PathPilot controlled lathe toolchanger

Iron-Man wrote: Thanks Andy. I want to make as few changes to pathpilot as possible.

That would be a HAL config change.

Adding extra hardware _just_ to use a pretty UI that someone has added to LinuxCNC to do things that LinuxCNC can do anyway seems vaguely perverse to me.

Hi guys,
I am in the process of making a tool turret also. Great topic here but I little confusing for me with the PIC and all the setup. I am wondering what would be the simplest way to add a tool turret to Pathpilot?

Thanks,
Raul

which ever way , it all depends on what functions you need , i can add a toolchanger relativey easily ,
it all depends if you want to dig into the code base or not .

cncbasher wrote: Be careful . this is one area where pathpilot changes a few things , especially if you want to interface to their UI
you'll also need to compile from pathpilot sources , rather than the binarys . you may also find other components missing .
so one step at a time .

i'll take a look if you become stuck .

Thanks,

Iron-Man

cncbasher wrote: Mike , sent you a pm , their are other ways to do this , but depends on if your using a tormach bit file
i can easily add a toolchanger into pathpilot easier probably than your trying to do ..

Sarah

Sarah to make a change to pathpilot for a tool changer, would it require a recompile or just a new function?
I want to build a transparent interface to pathpilot. I am currently looking at using a PIC or FPGA for this.
Thanks,

Iron-Man

Mike after looking at your code "if (new_width >= 900 && new_width <= 1050){
tool = 1; }"

The 900 and 1050 values. Are these in microseconds instead of milliseconds?

Thanks,

Iron-Man

depends on what functions you need , i did a 8 tool changer all in a component
see the orac / triac toolchangers in the wiki
everything was done in hal file

I started my conversion a few weeks ago, will post pictures.
STATUS:

EMCO Compact 5 Tool Changer modified with a AMT203 ABS Encoder with SPI interface.
ARM LPC1768.
The encoder interface is now working.
Denford NovaTurn AC Servo Lathe used to make new encoder adapter.
Next step is PathPilot interface to MESA 7i77.
Will post on CNC Zone and Denford also.

Iron-Man

Sarah (cncbasher), have you been able to compile the missing modules for pathpilot 2.0? I am doing a larger lathe with a 12 tool changer and did a bunch of work to get it working in classic ladder. Trying to get that and a few other missing modules working under 2.0. Love any help you can offer.

DaOne can you list the names of the missing modules?

Thanks,

Iron-Man