The Kraken.

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ArtF
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by ArtF »

those are REAL nice. :) Amazing what a K40 can do. :)

Art
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tweakie
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by tweakie »

K40  ;D

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. it certainly looks promising ( assuming I can understand how to use Auggie  :) ).

I think I now have to do some serious reading-up on the 57CNC to see what, if any, hardware changes will have to be made to my existing system.

Currently, my laser is CNC controlled by just one signal which comprises ON/OFF gated with PWM.

What signals does Auggie output from the 57CNC to control your lasers ?

Do we know if the 57CNC plugin for Mach4 supports the M62/M63 commands ?

Tweakie.
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ArtF
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by ArtF »

Hi Tweakie:

  The 57CNC is used in Auggie pretty much the way it is used in M3. Same wiring except the Laser signal is a PWM.
When the PWM is off, the laser is off, and PWM isnt binary, it varies every 1 ms with the waypoints. Im not sure
about M62/M63, you may want to ask Mat at PoKeys.
  The only wire you need to add for the 57 is the PWM control , its about all thats different. I can run my laser motions under Mach3 but cant control the laser properly.

  The problem , once you start using variable power is that the photo or engraving data has to be used
by the plugin or program in real-time. Auggie loads it and uses it in realtime for the power levels. The
M62/M63 is binary and pretty inefficient really in comparison. Its why Auggie was written, because cnc for
lasers just isnt powerful enough yet. Its probably why the Pokeys plugin cant do photo engraving, it would
have to mix cnc with photo processing. 

  Another advantage that Auggie has is that it can then turn on laser only for G1 motion, so you can turn it on
with M3, and no laser is output until motion starts, and power is then a ratio of desired power at a set feedrate
and the current feedrate. This smooths power over time and distance. Its my favorite feature, no worries about m3/m5 timing. you can leave it m3'd all day.. so long as no G1 occurs.

  Mach3 will never catch up to that, though Mach4 may, but someone would have to write the photo
processing part of the plugin to vary the power and m4 doesnt have that capability as yet.

As to using Auggie, its pretty easy when you get into it, it has its bugs, but is pretty stable. Few of us
use it, but for laser its hard to beat. Too few to do proper Docs, but this site has a lot of the questions
on getting running in it. Scripting is a simple C and can even be put in Gcode, so you can kinda force
it to do as you wish if your machine is a weird one.

  Anyway, if you go there, yell, we can guide you through any troubles, other than trouble swapping between mach3 and auggie( you often have to reconfigure the Pokeys when you go back to Auggie as it doesnt store your
settings, it allows the Pokeys to store them.) its pretty easy to use. The one benefit of only working on one
motion device. :)

Art





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tweakie
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by tweakie »

Thanks Art.

Currently, for my laser fitted machine, I use parallel port for Mach3 operations and an ESS for Mach4 operations (Mach4 is only used for experimental & testing as all serious work is still done with Mach3? Mach4 will get there one day). I am very pleased with the performance of the ESS and don?t need to replace it so I am thinking that USB operation of the 57CNC and Auggie should fit in alongside the existing set-up without any real changes. Auggie?s one wire laser trigger control system sounds just right.

As said, a bit more reading on the 57CNC to do ? then order one from the USA.

Tweakie.
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ArtF
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by ArtF »

Sounds good Tweaky.. if you do decide to go that route, just yell when you run into trouble. Review the
various laser posts and youll see how we use it.

Art
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tweakie
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by tweakie »

57CNC is now on order  ;)

Tweakie.
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ArtF
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by ArtF »

Awesome. Let us know how you make out.  I think you'll
find Auggie isnt too bad to set up, but Docs are bad so
questions are never out of line.

Art
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tweakie
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by tweakie »

Well, my 57CNC has arrived - now the fun begins  ;D

I am sure I will have lots of questions so I will start a new thread in the Auggie section (once I have found all the necessary connectors, cables, etc. to connect everything up).

Tweakie.
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ArtF
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Re: The Kraken.

Post by ArtF »

Tweakie:

Welcome to Auggie, then. :)

    Have fun, you shouldn't find it too bad, youve been at this a long time. :)
The secret with Auggie to get the Pokeys running your machine using only
the Pokeys standalone configurator first.  You should be able to jog and home etc..

  By selecting peripherals you can change the PWM channel you intend to use and watch
it vary its output as you slide the sliders. When all that occurs, Auggie should run
fine with very little config required.

Yell when confused.. :)

Art
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