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IndustryArena Forum > MetalWorking Machines > Novakon > PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    388

    PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    I was able to get PathPilot running on my Torus Pro. I'm super happy with the improvement over Mach 3. As promised I've attached the files needed to this thread so that others can get their Torus running on PP as well.

    Please - Update this thread if you come up with improvements or solve the issues noted below.

    Couple open issues right now..

    1) Spindle speed is not being correctly fed to the display when a gcode program is running. Should be a simple fix to the .hal file.
    2) There is a commented section related to lincurve. This is intended to get the observed spindle speed in line with the commanded speed. I had to install the library for lincurve, but it still didnt like my code in the .hal file. Again this shouldnt be a difficult fix.

    If you are looking for help installing on a Novakon Pulsar, Brianbonedoc did an awesome job on this wiki - PathPilot on Non-Tormach Wikia | FANDOM powered by Wikia

    Mini Tutorial:

    1) Buy Pathpilot DVD from Tormach. You gotta call them. Ask about ordering PathPilot for a non-tormach system.
    2) Buy Mesa I/O card. You either need a 5i25 orr 6i25 based on install to a PCI or PCIe slot.
    3) Install Mesa board in slot.
    4) Hook existing BoB to Mesa board external DB25 connector.
    5) Install Pathpilot.
    6) Boot PathPilot and let it flash your Mesa with default firmware.
    7) Reboot PathPilot
    8) After the system comes up, hit control-alt-x This will bring up a linux terminal.
    9) In the linux terminal window type gnome-panel
    10) When the panel pops up, Select "Places/Home Folder".
    11) From the attached zip file, copy "Torus.bit" into the the tmc/mesa folder.
    12) In the tmc/configs/tormach_mill directory, make a backup of tormach_1100-3.ini
    13) From the attached zip file, copy "tormach_1100-3.ini" and "novakon_torus.hal" into the tmc/configs/tormach_mill directory
    14) reboot
    15) Mesa card will be flashed from Torus.bit
    16) After flash is complete, reboot.

    PathPilot should now come up and you should be able to move all of your axis's and fire up your spindle.

    Enjoy,
    Scott...
    Instructional Videos for CNC Guitar Building
    http://www.rmgvideos.com

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    45

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Thanks for sharing, and thanks to everyone who has contributed to this point! And so long mach3

    Ray

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    400

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Thanks for this. I'm probably going to give it a try soon. I'm wondering if I will still be able to use my vista pendant with path pilot? Has anyone done so already?

    Tom

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    72

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Thanks as well! hopefully this will lead me down the right path on my nm145

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    594

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    It seems that the bit file needs to match the pins on the BoB. Since my NM200 uses an older BoB, I'm not certain the same pins would match the bit file. Do the pin assignments in Mach3 config match the pin number to the BoB?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    7063

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Quote Originally Posted by kvom View Post
    It seems that the bit file needs to match the pins on the BoB. Since my NM200 uses an older BoB, I'm not certain the same pins would match the bit file. Do the pin assignments in Mach3 config match the pin number to the BoB?
    Mach3 would not work very well if they didn't....

    Regards,
    Ray L.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    594

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Mach3 is presumably addressing pin addresses in the parallel port which is connected to the BoB via a DB25 cable. What I wasn't sure of is whether the BoB numbers the pins in the same order. It seems logical that they do. The other question is whether the Mach3 pin assignments on the Torus are the same as the older NM200. It appears that I'd need to make sense of the Torus.pin file to try to determine if the config matches.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    388

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Quote Originally Posted by kvom View Post
    Mach3 is presumably addressing pin addresses in the parallel port which is connected to the BoB via a DB25 cable. What I wasn't sure of is whether the BoB numbers the pins in the same order. It seems logical that they do. The other question is whether the Mach3 pin assignments on the Torus are the same as the older NM200. It appears that I'd need to make sense of the Torus.pin file to try to determine if the config matches.
    Not sure what the pinouts are on the bob for your NM200. You should be able to go into the mach3 I/O config and look at the pins that it specifies and compare those to the Torus.pin file. If they are different you will have to get PCW_MESA to create you a new firmware for your Bob.

    Scott...
    Instructional Videos for CNC Guitar Building
    http://www.rmgvideos.com

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    594

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Here's the pins from the configuration

    outputs:
    X-axis: step 2, dir 3
    Y-axis: step 4, dir 5
    Z-axis: step 6, dir 7
    A-axis: step 8, dir 9
    Spindle: 14
    Dirs on X and A are low for proper direction

    Inputs:
    E-stop 10
    X home 11
    Y home 12
    Z home 13
    Home switches are active low

    I don't really understand the spindle config section.

    Can someone with a Torus config do a comparison?

    I priced a very basic machine build at Fry's today to run Path Pilot. Looks ~$370 for all the parts. Still needs PP DVD and Mesa card, so ~$600

    CPU $91
    Motherboard $89
    RAM: $60
    DVD drive: $20
    Hard Drive: $50
    Power Supply: $25
    Case: $45

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    388

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Quote Originally Posted by kvom View Post
    Here's the pins from the configuration

    outputs:
    X-axis: step 2, dir 3
    Y-axis: step 4, dir 5
    Z-axis: step 6, dir 7
    A-axis: step 8, dir 9
    Spindle: 14
    Dirs on X and A are low for proper direction

    Inputs:
    E-stop 10
    X home 11
    Y home 12
    Z home 13
    Home switches are active low

    I don't really understand the spindle config section.

    Can someone with a Torus config do a comparison?

    I priced a very basic machine build at Fry's today to run Path Pilot. Looks ~$370 for all the parts. Still needs PP DVD and Mesa card, so ~$600

    CPU $91
    Motherboard $89
    RAM: $60
    DVD drive: $20
    Hard Drive: $50
    Power Supply: $25
    Case: $45
    Here is the pinout that is in the .hal file that I uploaded...

    ################################################## ###############################################
    # 5i25 Pin out for NOVAKON Torus bit file
    #IO Connections for P3

    #Pin# Mill Fxn I/O Pri. func Sec. func Chan Pin func Pin Dir

    # 1 X step 0 IOPort StepGen 0 Step (Out)
    #14 Spindle Dir 1 IOPort PWMGen 0 Dir (Out)
    # 2 X Dir 2 IOPort StepGen 0 Dir (Out)
    #15 ProbeIn(act low) 3 IOPort None
    # 3 Y Step 4 IOPort StepGen 1 Step (Out)
    #16 Spindle Step 5 IOPort PWMGen 0 PWM (Out)
    # 4 Y Dir 6 IOPort StepGen 1 Dir (Out)
    #17 Charge Pump 7 IOPort StepGen 4 Step (Out)
    # 5 Z Step 8 IOPort StepGen 2 Step (Out)
    # 6 Z Dir 9 IOPort StepGen 2 Dir (Out)
    # 7 A Step 10 IOPort StepGen 3 Step (Out)
    # 8 A Dir 11 IOPort StepGen 3 Dir (Out)
    # 9 Flood Relay 12 IOPort None
    #10 E-Stop In 13 IOPort None
    #11 All Limit Sw 14 IOPort None
    #12 ?spindle home 15 IOPort None
    #13 Timing/Touch pl 16 IOPort None


    As you can see, its quite different than your pinout for your NM200 BOB. You will have to get firmware custom built for your pinout.

    In addition, My system is a Torus. I followed BrianBoneDoc's example for his pulsar and it took me about 2 weeks to get it all working. I have a great deal of experience in Linux and modifying the parameter files that were needed to get it going. A ton of my work was piecing examples from all over the place to get my spindle working.

    If you dont have a Linux background, and a deep understanding of the things that you will be editing (my guess is a LOT) to get your NM200 BOB going, I would suggest you wait until someone else has an NM200 going with PathPilot and use their files. Its not that its impossible, but if you are the first to do it for an NM200 there will not be a ton of help for you from others that have done this work.

    Scott...
    Instructional Videos for CNC Guitar Building
    http://www.rmgvideos.com

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    7063

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    I would be very surprised if anything more is needed than a custom cable between the Mesa board and the Novakon BOB...

    Regards,
    Ray L.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    644

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Actually that looks very much like a common existing config: 5i25_g540x2.bit
    As long as the spindle uses PWM instead or a stepgen, this should work

    IO Connections for P3
    Pin# I/O Pri. func Sec. func Chan Pin func Sec Pin Dir

    1 0 IOPort None
    14 1 IOPort PWMGen 0 PWM (Out)
    2 2 IOPort StepGen 0 Step (Out)
    15 3 IOPort None
    3 4 IOPort StepGen 0 Dir (Out)
    16 5 IOPort StepGen 4 Step (Out)
    4 6 IOPort StepGen 1 Step (Out)
    17 7 IOPort None
    5 8 IOPort StepGen 1 Dir (Out)
    6 9 IOPort StepGen 2 Step (Out)
    7 10 IOPort StepGen 2 Dir (Out)
    8 11 IOPort StepGen 3 Step (Out)
    9 12 IOPort StepGen 3 Dir (Out)
    10 13 IOPort QCount 0 Quad-A (In)
    11 14 IOPort QCount 0 Quad-B (In)
    12 15 IOPort QCount 0 Quad-IDX (In)
    13 16 IOPort None

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    594

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Since I would be using a PCIe computer and the 6i25 board, are there any differences in the bit file?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    388

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Quote Originally Posted by kvom View Post
    Since I would be using a PCIe computer and the 6i25 board, are there any differences in the bit file?
    No, the same firmware is for the 5i25 and 6i25

    If your spindle uses a servo then you need STEPGEN. If you have a VFD that is speed controlled by 0-10 volts then you use PWMGEN.

    Scott...
    Instructional Videos for CNC Guitar Building
    http://www.rmgvideos.com

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    594

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    I ordered the mesa card and sent a request to Tormach. Wait mode.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    388
    Quote Originally Posted by kvom View Post
    I ordered the mesa card and sent a request to Tormach. Wait mode.
    kvom,

    If you would please, do me a favor and create a new thread "PathPilot on Novakon NM200" in the main Novakon forum. That way you can cronicle your work on your conversion in that thread and we can keep this one related to the Torus Pro.

    Thanks,
    Scott...
    Instructional Videos for CNC Guitar Building
    http://www.rmgvideos.com

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    6618

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Quote Originally Posted by upnorth View Post
    Thanks for this. I'm probably going to give it a try soon. I'm wondering if I will still be able to use my vista pendant with path pilot? Has anyone done so already?

    Tom
    I just use a shuttle pro express off Amazon.
    Plug and play
    Lee

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    45

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Now that there is a file set specific to the Torus Pro, I decided to give this a shot, so I ordered the PathPilot DVD by calling Tormach (not sure why so many try so hard to circumvent the phone call, the lady that takes the orders is very nice and very willing to take your $100) the Mesa 5i25 card from their website…a new Kingston 120 gig Solid State Drive and a DB25 male to male cable from Amazon prime…For a total of $250.00ish including shipping (everything arriving inside of 3 days)

    Installing PathPilot from the DVD onto a blank hard drive, easy, took all of about 5 minutes, and nothing else is needed…

    Next, I followed Scott’s (sagreen) mini tutorial (post 1) which took me a little time to become familiar with linux, not having any prior experience… start to finish was maybe 15 minutes to complete his directions… and on the final reboot path pilot was operational, success! I did go into the ini file and change the axis limit settings and homing settings, both being very simple to figure out, and to do… So the entire process start to finish, a couple of hours…

    My first impressions of PathPilot are very positive, I really like the way the interface is laid out, and the available functions are ones I want available…While there are some difference’s like for example the tool table offsets are bit different at least for me. I couldn’t get PathPilot to recognize negative values in tool offsets, in mach3 all of my tool offsets are set up as negative values…no big deal as I had to start over anyway…

    I haven’t had a chance to generate any g-code specifically for PathPilot yet, (I am learning Fusion 360 for that) but I did run one of my biggest mach3 files, and a file Scott (sagreen) sent me that he created with Fusion 360, both without a tool in the spindle, I didn’t want to risk damage to a fixture by running my file, and didn’t want to cut a set soft jaws to make Scott’s part, I really just wanted to see if there was going to be any issues or errors to address, so far there are none.

    My goal for a while has been to find a motion software that works, and without a big learning curve to set it up, or to operate it…. PathPilot for me is mission accomplished!

    So to EVERYONE who has contributed to this, a very big thank you, it was much easier than I anticipated!

    Ray

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    6618

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    And it will get better from this point onward.
    Lee

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    701

    Re: PathPilot on Novakon Torus Pro

    Ray - so glad Novakon users continue to install and use PathPilot.

    One thing I can't stress enough, keep copies of the 4 files (2 hal, 1 ini, 1 bit file) somewhere safe. When you go to update PP, it will wipe all of those, and you'll need to put em back.

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