I agree an NC program should not call for a tool change without a tool number commanded. Many, many times I have used two tools in manual/mdi and m6 is the only mdi that was needed to swap the tools. This machine had a tool number display and tool prepped display. This would swap when an M6 was completed. In fact I would like to see the prep number change when the tool chain matrix is indexed with the manual button. As soon as the chain has positioned the tool the prep number should be written. It would take another input to alert EMC which tool number is now presented. I agree a program should require a tool number but I also believe the tool numbers should be maintained during manual operation. My logic counts the tools and keeps track of which pocket is in the tool change position. I think I should be able to manually (using the button on the side of the machine) move the tool chain to a desired tool, issue an M6 and have the tool numbers maintained in a correct fashion in EMC. My original request/comment may not have been as accurate as I wished. Hold the thought - after pondering this I realize the most accurate way to maintain the tools in the proper pockets is by ONLY loading the tools into a random machine's tool changer is by calling the desired tool to be loaded into the spindle and loading the physical tool in the spindle after the tool change is completed. I think I will remove the button from the side of the machine. This will make the machine simpler and safer. Not only is it tool number dangerous to place tools in the pockets of a random tool machine but the remove/replace operation involves prying the tool out of the pocket with a special tool and forcing the tool back into the pot by hand (a recipe for cuts - I can personally vouch for that). thanks Stuart
On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 9:38 PM, Chris Radek <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 08:24:48PM -0500, Stuart Stevenson wrote: > > > I would like to see the iocontrol write the swapped out spindle tool > into > > the tool-prep-number when a tool change is complete. At that time, on > this > > machine, it is prepped and ready for a tool change. > > iocontrol leaves it at zero until I command a T number - I can do m6 - > m6 > > - m6 -m6 ad infinitum - this would swap the tool numbers and keep them > > straight. > > > Currently if you have a random tool changer and you switch between two > tools: > > T1 M6 > ... > T2 M6 > ... > T1 M6 > > this is a case that your carousel's ladder (or whatever logic) should > handle: when a prepare comes and the requested pocket is already the > current one, you should assert tool-prepared right away, and EMC will > continue on with the M6 part. This happens all the time - constantly > if running a program that uses just two tools. > > I think you are saying that on a random machine, with your proposed > change, the gcode for this program would be written > > T1 M6 > ... > M6 > ... > M6 > > which in today's EMC will give you the error that says you can't do a > tool change without a T word (prep) first. > > If I understand you right and this is what you are asking for (please > confirm) then I think the idea is a bad one for several reasons. The > person writing gcode should not have to know what kind of carousel is > on the machine and program accordingly. If you start anywhere in the > middle of the first program I typed above, you will always get the > right tool no matter the carousel position. If you start in the > middle of the second program (after modifying EMC in the way I think > you are proposing) you are very likely to get a wrong tool and crash. > > I cannot see any reason to do this (surely not to save four bytes in > the gcode program?) and I can see many reasons not to do it. > > Chris > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances > and start using them to simplify application deployment and > accelerate your shift to cloud computing > http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- dos centavos ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Start uncovering the many advantages of virtual appliances and start using them to simplify application deployment and accelerate your shift to cloud computing http://p.sf.net/sfu/novell-sfdev2dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
