Fanuc OT retrofit

[OwenJones]

Hi, I’m looking to retrofit a Harrison TU150P lathe which currently has a Fanuc OT control on it which has failed.

I Know all the drives etc. are good as I’ve had the machine making parts. From a little research I’m drawn towards the “Allin1DC CNC 2 Axis Controller Kit for use with Existing DC Servo Motors SKU: 15027” From the info in the photos below am I looking in the right direction, and has anyone else retrofitted a similar control and motors? I'm in the UK so need to know also if i can get the correct parts and where from? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

[cncsnw]

Are both of the axis servo motors the SEM MTS30F4-52 model?

If so, then the Allin1DC would be a good fit.

[cnckeith]

nice little lathe! i second marc's input!

[OwenJones]

Thanks both, I've purchased an allin1 kit with retrofit encoders which arrived yesterday. Once i have a PC sorted I was going to start by following the bench test procedure then look at the X and Z drives first then move on to spindle etc. once i'm happy. Is this the way other people would tackle it? Will try and post some videos and photos as the project progresses.

[centroid467]

That should be a good order to tackle it. Follow the ALLIN1DC install manual and don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have along the way.

[OwenJones]

Making good progress on the retrofit, all drives work, spindle setup along with encoder, and all axis calibrated. Next step is to look at the toolchanger, what would you say is the correct way to tackle this, luckily i have a PDF spec for it, but wondered whether i might need to upgrade the encoder to a more modern one. Before i purchase the I/O expansion board i want to understand how i'm going to tackle it. Any links or advice would be much appreciated.

[cncsnw]

Whether you are doing it yourself, or soliciting help from others, you need to answer these questions:
1) What makes the turret unlock?
2) What makes the turret rotate?
2b) Does it freely rotate in both directions, or only one direction?
3) What signals tell the CNC/PLC where the turret has rotated to?
4) What makes the turret lock back down when rotation is complete?

There are maybe a dozen common varieties of lathe turret, and hundreds of less-common ones. But once you know the answers to the above questions, you will have a better idea what hardware is needed to make it work, and what the PLC and macro programming might look like.

Yours looks pretty similar to some Pragati and Sauter turrets:
1) Starting the motor unlocks the turret, with no other action required.
2) A 3-phase AC motor rotates the turret.
2b) It can index in both directions (you need a reversing starter setup for it)
3) The turret encoder is an absolute 4-bit binary switch. It operates on 24VDC. It is probably PNP, requiring sinking PLC inputs.
4) When leaving the position prior to the target (falling edge of the strobe) you turn on the index solenoid.
Then, when arriving at the target position (rising edge of the strobe) you reverse the motor (with a 50ms delay between directions).
Then, when the "locking proximity switch" closes, you turn off the motor.
Then, wait 100ms and turn off the index solenoid. Done.

[cnckeith]

nice clean work! thanks for posting the update.