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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 6:05:40 GMT -8
Hello all,
this is all very new to me, i have been running Mach 3 and sheetcam for some time now and was directed here by Dave from the mach3 forum and think this software is very nice for probing.
my questions is, when using the quick start guide in this forum subcategory posted by Dave all goes well until about the middle of the page where somehow the tool setup is skipped. I have no idea how to add my probe other then what appeared to be the lgoical method of adding it in the tool table, but i either am not doing this correctly or there is another issue I am missing somewhere because when i try to run my first probing operation it spits out this error:
Probe T# not Mounted
everything else on this software looks pretty straight forward and intuitive but I am a bit confused and stumped on this one.
I know I should read the entire 300 page manual but I really would just like to find an edge and get started first a little bit so when i do read it the context makes a little more sense to me.
Any help appreciated!
Chris
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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 6:14:44 GMT -8
I read hrough the manual for tool loading and when I try to do the same thing it just simply defaults back to tool "0" what else have i missed. i have defined the tool probe as tool "1" in the tool table, set the diameter to ".078" given it a description and saved the tool table as probe test table.
When i try now to call that tool in the "current tool" screen by highlighting the DRO and changing the value from zero to 1, it lights up green and then i hit enter and it reverts back to "0".
ugh...pulling my hair out, been wrestling with this simple thing for 6 hours and have been through the manual and don't see where i am going wrong. Frustrated.
Chris
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Post by DaveCVI on May 11, 2012 6:45:21 GMT -8
Hi Chris, Hello all, this is all very new to me, i have been running Mach 3 and sheetcam for some time now and was directed here by Dave from the mach3 forum and think this software is very nice for probing. Welcome to MSM - my questions is, when using the quick start guide in this forum subcategory posted by Dave all goes well until about the middle of the page where somehow the tool setup is skipped. I have no idea how to add my probe other then what appeared to be the lgoical method of adding it in the tool table, but i either am not doing this correctly or there is another issue I am missing somewhere because when i try to run my first probing operation it spits out this error: Probe T# not Mounted everything else on this software looks pretty straight forward and intuitive but I am a bit confused and stumped on this one. MSM has the concept that one tool# is designated as the probe tool. Which tool# you want to be the probe tool, is set in a DRO. The Probe tool # DRO is on the WCOffset page, probing tab in the panel labeled "Probing Op Parameters"; Top DRO, left column. Just set that DRO to whatever number you like - this will be the Tool number that MSM thinks is the probe tool. Whenever MSM starts a probing operation, it does several checks, including looking at the currently mounted tool #, if the current T# is not the probe tool #, MSM says that the probe tool is not mounted and stops the operation (don't want to be probing with a tool that can not cause a probe event to stop the tool motion). You can use any number you like as the probe tool #. Many of the MSM examples use 250. A while back I changed to using 99 as my probe tool # and more recent examples & videos now use 99. I changed my probe tool # when I started using the probe in lathe mode where the max tool number is 99. This lets me keep the same # for the probe whether I'm running MSM in mill or lathe mode. The probe tool # is also used in other places inside the system. For example, MSM will warn you if you attempt to start the spindle with the probe tool mounted... I know I should read the entire 300 page manual but I really would just like to find an edge and get started first a little bit so when i do read it the context makes a little more sense to me. Ok, you don't have to read the whole manual first - but there could be a pop quiz at any time....  These sections may be of help: 8.5 Probing Operation Parameters Panel That section explains the set up parameters that all probing operations use. 8.11 Tutorial: Getting started with probing I highly recommend reading this section! It leads you thru making sure that things are set up for reliable probe operations. Any help appreciated! Chris Hopefully this info will help get you started - let us know if you have more questions. Dave |
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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 7:27:50 GMT -8
I had that set as described, that was the intuitive thinking i used as well as in the manual, but it isn't taking.... see screen shots: Attachments:
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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 7:28:27 GMT -8
andhere is one of the tool in the tool table..... what did i do wrong here? Attachments:
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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 7:30:01 GMT -8
whoop double image post, here is the screenshot of the tool DRO in the probing op parameter screen. Attachments:
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Post by DaveCVI on May 11, 2012 12:05:01 GMT -8
Hi,
Looking at the screen shots, I see that on the shot of the tooling page that the current tool number = 0. 0 is the # that mach uses to indicate "no tool mounted".
We may be having a terminology issue... when I say that MSM has to have the tool mounted, I mean "mounted" in both the physical sense (i.e. physically in the spindle) and in the software sense (I.e. the current tool number has to be the probe tool #).
Since the current tool DRO is 0, and the probe tool number is 1, you get the error message.
Use the MDI line to do
T1 M6
The T1 will cause MSM to select T#1 as the next tool and the M6 will do a tool change. This will run you thru the tool change sequence, at the end of which, tool 1 will be mounted (software wise) and the current tool DRO will now show 1.
BTW - don't try to just put a "1" into the current tool # DRO - that won't work (it's an old mach trick that causes problems due to bugs in mach).
Always changing tools via an M6 command is the recommended/safe approach. See 5.4 for info on the tooling page and 5.4.1.1 for the current tool DRO.
On a different topic, you may also want to look at section 1.4.1 for some mach config setting that will improve the appearance (removing the underline in DRO values etc).
Dave
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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 12:34:49 GMT -8
That is what i was looking for! I just was about to post after reading the entire section 8 and not finding what i was looking for. then I thought maybe its because i haven't bought the software yet and it locked me out (it does say something to that effect in the probe picture screen) So I bought the software.. still no dice.. going to try that tool change sequence throught the MDI now! Thanks Dave!
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Post by DaveCVI on May 11, 2012 12:38:26 GMT -8
OK, let me know if that does not solve it for you. FYI - MSM is fully functional during the trial period (30 days), nothing is disabled so that you can play with the full feature set of the Pro Edition. Since you went ahead and bought an MSM license, the least I can say is Welcome to MSM... and thanks for the purchase!  Dave |
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Post by lcvette on May 11, 2012 14:29:21 GMT -8
well, that would have done the trick and then i also remembered that this was a new installation of Mach and i had not yet run any code yet and a light bulb went off.. duh.. general configuration screen and uncheck "ignore tool changes" thank goodness that popped into my mind or i may have had a melt down...lol
All is working as intended. this doesn't do 3d digitizing does it?
Chris
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Post by DaveCVI on May 11, 2012 17:13:14 GMT -8
If I interpret that sentence to mean "does MSM use a probe that triggers in 3D", the answer is yes.
If I interpret that to mean "will MSM drive a 3D probe to map a 3d surface into a point cloud", then the answer is no.
The probe ops were aimed at increasing productivity by making job setup easy. It also ended up allowing you to use a probe to do some simple coordinate measuring. But there's no current support for tracing contours or digitizing general 3D surfaces.
Dave
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