Andrew, What kind of machine are you working with? What kind of parts do you want to make? I assume it is a mill. Are the axes moved by steppers or servos. Do you have encoders and/or limit switches on your axes? What kind of tool holder system? It sounds like the tools thread in. What is used to to run your spindle. AC, DC, stepper or other motor/controller?
Part of your tool-change procedure is to save positional context, but your context can be maintained if you have axes encoders or can use limit switches as references. EMC maintains current tool information so this may be taken care of already. If your tools thread into their holders, I would think these to be of lower accuracy and load capability. If you need higher accuracy and load, you might consider a different tool holding system, which could change your plans quite a bit. One of the problems seems to be that EMC's motion function is only accessible through g-code and g-code can not be issued by a script or HAL component. I believe a component or script, can control anything that can be controlled by digital signals. So for example, if what you you are moving uses a PWM signal, you might be able to create a tool-change mode and use HAL components to output a PWM signal until a switch closes, or some sequence of digital events. When the tool change is done, you could go back to normal motion control. If your axis has an encoder, the good news is that your position information is maintained. The bad news is you will get a following error. Basically, the features you can by-pass or reconfigure will depend on the details of your system. -- Kirk Wallace (California, USA http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ Hardinge HNC/EMC CNC lathe, Bridgeport mill conversion, doing XY now, Zubal lathe conversion pending Craftsman AA 109 restoration Shizuoka ST-N/EMC CNC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored by: SourceForge.net Community Choice Awards: VOTE NOW! Studies have shown that voting for your favorite open source project, along with a healthy diet, reduces your potential for chronic lameness and boredom. Vote Now at http://www.sourceforge.net/community/cca08 _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
