Hi!
Just started at a new job, and they got a CNC milling machine that is similar to one of the mills I used at my old job. It's a Mikron VCP600, the one at my old job had a System 3R robot attached, and this one at my new job got an (old) Erowa robot. The JMS is running on Windows xp. Maybe that info will be usefull later.
The Mikron at my old job was set up with the preset table, and on this one it is turned off (I think). If I press "MOD" button, I can see a line that says "Preset table off", but I cannot edit or even highlight that setting.
The problem occured when I wanted to run a part, which is rigged in a vise, on a pallet, but note the vise is not aligned with the pallet and chuck, therefore I want to probe to get the basic rotation.
As far as I know and understand, if you want to probe both XY(Z) and C axis, you need to make a small program that first probes the alignment (C axis), then call the preset to "load" the basic rotation, and then run a cycle that probes XYZ. As far as I know, if you do not call the preset with the measured basic rotation, the cycle that measures XYZ will not adjust for the basic rotation (obviously?).
As the machine is set up right now, I cannot activate diffrent presets. I can probe something manually, but if I try to enter the measured value in lets say datum 99, or 28, as soon as a call that datum (preset?) my XYZ coordinates jump 100's of millimeters. So if a part is not aligned with the machines axis, the XYZ probing cycle cannot measured the part because it cannot adjust for the basic rotation. Honestly I have not tried just probing C manually, and then XYZ. A fellow toolmaker from my old job taught me to just mill parts with C rotation enabled, but made it very clear you cannot do it manually. I guess maybe you can? Or maybe you can, when the machine is set up the way mine is?
So I want to enable the preset table, unless someone can guide me through probing with basic rotation as the machine is set up now.
One of my concerns with changing this, is how will the Erowa robot handle it. At my old job, there was a file in the machine which contained the chuck coordinates, and I would change those coordinates if calibrating the chuck position was needed. I do not know how the Erowa system stores it's chuck position. I guess if the Erowa system does the same, there is no problem.
Mostly I'm gonna mill electrodes which are milled in XYC=0 and then I manually enter the Z value. I guess robot systems all work by having the chuck value stored, and then adding the XYZC coordinates from the robot controller software. But I'm also gonna run parts in a vise, and I only got one, that's why I dont preset in a CMM. It would be easy if I could just make a program which first measures the part, and then automaticly starts the Milling program.
Just started at a new job, and they got a CNC milling machine that is similar to one of the mills I used at my old job. It's a Mikron VCP600, the one at my old job had a System 3R robot attached, and this one at my new job got an (old) Erowa robot. The JMS is running on Windows xp. Maybe that info will be usefull later.
The Mikron at my old job was set up with the preset table, and on this one it is turned off (I think). If I press "MOD" button, I can see a line that says "Preset table off", but I cannot edit or even highlight that setting.
The problem occured when I wanted to run a part, which is rigged in a vise, on a pallet, but note the vise is not aligned with the pallet and chuck, therefore I want to probe to get the basic rotation.
As far as I know and understand, if you want to probe both XY(Z) and C axis, you need to make a small program that first probes the alignment (C axis), then call the preset to "load" the basic rotation, and then run a cycle that probes XYZ. As far as I know, if you do not call the preset with the measured basic rotation, the cycle that measures XYZ will not adjust for the basic rotation (obviously?).
As the machine is set up right now, I cannot activate diffrent presets. I can probe something manually, but if I try to enter the measured value in lets say datum 99, or 28, as soon as a call that datum (preset?) my XYZ coordinates jump 100's of millimeters. So if a part is not aligned with the machines axis, the XYZ probing cycle cannot measured the part because it cannot adjust for the basic rotation. Honestly I have not tried just probing C manually, and then XYZ. A fellow toolmaker from my old job taught me to just mill parts with C rotation enabled, but made it very clear you cannot do it manually. I guess maybe you can? Or maybe you can, when the machine is set up the way mine is?
So I want to enable the preset table, unless someone can guide me through probing with basic rotation as the machine is set up now.
One of my concerns with changing this, is how will the Erowa robot handle it. At my old job, there was a file in the machine which contained the chuck coordinates, and I would change those coordinates if calibrating the chuck position was needed. I do not know how the Erowa system stores it's chuck position. I guess if the Erowa system does the same, there is no problem.
Mostly I'm gonna mill electrodes which are milled in XYC=0 and then I manually enter the Z value. I guess robot systems all work by having the chuck value stored, and then adding the XYZC coordinates from the robot controller software. But I'm also gonna run parts in a vise, and I only got one, that's why I dont preset in a CMM. It would be easy if I could just make a program which first measures the part, and then automaticly starts the Milling program.
