Using torch height control with rotary axis - recommendations?
I have a 6-axis plasma tube cutter machine (Dragon A400) which I would like to add torch height control to. The machine has a rotary axis and cuts square/rectangular tubing and L angles. This means that the torch head is constantly moving up and down as the workpiece is rotated.
Tubing is often not straight and sometimes has inconsistent dimensions from the mill. As a result, our torch hover distance varies and our cuts don't come out as well as we'd like. This is why I want to add torch height control.
However, I am wondering if THC would work poorly with the rotary axis. For example, while a square tube is rotating around to be cut off, the torch is cutting on an angled surface when it is cutting on the corners of the square tube. So I imagine that the control would read a different voltage around corners compared to when it is cutting on the flat faces of the material, and that this may result in unwanted torch height movements. Does anybody have experience with this?
Re: Using torch height control with rotary axis - recommendations?
I think as long as the Z axis has sufficient velocity and acceleration to allow it to follow the surface and the THC is fast enough to respond to the material height changes, I think its quite possible to achieve. It may be difficult to use an external THC but I'm confident it can be done in Linuxcnc as it has strong PID based THC (which may not help you much).
Re: Using torch height control with rotary axis - recommendations?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PhoenixMetal
I have a 6-axis plasma tube cutter machine (Dragon A400) which I would like to add torch height control to. The machine has a rotary axis and cuts square/rectangular tubing and L angles. This means that the torch head is constantly moving up and down as the workpiece is rotated.
Tubing is often not straight and sometimes has inconsistent dimensions from the mill. As a result, our torch hover distance varies and our cuts don't come out as well as we'd like. This is why I want to add torch height control.
However, I am wondering if THC would work poorly with the rotary axis. For example, while a square tube is rotating around to be cut off, the torch is cutting on an angled surface when it is cutting on the corners of the square tube. So I imagine that the control would read a different voltage around corners compared to when it is cutting on the flat faces of the material, and that this may result in unwanted torch height movements. Does anybody have experience with this?
I'm using Torch height control for my 4 axis plasma tube and It worked greatly.
