Hi All

Just started a conversion using the CS LABS CSMIO/P-A controller on my Denford Senior Lathe. I am using the original Sem Servo Motors and Dc Drives. Just trying to wire up the one axis at the moment and not sure whether or not you have to supply 10v to the Analog I/0 connector or does the controller deal with this internally. There is a 10v connection point but unsure if this is necessary.
I can upload the manual or email it.

Thanks
Mick   

No, you don't need to supply 10V. The 10V line you mention is an output that you can optionally use to power potentiometers or the likes.

The CSMIO servo outputs are the 6 +/-10V outputs and you should connect one of these and its associated 0V to the drive you are using.

You will also need to wire the drive's encoder outputs to the IP-A's encoder inputs for the same channel.

Allan

Thanks Allen

I have wired the encoder and Vrefs. Was just unsure about the 10v. I will give it try tomorrow. Little unsure about what to enable in ports and pins but will give it a go.
Thanks again.

Hi All

Wired up the x axis on the CSMIO/P-A controller and can't get any movement.

Encoder wired to channel 0
A+ A- B+ B- Z+ Z- GND 5 DC. All the wires are clearly marked and colour coded on the encoders.
Command Hi and Low connected to pins 1 and 14 on the analog I/O

Mach 3 Config

Motor Outputs
X Enabled step pin 2 direction pin 6??

Encoder output. Have enabled encoder 1 to port 10 but not really sure what else to do here?

If I disconnect The command Hi Low wires and put a 1.5v battery across the wires and the axis moves.

All the limit switches and emergency stop signal are wired and working correctly.

Would really appreciate some help. Never used servos before and have read the manual now about 5 times.

The controller is showing no errors just waiting for command.

Thank you

Sorry, I have no knowledge of Mach3 so maybe someone else can help here.

You sound to have the basic connections correct, and the drives must be enabled as you say the battery causes movement. But why are you using step and direction Pins? The CSMIO/IP-A is an analogue controller, so don't you need to set up the Ch0 analogue output within the CSMIO plugin to get it working?  Similarly, what is the port 10 you mention for the encoder? Again the encoder outputs from the drive connect directly to the IP-A and  settings are handled within the plugin, not Mach3.

I may be wrong, but the pins you mention seem appropreate to the CSMIO/IP-S rather than the IP-A. Presumably you are using the correct plugin and it gives you the required settings for the IP-A?

Allan

Cheers Allan

The encoder output is in the mach 3 configuration. I'm not sure if this is necessary at all?

It doesn't seem to mention it in the CSMIO/P-A manual.

Could this be a motor tuning issue? When the drive is enabled I can turn the motor by hand. There is a little resistance but not a lot. The motor hums a little at stand still. 

Cheers

OK. I had a quick peep at the manual and see that the ports and pins you mention are ignored by the controller.

It could be tuning, as it sounds as if the drives are powered and enabled. You should tune the servo drives first. This can normally be done using an auto-tune utility.

Once you have the servo drives tuned, begin with the IP-A. Progressively increase the proportional gain. For now the other coefficients can be set to 0. The motors should start to feel stiffer as the servo takes control. If the motor starts and continues to the end of travel, you probably have the encoder feedback set incorrectly and need to reverse its direction in the plugin. Once you get to the point that the motors feel reasonably stiff yet remain stable, try using the IP-A's auto-tune feature, which I have found works quite well. You can always tweak things manually later if need be.

Allan

Hi Allen

What do you mean by auto-tune utility? I have the drive manual and it explains how to tune the drives. The command gain seems straightforward enough but as for the for others, eg Tach gain, Peak current limit, stability seems a little more involved.

The drives and motors were working fine on the old Fanuc Ot Control. The reason for the refit was due to an unknown fault on the operator panel. Is it more likely to be the tuning in the CSMIO rather than the drives themselves?

Mick
 

   

Hi Mick

OK, it sounds as if your drives are elderly and don't feature auto-tune. Also, as they were working properly before, you are quite right to assert that they should already be optimally tuned, so we will assume that this is so.

Yes, the CSMIO will need tuning to match your system: there is no default here as all systems differ. As I suggested above, you should begin by increasing the proportional gain. This serves 3 purposes: It demonstrates that the system is functioning at a basic level, it enables you to ascertain that the encoder feedback is of the correct polarity, and it provides a basis from which you can proceed to auto-tune or manually tune the controller.

Allan

Mick

I've just looked back and see that your system is totally different to what I have: You use a lathe, mine is a mill. You have dc servos, and mine are the more modern ac type. So I'm still hoping someone with a similar setup may jump in here and help.

One thing I notice is that you make no mention of your basic motor settings. Be sure before attempting any tuning that you have correctly entered your encoder counts per revolution in the CSMIO plugin, and have the counts per unit set in Mach4's motor settings.

Allan