3. Connecting axis motor drivers

the axis motors are responsible for moving the machine into position each axis can have up to two motors with a total of {{controller max axes}} motors across all axes, motors can perform linear movement, rotary movement, and general purpose movements like automatic tool changers wiring the {{controller name}} has several connectors to connect the motor drivers it can be wired up using screw terminals and wires, idc connectors, or rj45 connectors all these options carry step, direction, and enable signals, but because of space constraints, only the idc and rj45 connectors carry an alarm signal a choice must be made based on preference and availability of adapters always consult the manual of the motor drivers to see if specific additional wiring steps need to be taken this manual is meant to be generic and cannot contain every combination screw terminals connecting a motor driver to the {{controller name}} using the screw terminals is generally possible for all drivers while other connection methods may offer easier connections, connecting them via the screw terminals will work for all drivers the {{controller name}} supports both sinking (npn) and sourcing (pnp) single ended control signals consult the manual of the driver to see which of these two methods are allowed sinking/npn/common anode wiring in this wiring option, all negative terminals of the driver are wired together to the ground terminal each positive terminal on the driver is wired to its respective terminal on the {{c {{controller name}} sourcing/pnp/common cathode wiring in this wiring option, all positive terminals of the driver are wired together to the +5v terminal each negative terminal on the driver is wired to its respective terminal on the {{controller name}} idc connector / box header before connecting, check if the connector on the driver side has the same pinout if so, this driver can be connected with just a single 10 pin ribbon cable between the controller and the driver rj45 connector the cable must be of the patch type (not cross) to prevent damage to both the controller and the motor driver the rj45 connectors on the {{controller name}} provide the same step/direction interface as the other connectors these can be connected to all first party motor connection accessories like the jmc adapter t1 docid\ reeff1hanfs04gskxyrqo when using a non edingcnc rj45 adapter or device, always check the pinout to see if it matches, the image above is seen from the rj45 socket on the {{controller name}} , when viewing from the connector end, the connections are reversed configuration start the software with the machine connected navigate to setup > machine general > motors details on any setting can be found on the joint docid 3acpjkoz0s zevsegiyow settings page this guide covers the most commonly used applications only any axis that needs to be visible on the dro in the operate view should be marked as visible in the "visible in operate view" setting in general, port 1 on the controller should map to the x axis, 2 to y, 3 to z, etc this can be changed if this mapping cannot be followed for some reason if a port is currently in use, it will not show up to select, first remove that port from where it is used and then select the new port the slave mode setting sets the purpose of the additional axis it can be set as a slave to another axis also known as a tandem axis, as a rotational axis, as a tangential knife, or used in a special kinematics type all options except the rotational axis require additional setup the "steps per unit" setting is the number of steps (including microsteps) that are required to move the machine 1 unit ( mm or inch ) two parameters should be known to calculate this value the number of steps per revolution of the motor for stepper motors, this equates to the number of full steps per revolution (usually either 200 or 400) multiplied by the microstepping setting (usually 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc ) for servo motors, this is usually a parameter in the drive the distance traveled by rotating the motor one full revolution in simple situations where the motor is directly coupled to a lead/ball screw this value is just the pitch of the thread when using pulleys, this value changes depending on the gearing ratio when using a rack and pinion, these values are usually listed using these two values the steps per unit (referred to as revolution) can be calculated as follows resolution=\frac{stepsperrevolution}{distanceperrevolution} direction inverted changes the direction of the axis this setting is usually best set by trial and error if the machine moves in the wrong direction, just change this setting keep in mind that slave axes cannot be inverted independently from the master the positive and negative limits are the amount of travel available from the home position if these are known from the design, they can be set now, if they have to be found by moving the machine to its extremes, they should be done last rotary axis configuration when a rotary axis is configured, it's vital to understand that the steps are no longer per mm or inch but per 1 degree rotation so also the limits are now interpreted in degrees if a rotary axis does not need a limit the limits should be set to 0 testing ensure that the e stop switch has been wired correctly according to the instructions in 2 connecting an e stop switch docid\ mi2shgxjjhzg 4zg4p8ly failure to do so may result in damage to the machine or injury to the operator check local regulations for specific instructions make sure the software is started and a connection to the machine has been established if the software was previously started, restart to ensure the machine is in a freshly initialized state without further action check the following check that the drivers are not enabled if the drive enable signal was wired make sure the e stop is not pressed and no error regarding this is displayed now press the reset button (f1) and check the following check that the drivers are enabled regardless of the enable signal setup, it should now be enabled check that no drive alarm or drive errors are displayed if there are errors, first check if the drivers are actually in an error state before changing the value in the setup this can usually be seen by an indicator on the driver jog the machine by opening the jog pad (f10), pressing step size, and pressing the button for the respective axis ensure the step size is small when unsure about the step/unit setting check for the following the axis moves in the correct direction, compare this to either the coordinates or the tool in the 3d view check that the correct axis moves check that the distance moved is correct this can be an approximate check, further calibration can be done by the setups outlined in 3 connecting axis motor drivers docid\ do2uqsrmihz0vmbdx1ge axis limits in most cases, the theoretical limits of the axes are not exact and may require additional setup first, the 4 connecting home sensors docid\ tjyqq9lpp5zo84wywqhgm should be performed also, when planning to do 3 connecting axis motor drivers docid\ do2uqsrmihz0vmbdx1ge , these should be performed first with the machine homed, jog each axis to both its positive and negative limits use smaller steps or a lower velocity when approaching the limits so the machine can stop faster, this may reduce damage in case the limit settings are incorrect if the machine reaches the software limit for the axis but the axis still has more travel, this difference can be added to the positive limit or subtracted in case of the negative limit if the machine reaches its mechanical limit before the software limit, make sure the machine moves slightly back and use that value from the dro make sure to use the machine position and not the work position it is always recommended to be slightly conservative with the software limits, so set the range slightly smaller than the mechanical limit calibration because of mechanical inaccuracies, the theoretical steps/unit (resolution) may not match in real life two calibration steps can be performed to compensate for this one compensates linearly over the entire working area, and one can compensate differently per section of the axis the latter is significantly more work to set up but can result in excellent calibration it is always recommended that the first method be performed first equal compensation across the entire range move the machine to a starting position (usually a position near the starting range of the axis), and mark this position on the machine, either using a v bit or a bit using a known diameter or pen note the exact position used here, as shown in the dro move to a point near the other extreme of the axis, and make the same mark as at the starting point also, note this position from the dro the distance expected in the formula is the end position from the dro start position from the dro, use a calculator to calculate this distance if needed the distance expected is the distance between the center of the mark at the end position and the center of the mark at the start position if a bit with a larger, known diameter was used, measure from the shortest distance between the points and add the tool diameter to this distance the formulas below also apply to rotary axes, in that case, replace distance with angle in degrees any of these calibration steps may influence the machine's limit settings if these have previously been set up by moving the machine to its extremes and using these values, that step must be repeated resolution {new}=resolution {old} \frac{distance {expected}}{distance {actual}} resolution {new}=320 \frac{100}{99}=323 232 the newly calculated resolution can be entered in the setup for that axis after saving, repeat this test to see if the theoretical distance and actual distance match mapping inaccuracies across the axis (linear pitch compensation) these steps should only be followed when the machine is able to be homed the measurements are relative to the machine position, and therefore this origin should be in the same location every time if this has not been set up, follow the steps outlined in 4 connecting home sensors docid\ tjyqq9lpp5zo84wywqhgm first before continuing here open the setup tab, navigate to machine general, and scroll to the motors table enable pitch compensation for the desired axis save and then turn off the pitch compensation again and save again this will ensure that the example file is generated the pitch compensation file setting specifies the file in which the compensation values are stored if this file did not exist, it would have been created the newly created file will contain an example of this table the entire axis range can be mapped or only a small section execute the measurement steps of the previous method but on multiple positions make a list with the programmed position of each point and the actual measured point open the file for the measured axis and replace the values with the measurements the measurements should be ordered from smallest to largest position (keep in mind that 100 is smaller than 0, and should come first) save the file and close the editor after this, enable the pitch compensation for the axis and press save to ensure the new values have been loaded it is advisable to repeat this test to ensure the compensation has been applied correctly in the next step, the homing sensor will be connected and set up it is important to set these up so the machine can repeatably know where it is and stay within its limits