Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

OK, so you have a home sensor. And you have a tool counter. No need for ATC in and out.
So now we have to drive the stepper like a motor. I use a stepper driver capable of doing that. I use a Geckodrive G216. They do not advertise it on their website but they do have it.
OR
Can you figure out what pins on your ATC control card can turn the carousel?
(I think I would go with the G216)

You are going to need a modified PLC for this. I would pay Centroid to modify it for you.

Marty

this picture shows the option 1 it is the original factory configuration, wehre there was an external oscillator board that give the pulses to rotate the motor, what i did acording to the drive manual, i removed the oscillator board and connected as showing in option 2, it works ok with the 4th axis, and i used the sensor that has only one bolt for homing.

yes i know what pins can drive the carousel, right now it is connected with 4th axis but i can put it back like it was, and leave my 4th axis alone, but im not sure if the machine owner want to pay more for modifyng the plc, maybe i will have to use the 4th axis, to do the tool change, it there any information about how to use the 4th axis as a tool changer?

noel-nogal wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 5:51 pm yes i know what pins can drive the carousel, right now it is connected with 4th axis but i can put it back like it was, and leave my 4th axis alone, but im not sure if the machine owner want to pay more for modifyng the plc, maybe i will have to use the 4th axis, to do the tool change, it there any information about how to use the 4th axis as a tool changer?

Ah, you are getting paid to do the conversion.
You have no choice in either case. You have to modify the PLC. If you want it done right anyway so it works with an M6.

When you took on the job, you should have factored in this cost.

When you use the factory "Oscillator" when it has an input does it continue to run? Is it reversible or does it only run in one direction?

it only run in one direction,i didn't know that i have to pay for plc modifications, i tough acorn cnc was ready to drive any ATC,

noel-nogal wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 6:40 pm it only run in one direction,i didn't know that i have to pay for plc modifications, i tough acorn cnc was ready to drive any ATC,

Nope. Basic PLCs are done and I pointed you to those. If you want to learn the PLC and program it yourself, you can certainly do that. Here is the manual:
https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... manual.pdf

It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a PLC to work with all ATC variants. As you have found they are all different.

Marty

oh ok i got it, well i can try to learn it, have you got an idea how much centroid charge for do it for me?

So when you have the "oscillator" back to normal, does it just keep rotating the ATC like a regular motor? How do you make that happen? Contact closure?

yes when the oscillator is connected on, the drive acts different

example: if you had a push button that apply 24v to the step in terminal, the motor keep rotating all the time you have the button pushed,
when you release the button the motor keep going until the sensor reaches the next bolt, if the bolt is very close it will stop almost imediatelly, but if the bolt is far away the motor keeps on until the bolt arrives to the sensor, im not sure if i explained clear

in other words, the motor keeps going as long as you have the push button on, when you release the push button the motor stops but always match a tool position, it doesn't stop right away when you realease the button.

and yes it can rotate on both directions, in the direction input terminal i can control that, applying - or + signal