PNCconf - Point aNd Click CONFigurator PNCconf is a configuration program for Linuxcnc. It configures machines using Mesa I/O cards. It configures servo,stepper or closed loop stepper machines. It supports some of Mesa's sserial cards. It will forever be a work in progress as Linuxcnc changes. Many thanks To: Jeff Eppler - PNCconf is based on stepconf - Jeff's creation. Jeff also has helped with technical difficulties. Big John T - John drew the original machine illustrations. Testing and suggestions. Peter Wallace - Technical questions on Mesa's I/O cards. Supplied sample equipment to test with. Andy Pugh - suggestions, questions answered and many pin name changes :) Dave Armstrong - testing and suggestions especially with resolvers. Everyone who gave a bug report ! I cannot test everything thoughly enough so reports help. Beta 1 version X axis: Total Travel = 10 Home Offset = Origin to Home Switch distance = 0 Neg Travel Distance = Origin to neg limit distance = 0 Pos Travel Distance = Total Travel - neg travel distance = 10 Home Position = Origin to Home Position distance = 6 Y axis: Total Travel = 8 Home Offset = Origin to Home Switch distance = 0 Neg Travel Distance = Origin to neg limit distance = -8 Pos Travel Distance = Total Travel - neg travel distance = 0 Home Position = Origin to Home Position distance = 0 Z axis: Total Travel = 12 Home Offset = Origin to Home Switch distance = 0 Neg Travel Distance = Origin to neg limit distance = -12 Pos Travel Distance = Total Travel - neg travel distance = 0 Home Position = Origin to Home Position distance = 0 Note that the direction indicators on the top right show movement of the TOOL and on the actual machine, often it is the table that actually moves. In that case the directions are opposite of shown. Note this is an example, Many other combinations are possible Separate Home and Limit Switches Example The negative and positive directions are based on Tool Movement which can be different then the actual machine movement. ie on a mill typically the table moves rather then the tool. Soft(ware) limits are inside the limit switch area. (If using switch based homing) the homing switch(es) utilize the limit switches (shared home / limit switch) or are inside the limit switch area when using a separate home switch. The G53 machine zero origin is typically inside the soft limits area but not necessarily. If using a separate homing switch, it's possible to start homing on the wrong side of the home switch, which combined with HOME_IGNORE_LIMITS option will lead to a hard crash. You can avoid this by making the home switch toggle it's state when the trip dog is on a particular side until it returns passed the trip point again. Said another way, the home switch state must represent the position of the dog relative to the switch (ie before or after the switch), and must stay that way even if the dog coasts past the switch in the same direction. The distance between the limit switches and soft limits (-L<->A and D<-+L) is magnified in this example Note that there is distance between the limit switches and actual physical hard contact for coasting after the amplifier is disabled. False 500 True True True True True top-right True True False word False False True False Help Page False True True True False True False True True never True True mill_textbuffer True True 0 True False gtk-missing-image True True 1 True True 0 True False Mill False True False True False True False Total Travel = 4 + 6 = 10 Z Home Offset = Origin to Home Switch distance = 10 Z Neg Travel Distance = Origin to neg limit distance = 0 Z Pos Travel Distance = Total Travel - neg travel distance = 10 Z Home Position = Origin to Home Position distance = 4 X axis would be similar but not shown fully for clarity. This is just a sample reference other switch combinations are possible. False False 0 True False gtk-missing-image True True 1 True True 0 1 True False Lathe 1 False True False True False True False gtk-missing-image True True -1 True False A is the negative software limit B is the G53 machine coordinate Origin C is the home switch trip point/ Shared min limit trip D is the positive software limit H is the final Home Position = 3 units The -L and +L are the limit switches trip points A<->B is the Negative Travel Distance = -0 units B<->C is the home Switch Location = -0.7 units B<->D is the Positive Travel Distance = 10 units A<->D is the total travel = 10 units False True 0 False True 0 True True never True True textbuffer1 True True 2 2 True False Shared Home Switch 2 False True False True False True False A is the negative software limit B is the G53 machine coordinate Origin C is the home switch trip point D is the positive software limit H is the final home position = 0 units The -L and +L are the limit switches trip points A<->B is the Negative Travel Distance = -3 units B<->C is the Home Switch Location = -2.3 units B<->D is the Positive Travel Distance = 7 units A<->D is the total travel = 10 units False True 0 True False gtk-missing-image True True 1 False True 0 True True never True True textbuffer1 True True 2 3 True False Separate Homing Switches 3 False 1 True False Diagram 1 False True True top-right True True False word False textoutput_buffer False 2 True False Output 2 False True True True True word False textinputbuffer False 3 True False Input 3 False True True about_textbuffer 4 True False About 4 False True True True False True False 0 0.070000000298023224 Print Map True True True False False 0 True True True False True False gtk-missing-image True True 1 True False 7i76 False True False True False 0 0.070000000298023224 Print Map True True True False False 0 True True True False True False gtk-missing-image True True 1 1 True False 7i77 1 False 5 True False Map 5 False