On Sat, 2008-03-22 at 11:27 -0400, Patrick Ferrick wrote: > > One thing to note - you probably wouldn't want to control the turret ... snip > Thanks for the hints. The reason that I first thought of using gcode > to control the toolchanger was that it will eventually consist of a > turret and a two degree-of-freedom arm, all controlled by three steppers > that I _would_ want to move in coordinated motion, just like they were > the U,V and W axes. (But not coordinated with, say, X,Y and Z since as > you point out tool motion and tool changing are separate.) ... snip > thanks, > Pat > > > > Patrick Ferrick
I have been thinking about a similar tool changer. My thinking was to use something like a robotic arm with two grippers. The arm would pull a tool from a rack, clean it, go to the spindle, remove the old tool, insert the new tool, place the old tool in the rack and then park. With a replaceable gripper it could also replace the work pieces. Another gripper would have an oil-can and rag. My plan was to use a separate EMC PC. G-code and HALL would control the motion, cues and timing. A simpler version could be used to operate a quick change tool post for lathes. -- Kirk Wallace (California, USA http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ Hardinge HNC lathe, Bridgeport mill conversion, doing XY now, Zubal lathe conversion pending Craftsman AA 109 restoration) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
