Hickory Wizard - general outputs

[spumco]

In the process of setting up Hickory using the Wizard and have (maybe) found a discrepancy between the documentation and functions available in the Wizard.

In the "centroid_wizard_input_output_canned_PLC_functions" document (rev10 3-3-2025), under Output section, there are some general purpose output functions listed.

Output1-Output8 are activated by M61-M68, and the document indicates these functions are available in Hickory platform.

Opening up Hickory Wizard and navigating to outputs section, there are no Output1-Output8 functions available for assignment to pins. I changed the selection filter from 'router' to 'all' and also 'custom', but none of the GP outputs appeared.

Am I looking in the wrong place to assign some general purpose outputs, or is the document incorrect? Or Hickory Wizard hasn't caught up with the intended features identified in the document?

Thanks

[CentroidFrog]

Unfortunately that document is incorrect, OUTPUT1-OUTPUT8 are not included with Hickory.
However, general purpose outputs such as these are pretty easy to add to the PLC.
I've attached an Acorn PLC which has logic for OUTPUT1-OUTPUT8 as an example.
By searching through this source file for OUTPUT1 for example you can see everywhere it's used.
To start we need to define the output number our output will be tied to:

Code: Select all

OUTPUT1    IS OUT1

Next, we need to assign a M94/M95 system variable which can be toggled using M94 or M95, using 61 for this example:

Code: Select all

M61                           IS SV_M94_M95_61; OUTPUT1 (NOT the same as OUT1), M81 Off

Now we will toggle the output when M94/61 or M95/61 is called:

Code: Select all

IF M61 THEN (OUTPUT1)

Now to finish we'll need to recompile the source file by typing these commands into the windows command prompt:

Code: Select all

cd/cncm
mpucomp.exe *source file name* mpu.plc

To finish PLC modifications power cycle the Hickory and restart CNC12.
After all of this, M94/61 will turn on the output and M95/61 will turn off the output.
This can then be used in MDI, job files, or macros.

[spumco]

I did find a few examples after digging around on the forum, all the external controls are now working. Thanks again.

There are other discrepancies in that document, BTW.

Contrary to the document, the Hickory PLC has no door safety scheme like the Acorn/6.

Acorn/6 has the described 3-position door mode which uses Param 85 to set 0/1/2 for the modes described in Door Interlock guide.

Hickory has nothing like that - just a 'kill the spindle and program' if a door is opened. And unless I'm mistaken, 'SafetySwitchToolCheck_M' (MEM25 / 70025) isn't referenced in the standard M6 macro so there's no obvious way to open the door for a tool change.

I don't understand why
1 - Hickory PLC is missing many functions/features compared to Acorn/6, and
2 - Hickory PLC was written with significant differences from Acorn in the parameter names and logic for the same basic functions. (CarouselOut vs ATC_CarouselOut, SpindleCoolingFan vs SpindleCooling_Fan, etc). This makes it extremely challenging & time consuming to edit Hickory PLC using Acorn as a template.

[Allin1Chris]

This is one of the many challenges of adding the wizard to our "more industrial" boards such as the Hickory. The Hickory PLC and its naming conventions comes from our more "industrial" side such as the ALLin1DC, OAK, MPU11 PLCs. Which may appear foreign to Acorn/Acornsix users that dig into the PLC, but familiar for those that come from ALLin1DC, OAK, and MPU11 systems.

In general, the Hickory (Wizard) will see continual improvements over time much like acorn/acornsix has with user feedback.