[brccrb]

**Rlrhett,
Fantastic idea! I'll put together some walk throughs ASAP.

As for the quickie moment, fond of "US Digital E2 series" for motor encoders. Fond of "Accurite ENC 150" scales.

Both of these are bang/buck items.

Also need to include a quickie walkthrough for creating an inexpensive 4th axis.

Again, Great idea!

s/Bruce

[Switcher]

brccrb,

I just wanted to say, that jogging with the mouse is cool in your SDK.

It finally clicked, what you posted on your forum about pendants & being able to use the mouse to jog each axis (very cool).

I had my MS wireless mouse about 10ft from my desk jogging thru the axis, that would make for a nice DIY pendant.

Scrolling (jogging) with the mouse wheel is a nice feature also.


.

[brccrb]

**Switcher,
Exactly! Well put! Been trying to figure out how to say that.

"It turns your mouse into a pendant"

The center wheel becomes the MPG, buttons select. Addictive little thing. One hand jog of the machine.

Thank you!

--------------------------------------------
**Knee Mills: "Inline Dual Axis".
OK, who's tired of the quill not having a long enough stroke?

When the quill reaches top/bottom range of motion, the knee starts moving automatically creating a long travel Z axis.

For example, you are machining a part, the quill has 5in of motion, yet the G-Code calls Z-6.25. When the quill reaches -5, the knee moves up 1.25 to complete the motion automatically.

You essentially have a single long travel Z (travel of the quill + knee).

One axis is assigned the primary (such as the quill). The other axis is assigned as secondary (such as the knee). The primary moves first. The secondary only engages to change the range. Both are controlled like a single axis.

While coding/testing the "Parallel Dual Axis" (two motors working at the same time), just got tired of the Z being a fraction short. Good time to add it.

Thoughts?

s/Bruce

[cut more]

**Knee Mills: "Inline Dual Axis".
OK, who's tired of the quill not having a long enough stroke?

Well, that would be a fantastic way to turn a 2 axis type cnc mill into a 3 axis mill. You probably wouldn't want to do high speed 3 axis contouring but you could take for instance a 2 axis prototrak and turn it into a 3 axis "protobrain"!

Are there plans to add the ability to be able to use analog drives in the future?
I would love to use a cnc brain to retrofit my running cnc bridgeport, and re-use the existing analog drives.

Cutmore

[Khalid]

Unbelivable...Bruce...Congratulate to all of you (The Team) for such a brilliant product...

[brccrb]

**Cutmore,
You've got it! The secondary axis inline only moves when the primary can't complete the motion (automatically is moved to set the range of motion). This lets your quill move fast for contouring, but still have the large range (best of both).

We are working on the -10/+10V and 0-10V add on. A very kind gentleman with amazing experience has been giving us the "do this, don't do that" stuff. So many brilliant people in this place.

Basically, the Brain will output a frequency which will be converted by an adapter to voltage ... with the ability to trim scale and zero.

**Khalid,
Thank you. But everyone makes this possible. We are nothing without your support, input, and ideas. We are humbled by the knowledge, wisdom, and kindness everyone has shown.



s/Bruce

[Gnome]

Hi Bruce,
I had a couple questions that i was hoping you could answer.

Does the CNC brain have any provisions for monitoring axis loads (current draw) or spindle loads? This is a nice feature to have when trying to maximize feedrates (power output) for a given machine. This relates to another nice to have feature for machining centers, in which you are able to set current limits for given tool numbers so that if a tool breaks while drilling a pilot hole for instance, the next tool doesn't just keep blindly ramming itself into the block (where the hole should be).

Thanks,

Gnome

[brccrb]

**Gnome,
You are definitely asking the right questions! Right now, the CNC Brain uses the difference between the motor position and the axis position to estimate the force on the motor. This does pretty good.

The next step is to use an actual force feedback sensor (or amperage sensor) to measure the force output of the motor. For this, we have to have an ADC adapter board and sensor. This is where we want to go, but right now, we need to get throught the different interfaces and machine types. But you are right on target with the direction! The code in the Brain is even stubbed for this information.

There is a function in the Brain known as "BitSaver". When enabled, as the spindle slows, the motion of the machine is slowed. The name is appropriate (at least when I'm machining ). It can handle some of the functionality.

If you are using PWM for spindle control, you can use the watchdog script to keep track of the duty cycle. If it is too high, stop the run.

This brings up the point, not talked much about the watchdog script. It is different than any other script function. First, it is given its own engine to run. Second, it can maintain state during the entire run ... for exactly as you want to do.

Excellent points!

s/Bruce

[PEU]

Hi Bruce, let me tell you I plan to do a lathe retrofit based on the Brain when all the lathe functions are ready.

Help me plan in advance:

1) what encoders and digital rulers do I need to purchase? I visited usdigital site but there are plenty of options and Im lost.
Other sources for lineal scales would be nice to have too.
1a) Im also interested in the method you explained posts ago of replacing digital rulers (expensive) with some kind of sensors.

I plan to use nema 23 and 34 dual shafted steppers and test the lathe accuracy without ballscrews and then if Im not satisfied go with them.

2) What else do I need? I assume drivers for the motors and an USB port.

3) What would you suggest for optoisulation as suggested in your site?

4) The provided software is ready to go and operate the machine or I need to hire some programmer to customize it?

5) Does the provided software comes customized for lathe operations and mill operations? For example Mach3 has a separate profile for lathe and mill ops.

Thanks!

Pablo

[fer_mayrl]

Hey Bruce,
on your earlier posts you talked about hexapods.

Once I tried to implement a robotic arm 2 axis machine, kind of like a swingarm on the end of another swing arm, using mach3.

I implemented the inverse kinematic equations in mach, only to find out that the sistem only worked for point to point moves, the trayectory of movement between one point an another became unpredictable, only solution was to segment the toolpath in very small moves in order to get around that.

You think with your system this can be implemented? for example...

A move from X0 Y0 to X0 Y10, would the move be a straight vertical line, or will it follow the movement in a curved way.

The type of robot is like the one in this pic:
http://www.roble.info/robotics/serial/html/adept.png

Thanks
Fernando

[Switcher]

brccrb,

Something that you might want to add to the "BrainPanel", is a set of large "DRO".

I added one to the latest SDK, the way I did it brings up a ?, is it possible to copy/paste a "DRO" (example: textboxXDRO) or all 6-axis without lagging the PC or CncBrain?

On the screenshot below, all I did was add a "Panel" on top of the entire "Form1" forced the Panel to stay on top, If the checkbox is checked in the dropdown menu "Mode/Large DRO".

This is just a rough example, I wanted to see how well the DRO stood out from the other side of the room (15') from my 19" monitor, the result was great!

I planned on posting this to your forum, I wanted to add the screenshot, the only way to add an image is from a URL (as far as I can see)?



.

[kerryc]

This has been a very interesting read. I have a project that I have been trying to figure out how to make happen for several years. I have a hydraulic tracer lathe that I want to CNC without changing out TOO much. The plan is to use the X axis as is which is speed controlled by a proportional valve. What I would need is for the brain to monitor the position of X and then position the Z axis accordingly. Is this feasible? Can the CNC Brain take standard lathe G code and control the Z axis with no control over the X axis? I hope you follow my train of thought.

Kerry

[jneaimi]

hello

[brccrb]

Hello everyone. Took a few days during the holiday. Sorry for any delays answering.

**jneaimi,
"Hello" back at you!

**kerryc,
This is a function of the threading/rigid tapping being added right now. And to control the valving, you could use the analog control (also being added).

Excellent question!

**Switcher,
As always, you continue to impress. Fantastic idea! Would you mind if we incorporated the idea into the next release???

**fer_may,
Cool stuff! Right now, it would take segments. But being added are ellipticals and >>splines<<. This would be the smoothest option.

What about an interface in the SDK to let you provide an equation of motion for each axis for any move?

**peu,
1) what encoders? For the price/performance, I'm fond of E2-1000 for motors. Gives 4000 clicks per turn.

1a) digital ruler option - posting this to the Safeguard Forum. Will take a few hours to finish. Will post here the direct link.

2) Yes, drivers for the motors. USB port on your machine.

3) Opto isolation - This comes down to buy/build. Everyone does this differently. For example, I'm fond of a breadboard and optochips. Some like pre-made breakout boards.

If I may, the manual is almost ready and has several of these options in it. Let me post it ASAP. This can become a big topic by itself considering the different configuations.

Would that be OK?

4) The software should be ready to go. If you have a problem with it, we change it If you are having a problem, odds are others will be too.

5) It isn't by default customized for lathes. So here is an opportunity, tell me what you want and we'll see if we can add it to meet your specific needs.

This is the very reason the CNC Brain is built in layers.

**All,
Wow! Great questions! Next release got bumped from last week because of the Holiday. Next is V1.0.6

[brccrb]

Thought I would post this as we've gotten some questions:

**Yes, we ship internationally. Our storefront is in process of being upgraded, so until the upgrade is complete, we've got a work around in place.

**Skype Name: CNCBrain (clever eh? )

s/Bruce

[DanC]

Bruce,

Brain came today.

I was thinking it would be very nice to incorporate a tangential knife setting like Mach 3 has.

Cheers,

Dan

[brccrb]

**Dan,
Didn't even think about a tangential knife. One of the axis could run it. Just a minor piece of code in the Control Panel.

Fantastic idea!!!

Now we can get to the fun stuff! Testing the parallel dual axis. Just a day or so for the next release.

You've had so many great ideas!!

s/Bruce

Bruce,

Brain came today.

I was thinking it would be very nice to incorporate a tangential knife setting like Mach 3 has.

Cheers,

Dan

[jalessi]

Bruce,

Your CNCBrain should be a Grand Slam.

Thank you for the opportunity and for sharing your brilliant insight.

Jeff Alessi

[brccrb]

**Jeff,
Thanks for the compliment. Hope we live up to your kind words. There are so many bright and talented guys here at the zone, it just boggles the mind.

The have so kindly guided us and we are listening ... filling page after page with the knowledge and wisdom being imparted. Can't thank everyone enough.

Any success of the CNC Brain will have more to do with the people here than with us.

s/Bruce

[Al_The_Man]

Is your intention to also capture the market served by the higher end commercial systems?
If so, I would like to add a wish list that I feel would be required in order to compete on a minimal level.
Some issues have already been covered.
Al.