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Weiss VM32 CNC Conversion
- Thread starter David
- Start date
I think my path will be to get a working machine under my belt using Qtdragon likely and then migrate to Pathpilot. My rationale is that would give be a model HAL and ini files as references to shift to Pathpilot.
Is this a reasonable approach?
Is this a reasonable approach?
gerritv
Gerrit
I don't think so IMO. Whatever files you create for QTDragon would be irrelevant to PathPilot. Plus you wil get used to features and operational idiosynchasies that do not apply to PathPilot, which has its own.
PathPilot is a complete system, the OS and all the files interoperate as designed. While some tinkering with speicifc items in the HAL files is likely ok, you aren't going to substanstially change anything.
Note that PP is running on an old LinuxCNC, no joints (pre-legalization
) built on a truly awful Glade 2 GUI design tool. Kudos to Tormach for making it work. Finding tools to modify this system is fraught with more than the usual Linux anguish.
That will change RSN with release of PathPilot 3.0 but in the meantime it is what it is. OTOH lots of ppl happy with their Tormach mills as well as a sizeable # of ppl running shop made machines or retrofits.
PathPilot is a complete system, the OS and all the files interoperate as designed. While some tinkering with speicifc items in the HAL files is likely ok, you aren't going to substanstially change anything.
Note that PP is running on an old LinuxCNC, no joints (pre-legalization
) built on a truly awful Glade 2 GUI design tool. Kudos to Tormach for making it work. Finding tools to modify this system is fraught with more than the usual Linux anguish.That will change RSN with release of PathPilot 3.0 but in the meantime it is what it is. OTOH lots of ppl happy with their Tormach mills as well as a sizeable # of ppl running shop made machines or retrofits.
gerritv
Gerrit
PathPilot is complex, supports mills, lathes, routers, plasma and robot with ATC's, RapidTurn, 4th axis etc.
gerritv
Gerrit
check with @jcdammeyer first
gerritv
Gerrit
Just a side note to anyone starting out with PathPilot, as soon as you get your 2.0 initial version booted, use the Update feature to get to current version (2.12.3 I think). There are some useful enhancements implemented over time. No charge for updates. All releease notes are on the Tormach site. If you need to fall back, that it easy to do as well.
Those boards; 7i92TF/TH/TM all need daughterboards to connect to the steppers, prox switches etc. right?
gerritv
Gerrit
not if you stick with the standard 1100-3 or similar configuration. I have my 7i92H connected with jumpers to a PMDX132. (jumper align between the pinouts). The PMDX is a BOB with stepper drivers, limit interfaces, charge pump, etc.
see photo a few posts back, the only daughter board is Freq->1-10v for the VFD. you only use one header, the pins on the other header are there for you to tinker with.
see photo a few posts back, the only daughter board is Freq->1-10v for the VFD. you only use one header, the pins on the other header are there for you to tinker with.
I have servo drives so I can't use a breakout board with integrated drivers. That's why I was leaning toward a 7i92S
John may have secured a 7i92H which will still need a breakout board like a 7i76U.
7I76 Picture
store.mesanet.com
slow-poke
Ultra Member
MESA is a reputable company, we were using their FPGA cards going back at least 15 years for a product we developed.
If you're not familiar with FPGAs they are a pretty cool technology. Unlike a microprocessor that processes a sequence of instructions one instruction at a time and some instructions require many cpu cycles to accomplish a task, hence many instructions = many cpu cycles = time. On the other hand a FPGA uses logic so the same task occurs in the switching time of a logic gate so effectively instantaneously or more like one cpu cycle, so much much faster. Further if you have a hundred tasks in that FPGA they all get done at the same time, instead of one at a time in sequence for a microprocessor. Further you can completely change the logic in the FPGA any time. Very handy when rushing a design to market because as long as all the I/O is connected to the FPGA you can change the design at anytime even after it ships. Really fantastic devices.
In this application the big advantage is that time critical tasks can be done by the FPGA so the PC processor is not burdened. My MESA board is reading 6 encoders, now imagine I move three axis simultaneously and rapidly, that's 3 step pulse generators sending data and 6 encoders piping data back to the FPGA those encoders are sending quadrature data every time the scale moves 1 micron, that's a lot of data occuring simultaneously but effortless for a FPGA.
If you're not familiar with FPGAs they are a pretty cool technology. Unlike a microprocessor that processes a sequence of instructions one instruction at a time and some instructions require many cpu cycles to accomplish a task, hence many instructions = many cpu cycles = time. On the other hand a FPGA uses logic so the same task occurs in the switching time of a logic gate so effectively instantaneously or more like one cpu cycle, so much much faster. Further if you have a hundred tasks in that FPGA they all get done at the same time, instead of one at a time in sequence for a microprocessor. Further you can completely change the logic in the FPGA any time. Very handy when rushing a design to market because as long as all the I/O is connected to the FPGA you can change the design at anytime even after it ships. Really fantastic devices.
In this application the big advantage is that time critical tasks can be done by the FPGA so the PC processor is not burdened. My MESA board is reading 6 encoders, now imagine I move three axis simultaneously and rapidly, that's 3 step pulse generators sending data and 6 encoders piping data back to the FPGA those encoders are sending quadrature data every time the scale moves 1 micron, that's a lot of data occuring simultaneously but effortless for a FPGA.
gerritv
Gerrit
ok, more complicated. I suspect you will need a custom .bit file then. That is beyond my pay grade :-( I think there is a 7i92-7i76 bit file in PathPilot for use with the 15L lathe, it 'might' be usable with edits to ini and hal file. But would of course need to load it up and see what the pin config is to be sure
I have the whole set of bit files. Plus even FPGA source code but not the actual compiler. I think that costs money.
I'm using a PMDX-126 as the main BoB for my mill and one of the cheap AliExpress MACH type BoBs for the second port.
This is the panel I put together for testing the 7i92H with two of the AliExpress BoBs. These run buffered step/dir to the various drives and can deal with spindle encoders. My plan with Path Pilot was to rewrite the HAL and INI files to use 7i92_PMDX126Ax2D.bit file. The small BoB's don't have any sort of ChargePump safety feature like the PMDX 125,126. Likely the PMDX-132 has one too?
This panel is currently plugged into the PC running Path Pilot. Except it's not. It cycles through and I can even get the Mint Screen up but the Path Pilot task is on a destination of self destruction (power down) and takes the rest of the system with it. Whatever I did the last time I was changing things has now trashed it. It will likely be easiest to insert the USB and boot from that to re-install.
That's the one. PWM to 0-10V on pin 1 for VFDs with a jumper. Or use Pin 17 of the DB-25 for spindle stepping and Pin 16 for spindle direction.
I have max-x-y+min-z limit switches set on pin 15,
min+home-x, min+home-y ,max+home-z on pins 11,12 and 13 so I can do simultaneous homing.
# P1.12_J12.5 15 IOPort QCount 0 Quad-B (In) min home-y (input)
# P1.13_J12.7 16 IOPort QCount 0 Quad-IDX (in) max-home-z (input)
ESTOP in on Pin 10 and system enable out on Pin 1.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
Sorry to highjack your thread David, but I'm wondering if it's possible to modify Pathpilot in a way to removing the adding of the g54/g55/etc Z value when setting/touching off tools? I never thought it possible to modify a program in that way, but you guys look like you might have the answer to that?
That's one of my biggest pet peeves with pathpilot, the fact that that is baked in, and not a settable option, like on most CNC controls. Sure makes using it very annoying sometimes......They assumed everybody uses a probe and tool setting block, and kind of funnel you into working like that......
That's one of my biggest pet peeves with pathpilot, the fact that that is baked in, and not a settable option, like on most CNC controls. Sure makes using it very annoying sometimes......They assumed everybody uses a probe and tool setting block, and kind of funnel you into working like that......
