Actually just ignore most of what I said in the last post. The mumgears parameter _does_ correspond to the actual number of gears. The documentation is just wrong and has caused a great amount of confusion.
it says: For instance if you have gears=1 on your command line, you will have two scale pins: spindle.N.scale.0 spindle.N.scale.1 " That is not true. If numgears=1 only one set of pins will be created. For spindle.N.scale.0 and spindle.N.scale.1 to be created the following parameter is used: 'numgears=2' In conclusion just 2 changed need to be made to the documentation: 1) "gears" should be replace with "numgears" 2) "if you have gears=1 on your ...." should be replaced with "if you have numgears=2 on your ....." These changes would have saved my several hours messing around with this and made the document clear from the start.! John Figie On Sun, Nov 27, 2022 at 3:40 PM John Figie <zephyr9...@gmail.com> wrote: > OK, > > I just made a simple hal file to "test" the spindle component. I guess > that is what I should have done before. > > First of all the documentation has a serious error. The parameter to > specify the number of gears is not 'gears=' it is really 'numgears=' I > found this out when my test file would not load. Then I had to look at the > source code in git. Even then the whole comp generating process with > parameters is not really easy to understand so I had to look at a component > that I know worked like carousel to see how the parameters syntax works. > > if no gears are specified then only one gear will be created. > if 1 gear is specified then 2 pins are created for each. > > in other words the number of pins created is the gears parameter -1 > > so the documentation would be more clear if it said: > > "The pins listed in this section are created in multiples depending on the > 'numgears=' parameter. > The numgears parameter is used to specify more than one gear. > The numgears parameter represents the number of actual gears - 1 > If no numgears parameter is specified then numgears will default to a > value of 0 which > represents a spindle with 1 physical gear. > So if numgears=2 then for each of the pins listed below 2 pins will be > created such as: > spindle.N.scale.0 > spindle.N.scale.1" > > Wow it would have been a lot nicer if the numgears parameter worked like > other parameters in hal components like 'count=' where the value entered is > actually equal to the quantity desired. It is fine that the numbering > sequence starts with 0 as this is the way other component parameters or > values are numbered. > > > > John Figie > > > On Sun, Nov 27, 2022 at 10:33 AM Martin Dobbins <tu...@hotmail.com> wrote: > >> I understand this differently from you, but I would humbly suggest it may >> make it clearer for more folks if it were written this way: >> >> "The following pins are created depending on (or upon) the 'gears=' >> parameter*" >> >> One of each pin is created for each gear, however if no gears are >> specified then a default of one gear will be created. (I hope this is >> correct and if the user specifies gears = 0 they will have no scale pins, >> rather than 1? or is *spindle.**N* not actually a scale pin and will be >> present no matter what?) >> >> Martin >> >> ________________________________ >> From: John Figie >> Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2022 9:54 AM >> To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) <emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net> >> Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Clausing NC Spindle >> >> Andy, >> >> Maybe it is just me but I find things in the documentation that are really >> confusing. At these times I think I would, if I could, make it more clear >> in the documentation. But, I also realize that sometimes what seems clear >> to me is not always clear to others :-). >> >> for example from the spindle comp documentation: >> >> "*The following pins are created depending the ’gears=’ parameter.* >> >> One of each pin is created for each gear. If no gears are specified then >> one gear will be created. For instance if you have gears=1 on your command >> line, you will have two scale pins: >> *spindle.**N* >> *.scale.0spindle.**N**.scale.1"* >> >> So if I have 1 gear then: the first sentence says "one pin is created for >> each gear". but then later it says 2 pins are created? >> >> Now, If I have one gear then I would think of it as a one speed >> transmission and you cannot select anything. If I have a 3 speed >> transmission I would think of it as having 3 gears even though high speed >> may not be using any actual "gears" in the transmission. >> >> So am I overthinking this? Does this documentation make sense to >> everyone else as currently written? >> >> Another part of the documentation that I struggled with is the description >> of the pins for the iocontrol.N tool changer pins. There are references to >> the original io control even with timing diagrams and a description of >> some >> of the issues found but then for io_v2 there is not a timing diagram. I >> only got this to work for me by trial and error because it didn't work the >> way I expected by reading the documentation. >> >> By the way, I did successfully make a turret comp with a state machine >> that >> finds the home position if it is not known the first time a tool is >> selected. I just got it working yesterday >> >> Anyway I don't want this to sound like a complaint because I really like >> linuxcnc and greatly appreciate the countless hours many have spent, like >> Andy for example, making it what it is today. I am hoping that I can help >> make linuxcnc even better and maybe documentation is one area where I >> could >> make a small contribution. >> >> John Figie >> >> >> On Mon, Nov 21, 2022 at 9:10 AM andy pugh <bodge...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> > On Sun, 20 Nov 2022 at 16:05, John Figie <zephyr9...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > > >> > > The gearbox has switch contacts to >> > > indicate which gear it is in. I see there is a component called >> "spindle" >> > > which includes provisions for gearboxes. >> > >> > The "spindle" component (and the similar "gearbox", "gearshift" and >> > "gearchange") component handle the task of converting >> > spindle.0.speed-out-xxx into a motor speed to send to the VFD. >> > >> > So the answer to your question is that you use both. >> > >> > To avoid pin name collisions I think that you would have to use >> > "names=spindlecomp gears=3" when you load the component. >> > >> > We might have to change the name of the HAL component, at the moment >> > both the component and the motion comp create spindle.0.at-speed, and >> > probably other clashes too. >> > >> > -- >> > atp >> > "A motorcycle is a bicycle with a pandemonium attachment and is >> > designed for the especial use of mechanical geniuses, daredevils and >> > lunatics." >> > — George Fitch, Atlanta Constitution Newspaper, 1912 >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Emc-users mailing list >> > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >> > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Emc-users mailing list >> Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Emc-users mailing list >> Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >> > _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
