Weird Mach3 + CSMIO/IP-M Probe Problem

[Chaz]

Ive personally invested in a few CS Labs products in the past and recommended them. I dont think however Ill continue down this route. Whilst it may be one of the best Mach3 setups, Mach3 inherently is not the route I want to follow for stable control of machines.

Too many issues depending on PC stability / OS etc. Its nice as a starting point but reaching end of life at this stage me thinks.

[Davek0974]

Hi all, jumping in a bit late on this thread but just hit a similar issue.

Been trying probing on my mill running Mach3 and IP/A controller, first i tried the M31 option but built the M31 code into my own simple Y+ edge macro, it worked once but stopped working, I then tried a more complex pocket macro and that failed immediately with a scripter compile error despite the editor saying it was ok

Today i tried the G31 style and nothing will work now - a G31 call gives no motion at all and as soon as the code gets to the retract line following, it spits out an error and Mach goes into reset. The message box just says no edge was detected and the error message thought my machine was not referenced to home and soft limits was blocking the move.

IIRC i am on version 062 and really didn't want to downgrade because i heard rigid tapping was broken on earlier versions especially the 028 that CS labs favour??

Is this the end of Mach3 for me??

I want to try CS labs software but its still in beta.

Any ideas

[Neale]

As I remember, I managed to get probing working with whatever the latest version of Mach3 was around when I installed everything - could well have been .062. You are using the CSMIO probing macros, I assume? The CSMIO firmware has built-in probing code so Mach3 itself doesn't control the actual operation.

What I found was that while probing itself worked, it all fell apart when you did things like tool height reset during an M6 tool change. That's when I went back to .028, as I didn't need any of the things in later versions. Although I only use Z probing at the moment, I did throw some temporary macros together for X and Y as well during setup and they all seemed to work fine. As it happens, I spent some time last night doing a proper job on my x/y macros as I want to use them with the Mach3 probing page for my next job on the router and I wasn't expecting any problems - I'm just using my z macro with z crossed out and x or y inserted (in crude terms!). That's with an IP/M.

It's frustrating to have to work around this kind of thing, though. If i have any IP/M problems, it will probably tip me over the edge to UC300/UB-1/UCCNC, which should be hardware-compatible with the IP/M (24V signalling, etc) plus dual-motor homing and supported software! At the moment, though, it's hanging together (with manual dual-homing...) Don't know what the IP/A replacement is, though, if you need analogue servo driving.

[Davek0974]

Thanks

from the error message it appears the controller hijacks the G31 as well so not much difference in G31 & M31.

I will try again today but not holding out much hope, CSL support is so slow as to be annoying as well, beginning to regret the purchase a bit :(

Yes, analog servo drives 10-0-10v control.

[gixi]

Hello everybody !

My DIY router is 99% finished but setting the Z probe proves to be a pain in the … .
After 3 weeks of reading, testing and so on, I manage to write a script based on M31 example from CSMIO site.
All seems to work fine except the fact that I could not reset the z value to zero in Mach3 screen. I give a try to G92 (it’s working) but there are too many warnings of how I should use this g code.
Any suggestion to solve this problem will be much appreciated.

This is part of my code:
If(GetUserDRO(1510) = 1) Then
Message("M31 Probe hit.")
Call SetDro (2, ZOffset)
Code "(Z zeroed)"
Sleep(1000)
Code "G0 Z20 F50"
Code "G4 P10"
Code "G0 Z-10 F50" (Touch plate has 10mm)

[Chaz]

Hello everybody !

My DIY router is 99% finished but setting the Z probe proves to be a pain in the … .
After 3 weeks of reading, testing and so on, I manage to write a script based on M31 example from CSMIO site.
All seems to work fine except the fact that I could not reset the z value to zero in Mach3 screen. I give a try to G92 (it’s working) but there are too many warnings of how I should use this g code.
Any suggestion to solve this problem will be much appreciated.

This is part of my code:
If(GetUserDRO(1510) = 1) Then
Message("M31 Probe hit.")
Call SetDro (2, ZOffset)
Code "(Z zeroed)"
Sleep(1000)
Code "G0 Z20 F50"
Code "G4 P10"
Code "G0 Z-10 F50" (Touch plate has 10mm)

Get Ger's Screenset 2010 and just his probe routines.

[Ger21]

Get Ger's Screenset 2010 and just his probe routines.

I've had several users that had issues with CS Labs controllers and the 2010 Screenset.

[Chaz]

I've had several users that had issues with CS Labs controllers and the 2010 Screenset.

Mine works OK. Ive not use my machine for a while now but had no issues with it.

[Davek0974]

I've had several users that had issues with CS Labs controllers and the 2010 Screenset.

Yep, in particular do not use the wizards, instant trouble.

In the end i made up my own custom screen set with just the functionality i needed.

[Davek0974]

Hello everybody !

My DIY router is 99% finished but setting the Z probe proves to be a pain in the … .
After 3 weeks of reading, testing and so on, I manage to write a script based on M31 example from CSMIO site.
All seems to work fine except the fact that I could not reset the z value to zero in Mach3 screen. I give a try to G92 (it’s working) but there are too many warnings of how I should use this g code.
Any suggestion to solve this problem will be much appreciated.

This is part of my code:
If(GetUserDRO(1510) = 1) Then
Message("M31 Probe hit.")
Call SetDro (2, ZOffset)
Code "(Z zeroed)"
Sleep(1000)
Code "G0 Z20 F50"
Code "G4 P10"
Code "G0 Z-10 F50" (Touch plate has 10mm)

Her is one of my probe macros, there might be something in there to help, I tend to annotate a lot ;) Its for CSMIO IP/A under Mach3


Sub Main()
'***X- Probing Macro
'***Written by and for DD Metal Products Ltd 2018
'***Metric units only in use
'***Using CSLABS Controller M31 macro code
'***Axis scaling not expected or handled
'***Probe offset must be calibrated at "Slow Feedrate" value and set in "Probe Tip Dia" DRO first
'***Probe Z axis position is set by user first to correct height
'***Probe Y position must be within the value set in "Max Distance" DRO

Dim FeedFast, FeedSlow
Dim ProbeOffset
Dim MaxDistance
Dim ZClearance
Dim StepBack
Dim X_SENSE
Dim Y_SENSE
Dim Z_SENSE

'***Load Variables From Screen DROs
FeedFast = GetUserDRO(1821)
Sleep (100)
FeedSlow = GetUserDRO(1822)
Sleep (100)
MaxDistance = GetUserDRO(1823)
Sleep (100)
ProbeOffset = GetUserDRO(1829)
Sleep (100)
ZClearance = GetUserDRO(1830)
Sleep (100)
StepBack = GetUserDRO(1824)
Sleep (100)

'***Error checks
If GetOemLed(16)<>0 Then '***Check for machine coordinates setting
Message "Please Change To Working Coordinates"
Exit Sub
End If

If GetOemLed(825)<>0 Then '***Probe is not connected or cable broken
Message "Probe Connection Error"
Exit Sub
End If

If StepBack=0 Then '***Stepback not set
Message "Please enter a step-back value"
Exit Sub
End If

If ABS(GetOEMDRO(85))<ZClearance Then '***Z axis too high for retract
Message "Spindle too high for clearance move"
Exit Sub
End If

'***Start Probing
Message "Probing In X- Direction"
Sleep (100)

Code "F" & Feedfast
Sleep (100)

SetUserDRO(1511, 0-MaxDistance) '***X Axis
Sleep (100)
SetUserDRO(1512, 0) '***Y Axis
Sleep (100)
SetUserDRO(1513, 0) '***Z Axis
Sleep (100)

Call ProbeSurface()

X_SENSE = GetVar(2000)
Sleep (100)

'***Step back
Code "G91 G0 X" & StepBack
While IsMoving()
Sleep(50)
Wend

Code "F" & FeedSlow
Sleep (100)

SetUserDRO(1511, 0-(StepBack+2)) '***X Axis
Sleep (100)
SetUserDRO(1512, 0) '***Y Axis
Sleep (100)
SetUserDRO(1513, 0) '***Z Axis
Sleep (100)

Call ProbeSurface()

X_SENSE = GetVar(2000)
Sleep (100)

'***Step back
Code "G91 G0 X" & StepBack
While IsMoving()
Sleep(50)
Wend

'***Raise the spindle to clear part
Code "G91 G0 Z" & ZClearance
While IsMoving()
Sleep(50)
Wend

'***Move Y axis to edge and zero the DRO
Code "G90 G0 X" & X_SENSE - ProbeOffset
While IsMoving()
Sleep(50)
Wend
SetOemDRO(800,0)
Sleep(100)

'***Retract the spindle fully
'Code "G53 G0 Z0"
'While IsMoving()
' Sleep(50)
'Wend

'***Make sure we are in G90 again
Code "G90"

Message "X- Probing Complete"

End Sub







Sub ProbeSurface()

NotifyPlugins(10103)

SetUserDRO(1510, 0)
While(GetUserDRO(1510) = 0)
Sleep(50)
NotifyPlugins(10104)
Wend

If(GetUserDRO(1510) = 2) Then '***Probing error - no detection in distance = abort
Message "Probing Error - No Surface Found"
End
End If

End Sub