Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

All things related to the Centroid Acorn CNC Controller

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paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

martyscncgarage wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:02 pm PaulWall, you really should get your software upgraded to 4.50
Marty, I think I actually screen capped this from one of your old instructional videos. I have yet to boot up my Acorn at this point.

Does the latest version have additional output options?
martyscncgarage
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by martyscncgarage »

paulwall wrote: Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:59 am
martyscncgarage wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:02 pm PaulWall, you really should get your software upgraded to 4.50
Marty, I think I actually screen capped this from one of your old instructional videos. I have yet to boot up my Acorn at this point.

Does the latest version have additional output options?
Yes, it looks much different. Wizard is within CNC12 now, F7 Utilities, F10 Wizard. Start on top of the tree and work your way down...
Reminder, for support please follow this post: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=383
We can't "SEE" what you see...
Mesa, AZ
paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

Thanks Marty. I've read through the up-to-date Centroid Acorn PLC input/output PDF and it makes much more sense now.

Can anyone help me with the following? I'd like to have an external indicator light on my control panel displaying the enabled state of the Clearpath motors when they report back their Drive Ok status. A vastly simplified depiction of which is below. Is this OK practice? Or is the a cleaver way to control the state any given output relay by the status of an input?

Image
Richards
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by Richards »

Personally, I don't wire output devices to inputs. I use an output signal. The Acorn's relay outputs are rated up to 10A. What I would do, assuming that you've configured the servo signals to stop everything if faulted, is to use Acorn's Nofault out signal to control the relay. I do that on the test bench. I've wired the high side of the coil on a latching contactor through a N/C switch and the Nofault out signal. You could wire one side of the indicator LED to +24VDC, the other side of the indicator LED to the N/O side of the Nofault out relay and the Nofault out relay's common to GND. That way, when the Acorn is in its normal no fault condition, it asserts the Nofault out signal. With the Nofault out signal ON, your indicator LED would be lit.

I'm attaching the specs for the Acorn's inputs and outputs from the Acorn User's Manual. You'll note that the inputs are rated to sink 11mA. Your indicator LED pulls 20mA.
specs.PNG
-Mike Richards
paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

Mike, thank you as always for your input. Seeing how the LED is going to pull more amperage than the 24v input system can provide. I've devised a back up plan, as my system has a status light for nofaultOut, but I'd like a separate one for DriveOK.

I'm going to have the 1-channel relay on the C86ACCP board responsible for closing when all Clearpaths report nofault, drive a 2 channel relay, one output of which will report nofault to the Acorn, and the other turning on the 24v LED from my main 24v PSU.
paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

Making progress over here. Slow but steady.

Image
Last edited by paulwall on Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
martyscncgarage
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by martyscncgarage »

paulwall wrote: Wed Dec 09, 2020 10:39 am Making progress over here. Slow but steady.

Looking good....be sure to test systems as you go along before mounting the panel in the cabinet. I connect motors to my panels and bench test everything, including any proximity switches....I will also connect the VFD to the spindle motor of the machine and test it as well as the spindle encoder if it has one...
Reminder, for support please follow this post: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=383
We can't "SEE" what you see...
Mesa, AZ
paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

Thanks Marty. The hope and plan here is to do just that and make sure I baseline all systems independently before the final install. I'll keep the updates posted!
paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

Question - If I setup my Acorn to run software pairing (master/slave motors) on the long axis that moves the gantry, can I manually enter a squaring offset to the software if I find the gantry is slightly out of square and can measure the difference?

Is that what the "Master Axis Squaring/Alignment Distance:" is?

The only alternative I understand for auto-squaring is to wire in a second home switch on the other side of the machine.
paulwall
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Re: Shopbot PRS 48x96 Acorn / Clearpath Conversion

Post by paulwall »

Follow up question. Is it feasible to power the input lines with a separate PSU? Or do they all need to pipe to the same COM?

Image
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