New build - Novakon Pulsar

[burbingus]

Hey guys,

I'm getting ready to put my Novakon Pulsar back together after a few years of moving locations. My stock unit came with steppers, but I'll be putting servos in as I put everything back together. This will be a long process as I don't have a huge amount of time to dedicate to the project.

At the moment, I'm looking for feedback on which Centroid controller will support all the devices on the mill. Could you guys provide some recommendations on which controller I'll need based on my setup? I'd like to support rigid tapping if possible.

Spindle:
Maxsine EP-1 driver with 1.2kW servo

X,Y,Z Axes:
Maxsine EP-1 driver with 1kW servos

4th Axis:
Leadshine MA860 driver with ~750W stepper

2x limit switches on all axes
Coolant
Probe
Tool setter
Power draw bar (air valve)
ATC (in progress: carousel type with stepper and air valve)

Thanks for the recommendations!

Micah

[centroid467]

Hello Micah,
I believe that AcornSix will be able to handle all of this just fine.
Are you planning to wire the limit switches individually or in series? You might be able to use the 4 axis Acorn with ETH1616 I/O expansion board depending on how many inputs and outputs the draw bar and ATC require.

[burbingus]

Thanks for your help! I went ahead and ordered the 4 axis Acorn and the expansion board. I think that is enough to cover the I/O.

Micah

[burbingus]

Hey guys,

As I start putting together the electronics for the system, I was wondering how my spindle will connect to the Acorn board. The spindle is driven by a 1.2 kW servo using a pulley. The servo has a dedicated driver which can take pulse/dir or voltage inputs. I believe the driver has buffered encoder outputs available. My questions are:
-Can the driver encoder outputs be run to the Acorn board to supply position info for rigid tapping?
-Does the Acorn software have a gear ratio parameter for the spindle?

Thanks guys!

[centroid467]

Hello,

If the spindle driver outputs differential quadrature encoder signals and the servo is belted 1:1 with the spindle then yes you should be able to use it for rigid tapping. If it is not belted 1:1 then you will need an encoder that is belted 1:1 with the spindle.

Yes, there are gear ratio parameters for spindle. I believe you can set them in our handy Wizard or look at parameters 33, 34, 35, 36, 65, 66, and 67.

[burbingus]

Thanks for the quick help! I'll give that a shot as a starting point and see how things go.

[burbingus]

Hey guys,

I am still in the process of installing and wiring my controller. I ended up returning the Acorn controller and getting the AcornSix instead to support a future 5 axis setup.

I have a question about configuring the spindle to allow either speed mode or direction mode. My spindle is a servo with a drive that is very configurable. It's possible to have an input change the servo driver between speed command and position command. What is the preferred way to configure this on the AcornSix board? It seems like it could either be wired up as another axis or with analog controls.

Thanks for your help!

Micah

[Gary Campbell]

Micah...
I have done this in the past by using a macro to toggle relay(s) that assert the input that swaps control modes and connects the 0-10v for velocity control. Another macro is used to revert back to position control. These macros were enabled by custom screen buttons that were appropriately named.

One note: the M5 macro was modified to set rpm to zero, pause a few seconds and then deassert the run signal to prevent an immediate stop

[burbingus]

Thanks Gary!

I was curious if it was necessary to actually switch between the pos/dir and analog outputs of the AcornSix or whether they could both remain attached. Sounds like it's a better idea to physically disconnect the unused command lines. I'm assuming there's no issue leaving the encoder output from the servo drive connected though regardless of the command mode.

I appreciate your advice!

Micah