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Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:34 am
by irfanulla
Hello all ,

I have just been able to get my laser engraver going on, its able to engrave

i had a few question which I thought I would ask before I start experimenting,

I am loosing a few steps for teh steppers in the followwing conditions

1. after the machine home's to the limit switches it tries to come back to the origin when I loose steps because it try's to fly there at high accln.
2. when i start a job it tries to fly fast to the start position where the stepper motors looses its steps.

In both cases I am unable to find the setting on teh software where I can modify these,

anyone who's knows what to be done - kindly post back.

regards
Irfan

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:20 pm
by twehr
irfanulla wrote:I am loosing a few steps for teh steppers in the followwing conditions

1. after the machine home's to the limit switches it tries to come back to the origin when I loose steps because it try's to fly there at high accln.
2. when i start a job it tries to fly fast to the start position where the stepper motors looses its steps.


Irfan,

In the Tools->System Options->Manufacturer's Parameters, you can set the Start Speed, Max Speed, and Max Acceleration.

BUT, if you are ONLY losing them on the fast repositioning moves, then the more likely place for you to look for your problem is in the Control Parameters. (See image below. Set your Space Speed to something lower - probably about 200 mm/s or less.

NOTE: Depending on the software version you are using, the wording of menus etc may be slightly different.

Settings.jpg

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 10:42 am
by irfanulla
Thanks Tim, it worked well, the controller is working well now and no more lost steps.

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:24 pm
by Gadroc
You probably want to set the max speed for those axis as well, that way no matter what other settings the controller won't drive it above that speed.

On a 2012 DSP you can set that under Options -> System Options. Then select manufacturer settings on the left. Next (very important) click the Read button to load current settings from the DSP. Next set the Max_Speed for the X and Y Axis sections and then click the Save button.

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:25 am
by irfanulla
Thankyou gadrock,

i did that too, - works well - one of my nema 23's gave the boot - using a 38V DC PS - this may be fried the motor, so back to get a new motor.

meanwhile I was looking at what setting to make the laser fire in both directions, currently the laser fires when the axis is moving in only one direction.

sort of delays the job

Thanks to all and everyone in advance!

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:49 pm
by twehr
irfanulla wrote:
meanwhile I was looking at what setting to make the laser fire in both directions, currently the laser fires when the axis is moving in only one direction.


When you are setting the speed and power for an engraved (or bitmap) layer, there is a drop-down box to select how you want that to work. You probably have X-Unilateralism selected. Change that to X-Swing.

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:26 am
by a542002
Hi tim
sometimes I have seen it too that the laser during engraving only fires in one direction. I have x-swing activated
greetings
walt



twehr wrote:
irfanulla wrote:
meanwhile I was looking at what setting to make the laser fire in both directions, currently the laser fires when the axis is moving in only one direction.


When you are setting the speed and power for an engraved (or bitmap) layer, there is a drop-down box to select how you want that to work. You probably have X-Unilateralism selected. Change that to X-Swing.

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:34 pm
by twehr
a542002 wrote:Hi tim
sometimes I have seen it too that the laser during engraving only fires in one direction. I have x-swing activated
greetings
walt

twehr wrote:
irfanulla wrote:
meanwhile I was looking at what setting to make the laser fire in both directions, currently the laser fires when the axis is moving in only one direction.


When you are setting the speed and power for an engraved (or bitmap) layer, there is a drop-down box to select how you want that to work. You probably have X-Unilateralism selected. Change that to X-Swing.


That's odd. I have never had that - it always does exactly as I tell it. However, mine is a full generation behind yours, I believe.

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:31 am
by lasersafe1
I think mine is two generations old and it also behaves correctly. I like to use X-unilateral when engraving at very high speed. I have seen a measureable offset in the return that does not appear at lower speeds, so it can only be explained by either belt stretch or delays in firing the laser that do not have an effect at low speed. X-uni is a work around that fixes this error. I have seen that speed compensation can be entered into the controller to fix this, but I have never had enough time to figure out exactly what I need to do to make this correction so I can use X-swing all the time.

Re: DSP Commercial Controller Support

PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 3:14 am
by twehr
lasersafe1 wrote:I think mine is two generations old and it also behaves correctly. I like to use X-unilateral when engraving at very high speed. I have seen a measureable offset in the return that does not appear at lower speeds, so it can only be explained by either belt stretch or delays in firing the laser that do not have an effect at low speed. X-uni is a work around that fixes this error. I have seen that speed compensation can be entered into the controller to fix this, but I have never had enough time to figure out exactly what I need to do to make this correction so I can use X-swing all the time.


John,
The compensation does work pretty well. If all works well at lower speeds, determine the speed at which it starts to be an issue. In the work parameters, enter that speed, and the amount of correction necessary to bring it back into alignment. Everything below that speed will be normal. Everything at or above that speed will be compensated. If you need additional compensation at additional highr speeds, do the same thing again. You will end up with a series of speed points at which additional compensation is provided.

I had some looseness for a while that I compensated for until I found the cause. In fact, mine was all the time, so I entered .1 for the speed and I think it was .05mm compensation. That effectively gave me the necessary correction for all speeds.