Greetings All, I have two 4 axis CNC mills that I would like to add a 5th axis to. The machines are different makes with different controls so the 5th axis needs to be sort of independent. The machines use "M" codes to cause the machine to do different things, such as turning on the spindle or the coolant pump, energizing the rotary axis brake, etc. The machines also have un-assigned M codes that I can use however I want and relays that are energized when these M codes are executed. So the 5th axis I want to make will have its own controller and will execute its own program when it receives a signal from the main CNC control. I have all this figured out. The problem is getting the signals to to the servo amp which is located physically in the 5th axis assembly. I will need to use a rotary union to get power and air to the 5th axis. But I'm not sure if I can use slip rings in the rotary union to transmit digital signals at the maximum rate of 200 kHz to the servo amp. The amp is a GeckoDrive 320X. The maximum input frequency is 200 kHz, the minimum step pulse "0" time is 2 microseconds and the minimum step pulse "1" time is 1 microsecond. My stand alone 5th axis controller will be sending the step and direction signals to the servo amp. So I either need to send these signals through slip rings or wirelessly. I'm thinking that something like the Zigbee radio modules might work. The RF environment in my shop consists of wifi to the computers from a router for internet, Bluetooth from the computers to headsets, cell phones, cordless phone, and all the noise from the servo amps in the CNC machines and the noise from the servo motor brushes. So I need to know what kind of radio solutions I should be looking for, or if radio isn't the best way to go. Thanks, Eric
- posted
11 years ago