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Рисунок 5.4 – Определяем подключения для осей и управляемого шпинделя

If your spindle speed will be controlled by Mach3 then you need to Enable the spindle and

allocated a Step pin/port for it if it uses pulse width modulated control with relays to control

its direction or to allocate Step and Direction pins/ports if it has full control. You should

also define if these signals are active-lo. When done, click the Apply button to save the

data on this tab.

5.3.2 Input signals to be used

Now select the Input Signals tab. This will look like figure 5.5.

We assume that you have chosen one of the home/limit strategies from chapter 4.6.

If you have used strategy one and the limit switches are connected together and trigger an

EStop or disable the axis drives via the drive electronics then you do not check any of the

Limit inputs.

Figure 5.5 – Input signals

With strategy two you will probably have home switches on the X, Y and Z axes. Enable

the Home switches boxes for these axes and define the Port/Pin to which each is connected.

If you are combining limits and the home switch then you should enable the Limit --, the

Limit ++ and Home for each axis and allocate the same pin to Home, Limit— and Limit++.

Notice the scroll bar to access the rest of the table which is not visible in figure 5.5.

The Input #1 is special in that it can be used to inhibit running a part program when safety

guards are not in place. The other three (and #1 if not used for the guard interlock) are

available for your own use and can be tested in the code of macros. The Input #4 can be

used to connect an external pushbutton switch to implement the Single Step function. You

may wish to configure them later.

Enable and define Index Pulse if you have a spindle sensor with just one slot or mark.

Enable and define Limits Override if you are letting Mach2 control your limit switches and

you have an external button which you will press when you need to jog off a limit. If you

have no switch then you can use a screen button to achieve the same function.

Enable and define EStop to indicate to Mach3 that the user has demanded an emergency

stop.

Enable and define OEM Trigger inputs if you want electrical signals to be able to call OEM

button functions without a screen button needing to be provided.

Enable and define Timing if you have a spindle sensor with more than one slot or mark.

Enable Probe for digitising and THCOn, THCUp and THCDown for control of a Plasma

torch.

If you have one parallel port then you have 5 available inputs; with two ports there are 10

(or with pins 2 to 9 defined as inputs, 13). It is very common to find that you are short of

input signals especially if you are also going to have some inputs for glass scales or other

encoders. You may have to compromise by not having things like a physical Limit Override

switch to save signals!

You can also consider using a Keyboard Emulator for some input signals.

Click the Apply button to save the data on this tab.

5.3.3 Emulated input signals

If you check the Emulated column for an input then the Port/Pin number and active-lo state

for that signal will be ignored but the entry in the Hotkey column will be interpreted. When

a key-down message is received with code that matches a Hotkey value then that signal is

considered to be active. When a key-up message is received then it is inactive.

The key-up and key-down signals usually come from a keyboard emulator (like the

Ultimarc IPAC or Hagstrom) which is triggered by switches connected to its inputs. This

allows more switches to be sensed than spare pins on your parallel ports but there may be

significant time delays before the switch change is seen and indeed a key-up or key-down

message can get lost by Windows.

Figure 5.6 – Output signals

Emulated signals cannot be used for Index or Timing and should not be used for EStop.

5.3.4 Output Signals

Use the Output signals tab to define the outputs you require. See figure 5.6.

You will probably only want to use one Enable output (as all the axis drives can be

connected to it). Indeed if you are using the charge pump/pulse monitor feature then you

may enable your axis drives from its output.

The Output# signals are for use to control a stop/start spindle (clockwise and optionally

counterclockwise), the Flood and Mist coolant pumps or valves and for control by your own

customized Mach3 buttons or macros.

The Charge Pump line should be enabled and defined if your breakout board accept this

pulse input to continually confirm correct operation of Mach3. Charge Pump2 is used if

you have a second breakout board connected to the second port or want to verify the

operation of the second port itself.

Click the Apply button to save the data on this tab.

5.3.5 Defining encoder inputs

The Encoder/MPGs tab is used to define the connections and the resolution of linear

encoders or Manual Pulse Generators (MPGs) used for jogging the axes.

The Encoder/MPGs tab is used to define the connections and the resolution of linear

encoders or Manual Pulse Generators (MPGs) used for jogging the axes. It is covered here

for completeness of the description of Config> Ports & Pins.

This dialog does not need an active-lo column as, if the encoders count the wrong way it is

merely necessary to swap the pins allocated for A and B inputs.

Figure 5.7 – Encoder inputs

5.3.5.1 Encoders

The Counts per unit value should be set to correspond to the resolution of the encoder. Thus

a linear scale with rulings at 20 microns produces a count every 5 microns (remember the

quadrature signal), that is 200 counts per unit (millimetre). If you have Native units set as

inches the it would be 200 x 25.4 = 5080 counts per unit (inch). The Velocity value is not

used.

5.3.5.2 MPGs

The Counts per unit value is used to define the number of quadrature counts that need to be

generated for Mach3 to see movement of the MPG. For a 100 CPR encoder, a figure of 2 is

suitable. For higher resolutions you should increase this figure to get the mechanical

sensitivity you want. We find 100 works well with 1024 CPR encoders.

The Velocity value determines the scaling of pulses sent to the axis being controlled by the

MPG. The lower the value given in Velocity the faster the axis will move. Its value is best

set by experiment to give a comfortable speed when spinning the MPG as fast as is

comfortable.

5.3.6 Configuring the spindle

The next tab on Config> Ports & Pins is Spindle Setup. This is used to define the way in

which your spindle and coolant is to be controlled. You may opt to allow Mach3 to do

nothing with it, to turn the spindle on and off or to have total control of its speed by using a

Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signal or a step and direction signal. The dialog is shown in

figure 5.8.

Figure 5.8 – Spindle Setup

5.3.6.1 Coolant control

Code M7 can turn Flood coolant on, M9 can turn Mist coolant on and M9 can turn all

coolant off. The Flood Mist control section of the dialog defines which of the output signals

are to be used to implement these functions. The Port/Pins for the outputs have already been

defined on the Output Signals tab.

If you do not want to use this function check Disable Flood/Mist Relays.

5.3.6.2 Spindle relay control

If the spindle speed is controlled by hand or by using a PWM signal then Mach3 can define

its direction and when to start and stop it (in response to M3, M4 and M5) by using two

outputs. The Port/Pins for the outputs have already been defined on the Output Signals tab.

If you control the spindle by Step and Direction then you do not need these controls. M3,

M4 and M5 will control the pulse train generated automatically.

If you do not want to use this function check Disable Spindle Relays.

5.3.6.3 Motor Control

Check Use Motor Control if you want to use PWM or Step and Direction control of the

spindle. When this is checked then you can choose between PWM Control and Step/Dir

Motor.