Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

Hi!

I was looking through the CNC12 manual and saw that the software supported work envelopes, however I had a few questions about it:

• Are any sort of programmable hard chuck barriers supported that allow me to define the chuck size and shape?
• If yes are there any programmable hard tailstock barriers?
• Is there any way to enforce that work envelopes are always on and can't be edited without a password?
• If an automatic tool changer is being run with work envelopes on, will this prevent all tools from leaving the barrier or just the active tool?
• If work envelopes are enabled and the chuck face is defined as the Z coordinate, will this cause drilling and ID operations to stop when they reach the chuck face?

Having run a Mazak with Mazatrol for several years these types of barriers were very helpful in preventing situations like a boring bar being mounted too close to a turning tool and having it contact the chuck during an OD turning operation.

Thanks much!

None of the above. Sorry.

its on the list of things to add in v5.2 so great time to voice your wanted features in this regard.

I was thinking of creating a graphical user interface that would allow the user to graphically see the work envelope and exclusion zone(s) and either draw exclusion zones (basic shapes) and/or enter them numerically (anchor point and length/width) and then have easy controls (mcode and/or GUI on/off) to make those exclusion zones active or not. how does the Mazatrol handle this?

Thanks for the update, I think these would be a huge help for machines equipped with automated tool changers! As for your question about Mazaks, here's a video of one similar to the one I ran


Like the one in the video mine allowed the definition of 16 chucks and 16 chuck jaws. The chuck jaws were associated with the chucks in a one to many setup while the chucks were associated with programs in a one to one setup. The chuck jaw setup screen allowed you to define if the jaw was an OD or ID clamp along with 4 dimensions of the overall shape and a single step. The chuck setup then allowed you to define the chucks X and Z dimensions, a Z offset if needed, the chuck jaw number, and the tailstock spindle length. These settings would then be combined with the global tailstock Z location on the screen to produce a visual representation of the chuck, tailstock, spindle, and turret.

The resulting barriers then used these same shapes instead of cubes so things like boring bars could be closer to the chuck if they were mounted close to a turning tool but would clear the chuck. As for the spindle shape, spindle bore, and tailstock shape, I never found if I could change these, but they were always pre-defined shapes and only the tailstock would change by adding the tailstock spindle length value. In the video I link you can see these at the 4:33 mark because he, effectively, removes the chuck dimensions. If the chuck was properly setup the shape would appear attached to the spindle on the left and the jaws would appear attached to the chuck on the right.

For CNC12 I think this would be a decent approach, but I think additional dimensions like spindle X, Z, and bore would be required. As for the tailstock I think a cubic shape for the body, a cylinder for the spindle, and a cone for the spindle head would be required so users can do work close to the spindle without canceling the barriers.

thanks great info, will digest!