Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

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Sportbikeryder
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Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

Post by Sportbikeryder »

I have recently been using Fusion 360 for machining 3 axis parts, and am now working on a 4th (and eventually 5th) axis post for Centroid machines. My intent at least for now is 3+1 or 3+2 machining (Position of the axis) rather than simultaneous 4 or 5 axis.

Initial search through the Autodesk forums for Fusion 360 and HSM have shown what appears to be a fairly easy method for enabling additional axis. Autodesk have pretty much included the code for additional axis configuration in their generic posts, just need to turn it on and do a small amount of tweaks to suit.

Original code in the post as provided by autodesk for Centroid machines is shown below in bold, with my edits following, to allow for a 4th (A) axis configured as a 360° rotary. Note I also modified further for a "B" axis to represent the tilt table equipped on my machine (shown as limited to 30), however this is commented out at this time.

Very preliminary tests (just posting and reviewing code) at least show that it will in fact make a reasonable post when attempting to face two sides of a cube, 90° apart (A-axis is rotating 90°). I will have to ensure the Z is retracting sufficiently prior to actually testing on the machine.

For anyone wishing to modify the posts, there is a great deal of info available on the various autodesk forums.

Once I get a verified post that works on the machine, I will attache make it available on the forum if desired.Any comments are welcomed of course, I am currently at home tending to my kids as we have snow in North Carolina and the whole area pretty much just shuts down...not quite like it was back when I lived in Johnstown PA.

John



if (false) { // note: setup your machine here
var aAxis = createAxis({coordinate:0, table:false, axis:[1, 0, 0], range:[-360, 360], preference:1});
var cAxis = createAxis({coordinate:2, table:false, axis:[0, 0, 1], range:[-360, 360], preference:1});
machineConfiguration = new MachineConfiguration(aAxis, cAxis);

setMachineConfiguration(machineConfiguration);
optimizeMachineAngles2(1); // map tip mode



if (true) { // note: setup your machine here
var aAxis = createAxis({coordinate:0, table:true, axis:[1, 0, 0], range:[-360, 360], preference:0});
//var bAxis = createAxis({coordinate:1, table:true, axis:[0, 1, 0], range:[-30, 30], preference:0});
machineConfiguration = new MachineConfiguration(aAxis);

setMachineConfiguration(machineConfiguration);
optimizeMachineAngles2(0); // map tip mode
Last edited by Sportbikeryder on Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:42 am, edited 3 times in total.
Sportbikeryder
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - More than 3 axis

Post by Sportbikeryder »

So far the output looks pretty good. Lines highlighted bold and in Blue show the initial retraction to abs Z0 (N20), and a-axis to A0 (N50). Then retraction back to Abs Z0 (N140), and rotation to A90 (N155)for the second side.

John




%
O01001 (clamp_fixture)
(T23 D=0.625 CR=0. - flat end mill)
N10 G90 G94 G17
N15 G20
N20 G28 G91 Z0.
N25 G90
(Face1)
N30 T23 M6
N35 S6000 M3
N40 G56
N45 M11
N50 G0 A0.
N55 M10
N60 M8
N70 G0 X1.3384 Y-0.5696
N75 G43 Z0.6 H23
N80 Z0.2
N85 G1 Z0.0225 F80.
N90 G18 G3 X1.2759 Z-0.04 I-0.0625 K0.
N95 G1 X0.9322
N100 X-0.9322 F100.
N105 G17 G2 Y-0.0398 I0. J0.2649
N110 G1 X0.9322
N115 G3 Y0.4901 I0. J0.2649
N120 G1 X-0.9322
N125 G18 G3 X-0.9947 Z0.0225 I0. K0.0625 F80.
N130 G0 Z0.6
N135 G17
N140 G28 G91 Z0.
N145 G90
(Face2)
N150 M11
N155 G0 A90.
N160 M10
N170 G0 X1.3384 Y-1.2653
N175 G43 Z1.3929 H23
N180 Z0.9929
N185 G1 Z0.8154 F80.
N190 G18 G3 X1.2759 Z0.7529 I-0.0625 K0.
N195 G1 X0.9322
N200 X-0.9322 F100.
N205 G17 G2 Y-0.7841 I0. J0.2406
N210 G1 X0.9322
N215 G3 Y-0.3028 I0. J0.2406
N220 G1 X-0.9322
N225 G18 G3 X-0.9947 Z0.8154 I0. K0.0625 F80.
N230 G0 Z1.3929
N235 G17
N240 M9
N245 G28 G91 Z0.
N250 M11
N255 G0 A0.
N260 M10
N265 G28 X0. Y0.
N270 M30
%
Sportbikeryder
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - More than 3 axis - Solution looks promising

Post by Sportbikeryder »

The above changes did allow 4th (A) axis posting and resulted in the expected motion. That said, the machine I am working with does not have a lock for the A-axis (perhaps I should look ad adding an air solenoid and having the PLC modified to support the M10 / M11 to limit load on the rotary worm drive...) and an error occurred while waiting for the PLC to enable the spindle lock.

To remove the M10 / M11 from the post, I commented out the following Bold areas of the post. This was successful in removing the writing of the M-codes.

I'm not sure if anyone wants / needs the info in this post, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to document the process I am going through to get the post to work.

John



// onCommand(COMMAND_UNLOCK_MULTI_AXIS);
// Gover 01-22-2018 remove M11 Unlock command


// onCommand(COMMAND_LOCK_MULTI_AXIS);
// Gover 01-22-2018 remove M10 lock command
Sportbikeryder
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - More than 3 axis - Solution looks promising

Post by Sportbikeryder »

Everything seems to work as planned with the 4th axis positioning. I machined the following motorcycle triple clamps using the post (these were done via setting them up on the fixture twice while I was debugging the post, the next sets will be all with one setup for the second op)

Now on to some other tweaks as well as getting the 5th axis offset figured out.

John
STOCK_ON_MACHINE
STOCK_ON_MACHINE
Clamps on machine with fixture
FINISHED_CLAMPS
FINISHED_CLAMPS
20180126_171419.jpg
Finished clamps
frijoli
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - More than 3 axis - Solution looks promising

Post by frijoli »

Good looking parts!
Clay
near Winston-Salem, NC
unofficial ACORN fb group https://www.facebook.com/groups/897054597120437/
Sportbikeryder
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

Post by Sportbikeryder »

The 4th axis functions as expected, now on to the 5th axis.

This machine is a 3 axis mill with a Centroid TRT-32 5th axis with rotary mounted on the seesaw for the 4th axis (head porting package). I have been in contact with another Fusion/HSM user with a similar machine layout on an older HAAS, and he has a working post.

With the 5th axis pivot not intersecting the 4th axis, apparently this is treated the same as a pivoting head machine layout (as in the newer Centroid offerings). I believe I ran a ball probe test to determine the axis offset on the past and can look in the report file to see what the offset values are.

I will also be attempting to add in a G4 command after each spindle start to allow the spindle to get up to speed prior to part contact (the spindle acceleration isn't great on this machine).
I had this working, however the dwell occurs at every spindle speed change no matter how small rather than just during startup. I will likely try to add in some logic to get spindle speed and compare to new spindle speed and insert a G4 PX.X based on the magnitude of the speed differential.

John
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

Post by cncsnw »

If your machine has a spindle encoder, you can configure it to automatically wait until the spindle is up to speed before proceeding with feedrate moves. See parameters 78 and 149.

For example, P78 = 5 would enable monitoring the spindle encoder for RPM, and P149 = 0.9 would set the threshold at 90% of programmed speed. If the speed (according to the spindle encoder) is below 90%, then the control will go into Feed Hold until the spindle speed catches up.
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

Post by Sportbikeryder »

Thanks for the tip cncsnw. I do not have an encoder on this machine, however I have been considering adding one to enable rigid tapping. this control is a CNC 10, so I am not sure if the spindle feedback for speed is supported. I believe I read t least that actual spindle speed can't be displayed on the screen on CNC10.
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

Post by cncsnw »

The Parameter 78 options are available in all current CNC10 versions (2.38, 2.72 or 2.73, depending on your computer hardware).

Display of actual spindle speed was added starting with CNC7 v8.00, in June of 2002.

The additional bits to wait for the spindle to get up to speed, and to reduce feedrate when the spindle is running slower than the programmed speed, were added sometime later. They were in place at least by CNC10 v2.32, in February 2007.
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Re: Autodesk Fusion 360 Posts - 4th axis works, moving on to 5th axis

Post by Sportbikeryder »

cncsnw wrote: Sat Feb 03, 2018 9:38 pm The Parameter 78 options are available in all current CNC10 versions (2.38, 2.72 or 2.73, depending on your computer hardware).

Display of actual spindle speed was added starting with CNC7 v8.00, in June of 2002.

The additional bits to wait for the spindle to get up to speed, and to reduce feedrate when the spindle is running slower than the programmed speed, were added sometime later. They were in place at least by CNC10 v2.32, in February 2007.
Good to know, For some reason I thought actual spindle speed wasn't able to be displayed until CNC 11. I will look into a spindle encoder and see where it goes. The spindle speed feedback and feedrate hold along with tapping are certainly on my wish list.
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