent instructions, which also don’t get past the compiler, refer to input_18 and input_19. These do not correlate with encoder terminal inputs on TB3 of the 7i77?. Are we still in a layer of software or is input 17 a physical terminal? I understand that the “pins” in HAL may be either hardware to the outside world or internal software connections.


Help in getting to the bottom of this line in the HAL file is just a start, but would be progress and be much appreciated.

cheers Ian

Hi
is there a Out to the NET
net x-hall-in <= hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17

as it is only loaded

UNCOMMENT THE LINE And proceed then you get if there is a Out and what it is suposed to do
#net x-hall-in <= hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17


x-hal-in is not a needed PIN

IanK wrote: The config picker terminates with an error. The debug file information
“./my_LinuxCNC_machine3.hal:28: Pin ‘hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17’ does not exist. “

That usually means there is no power going to Vfield on the 7i77.

IanK wrote: “./my_LinuxCNC_machine3.hal:28: Pin ‘hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17’ does not exist. “

The 7i77 GPIO is a smart-serial device controlled by a small onboard CPU of some sort. It requires power to run, and without any power it will not inform LinuxCNC of its existence at startup.

The power for this is derived from the Vfield power. If that is not connected then the GPIO pins will not exist.

Check the manual for the pinouts and apply 12-24vdc to the orange connector which is field power.

Thanks for the replies guys. Connecting field power to the 7i77 made linuxcnc happy with the line

net x-hall1-in <= hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.0.input-17

The green led on the 7i77 is blinking at 1 hz despite no inputs being connected. What is the next step in bench testing? I don’t feel ready to rush down to the workshop and hook it up to the massive 3 phase hardware just yet ( even with the belt drives removed). I’d think we’d be looking to generate pulses simulating the output from the decoder of the CNC machine. We could then look for appropriate -10 to +10 volt outputs on the TB5 terminal of the 7i77. Suggestions for the next step would be most welcome.

cheers Ian

IanK wrote: We could then look for appropriate -10 to +10 volt outputs on the TB5 terminal of the 7i77. Suggestions for the next step would be most welcome.

You could open a terminal and try

halcmd setp hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0.1.analogout0 0.5

(halcmcd show pin *7i77* will show you the pin names, I guessed the above)

If you get bored of tying "halcmd" then "halcmd -kf" will enter an interactive HAL prompt linked to the running realtime. And you get tab-completion anh history too.

Thanks Andy. A good guess on the pin names. In trying to set hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0,1.analogout0 0.5
i get a response

“ pin ‘hm_25i25.0.7i77.0.1analogout0’ is connected to a signal. “

A strange response by HAL as outputs should never be connected to signals? But this is all useful for me in finding my way around this system.

Am I correct in assuming that you had in mind to over ride the analogue output, disconnect it from all the pid calculations going on, and have the output set to 0.5 volts? This way we could find the 0.5 volts on the 7i77 pins and be sure we had it connected correctly to the the analog input of the Yaskawa drivers?

IanK wrote: “ pin ‘hm_25i25.0.7i77.0.1analogout0’ is connected to a signal. “

A strange response by HAL as outputs should never be connected to signals?

No, that seems entirely reasonable, it is probably connected to the PID.
Will show which signal it is connnected to. will break the link, but will also mean that you have no closed-loop control any more. will re-make the connection.

[code]Am I correct in assuming that you had in mind to over ride the analogue output, disconnect it from all the pid calculations going on, and have the output set to 0.5 volts? This way we could find the 0.5 volts on the 7i77 pins and be sure we had it connected correctly to the the analog input of the Yaskawa drivers?[/quote]Yes, that was my idea. Though I was rather assuming that it wasn't all connected up yet. If it is connected then I would use a _much_ smaller number and have a hand on the e-stop.

Thanks Andy.

Yes unlinking the hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0,1.analogout0 allows me to set it to any value via the
HAL Configuration window. (You can unlink it using the "unlinkp" command or by commenting out the line in the HAL file.)

I used "set hm2_5i25.0.7i77.0,1.analogout0 1.77" and can see, using the WATCH window in HAL Configuration, that it has flowed through. However with a multimeter I cannot find 1.77 volts on the zero drive of the TB5 terminal on the 7i77?

I'd assume all the breaker switches, Estop, X limit etc would all be channelled through to the drive enable on the Yaskawa driver rather than between this pin and the output terminal of the 7i77?

I also am unable to write G code instructions in the MDI Command box. Is this a related to the above difficulty?

Cheers Ian