Oak Spindle positioning for tool change
Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2025 7:07 am
Hi,
to change the tool, the spindle has to move to a dedicated position.
In CNC 12 this is normally done by outputting a “INVERTER/ORIENT”.
Then it waits for an “INVERTER/ORIENTED” signal that signals that the position is reached.
Our drive (Siemens SIMODRIVE 611 with UNIVERSAL control board, see annex) does not have this method available while in an analog control mode (+10V to =10V) for the speed. Changing to another mode appears only possible using the ProfiBus, which is not easily done from the centroid.
However the encoder of the spindle drive is connected to the OAK input and there is a proximity sensor giving the approximate position around the exact position of the spindle for changing the tool. It should be possible to orient the spindle using this information.
Can you help me to adapt the PLC for this?
The routine should run the spindle with a slow speed until the above mentioned proximity switch is triggered and then continue to rotate until the encoder matches a certain predefined position or angle at which moment it should stop the spindle. Speed is not critical, accuracy is.
In particular I do not know how to read the spindle position or angle from the encoder in the PLC program.
Thank you for your help.
to change the tool, the spindle has to move to a dedicated position.
In CNC 12 this is normally done by outputting a “INVERTER/ORIENT”.
Then it waits for an “INVERTER/ORIENTED” signal that signals that the position is reached.
Our drive (Siemens SIMODRIVE 611 with UNIVERSAL control board, see annex) does not have this method available while in an analog control mode (+10V to =10V) for the speed. Changing to another mode appears only possible using the ProfiBus, which is not easily done from the centroid.
However the encoder of the spindle drive is connected to the OAK input and there is a proximity sensor giving the approximate position around the exact position of the spindle for changing the tool. It should be possible to orient the spindle using this information.
Can you help me to adapt the PLC for this?
The routine should run the spindle with a slow speed until the above mentioned proximity switch is triggered and then continue to rotate until the encoder matches a certain predefined position or angle at which moment it should stop the spindle. Speed is not critical, accuracy is.
In particular I do not know how to read the spindle position or angle from the encoder in the PLC program.
Thank you for your help.