Another plasma component...

Hi Phil, thanks for your amazing work on this component. I have been running it on a my plasma for about a week and everything seems to be working well functionality wise. I had a few problems converting it over to a real machine which I think may be bugs. (For reference I am running Axis gladevcp with a hypertherm powermax 45 and Proma THC. )

1. Axis starts up in mode=0 even though I set MODE=2 in the plasmac.ini. I got around this my manually setting the pin in the plasmac.hal with:
   Code:

   setp plasmac.mode 2
2. I have problems saving values entered into the configuration tab (probe speed, pierce height, etc). If i manually edit the .cfg file and restart linuxcnc I can see that the values update however the save button doesn't seem to work. (This may be me not understanding how to configure everything)
   
3. If the table is setup to have homing switches and software limits on the z axis. If you use a work offset (g54 in his case) and touchoff a little way above the material the torch will not be able to probe down and will instead give an error because of:
   Code:

   net p_comp:axis-min-limit ini.z.min_limit => plasmac.axis-z-min-limit
   I'm not sure of the expected behavior here so i simply:
   Code:

   sets p_comp:axis-min-limit -50
   and assume that the software limits will stop the torch from traveling past the table's z.min_limit.
   
   Thank you for all your hard work, the code you created is very well organised and well written. I found working with it very easy and intuitive.

Guys

I have changed the way the way I decode the M67, M68 commands from Gcode. I now use a hal component to get the changes and use the python handler to update the screen state. I will post the code when I get out to the shop. The usual warnings, it works well enough for me but may contain logic errors that cause bad things with corner cases.

John

Guys

Here is what I do right now. The only parameters I actually change from Gcode are the global THC enable and the THC servo enable. The global THC enable isn't needed unless you want to switch on an external THC controller. So the connection from Gcode is:
And the connections to the real time decode bit:
Sorry the code is such a mess, I get pretty random at times. The real time decoder is needed to make it work when a Gcode file is running for some reason the python to hal connection misses most of the changes then. At least I couldn't get to work reliably without the real time component.

John

andypugh wrote:
How are you reading HAL pins?

I am trying to detect a change in a HAL pin from python using hal.get_value().
I will try later today using halcmd from popen.

islander261 wrote:
The real time decoder is needed to make it work when a Gcode file is running for some reason the python to hal connection misses most of the changes then. At least I couldn't get to work reliably without the real time component.

That seems similar to what I am seeing.


Zultan,
Thanks for the feedback. I will have a look at these issues after I sort out this issue I am working on.

Cheers, Phill.

Guys

I had a good go at getting this branch to run this evening. Still have some work to do. What works:
1. Machine comes out of e-stop and turns on.
2. Machine homes on all three axis.
3. Pendant mostly (as much as I use it) works for jogging X & Y axis. I had to do a bit of a hack on plasmac.hal to add some OR2 instances to share program command halui inputs. Didn't try any of the MDI buttons.
4. Manual jogging works on X&Y axis with correct DRO function.
5. Really couldn't get a clean connection to my hardware input pins in plasmac.hal. Had to net 7i76e input pins in another .hal file and then use those nets in plasmac.hal. Output hardware pins worked as expected. Note that I do use the ...-not pins to get true logic and that seemed to be the problem.

What doesn't work at this point:
1. Jogging z axis(manual or pendant). If I jog a very small distance from Z home a soft limit error occurs. My Z soft limits are +.25" and -3.65". My Z home is .050" below the soft limit. Normal work piece zero will be about -2.9" to -3.5" machine position. My machine is like a mill in that machine Z zero is at the top (away from work piece) of axis travel.
2. Z DRO does not respond when jogging. Back plot screen graphics show Z jogging movement. Z DRO shows movement while homing. Z DRO follows work piece (G54) offset adjustment.
3. Editing and updating material and configuration files doesn't seem quite right. Still can't get addition materials to display even though they are in the file. Some of the GUI values don't save to the files, always get the old defaults on startup.

How do I do a test probing so I can check how well the IHS is doing? On my present system where everything is controlled through Gcode it have short program to do this.

I will have to change the plasma control glade panel so that it is on tabs behind the back plotter (more GMOCCAPY like) to free up more space. I am pretty sure I will end up needing to change the functions of the current home axis buttons, that is something I never have a reason to use.

John

John,
Are you running the config from your git clone or is it a copy in another folder?

Cheers, Phill.