kanalog, kstep and konnect

[darren]

Hi Tom,

I am converting an old mill to ste/dir steppers with encoder feedback. I will be using 4 axis with encoder feedback.

I have Kflop, Kanalog, Kstep and Konnect (I need more i/o)

I understand that I can use Kanalog and Kstep with Kflop. I will be disconnecting Kflop (jp5) form Kanalog as per your FAQ and will connect Kstep to jp5. Can I connect Kconnect to Kflp Jp4 or Jp6?

If my input voltage exceeds 48v I may need to use 3rd party stepper drives (IM804 or IM483) can I use jp5 as step/dir inputs for these drives as they use optically isolated inputs.

Lastly, I have a lathe that I plan on converting to cnc. What is the suggested Dynomotion products to run 4 axis with steppers with Mach3 with encoder feedback. If you have a link it will be fine.

Thank you

Darren

[TomKerekes]

Hi Darren,

Can I connect Kconnect to Kflp Jp4 or Jp6?

Yes

If my input voltage exceeds 48v I may need to use 3rd party stepper drives (IM804 or IM483) can I use jp5 as step/dir inputs for these drives as they use optically isolated inputs.

Yes

Lastly, I have a lathe that I plan on converting to cnc. What is the suggested Dynomotion products to run 4 axis with steppers with Mach3 with encoder feedback. If you have a link it will be fine.

The boards you listed should work.

Mach3 is obsolete and no longer supported. Consider using our free KMotionCNC.

[darren]

Thank you for your prompt response.

[darren]

Hi Tom,

The voltage allowed me to use Kstep and I got the motors moving on all 3 axis. Thanks again for the assistance.

I now have a system with Kanalog, Kstep and Kconnect. I am driving 3 closed loop steppers and will be adding a rotary table. The rotary table is currently powered by a dc servo. Can I use Kanalog +-10V for the 4 axis with this setup? If so, I believe it would be channel 0-3.

Also, from what I understand I can use all features on Kanalog except for encoder inputs 4-7.

In the configuration menu, I will select encoder. For the output, do I select Step/dir or CL Step or CL Micro? For the Kstep tutorial, you use stedp/dir but for the closed loop stepper you use Cl step. Since Kstep is a 16x microstep drive should I use CL Micro?

I also confirm that with my setup I will be using channels 12, 13 and 14 for my x,y and z axis.

I also confirm that since I am using Kflop Jp7 on Kanalog that I only connect Kflop jp5 to Kstep Jp26 and connect GND, +5v, Enable and Controller 3.3v GND. BTW I figured out that enable on the Kstep requires a +5V. You may wish to add this info to Kstep J6 pinout info.

For the motor I presume that A+ is the stepper A winding connector and A- is the stepper A not winding.

For my init file, I have the following code (I am skipping the channel info):

SetBit(144); /* turn on dc supply voltage */
SetBit(147); /* enable stepper drives */
SetBitDirection(1055,1); // Virtual bit as flag to disable watchdog when homing x axis;
SetBit(1055); // Set virtual bit on as flag to allow watchdog

*** channel config values ***

EnableAxisDest(0,0);
EnableAxisDest(1,0);
EnableAxisDest(2,0);
DefineCoordSystem(0,1,2,-1);

EnableAxis(0);
EnableAxis(1);
EnableAxis(2);

DefineCoordSystem(0,1,2,-1);

for (;;) // repeat forever
{
WaitNextTimeSlice(); // execute one loop per time slice
// check if all axes are enabled
if (ch0->Enable && ch1->Enable && ch2->Enable)
{
SetBit(147); // yes they are, enable the amplifier
}
else
{
ClearBit(147); // no at least one is disabled, disable the amplifier
}
}
InitAux();
AddKonnect_Aux0(0,&VirtualBits,VirtualBitsEx);
FPGA(STEP_PULSE_LENGTH_ADD) = 63 + 0x80; // set polarity and pulse length to 4μs

Is there anything else I need to add?

I would also like to add the feature to disable the amp if no movement for 2 minutes. I am enabling the amp with bit 147 Where would I add this?

double T0, LastX=0, LastY=0, LastZ=0;
for (;;) // loop forever
{
WaitNextTimeSlice();

// Service Amplifier disable after no activity for a while
if (ch0->Dest != LastX || ch1->Dest != LastY || ch2->Dest != LastZ)
{
// we moved - enable KStep Amplifers>
SetBit(147);
T0 = Time_sec(); // record the time and position of last motion<
LastX=ch0->Dest;
LastY=ch1->Dest;
LastZ=ch2->Dest;
}
else
{
if (Time_sec() > T0 + 120.0) ClearBit(147);
}
}

Thank you again for your assistance.

[TomKerekes]

Hi Darren,

I now have a system with Kanalog, Kstep and Kconnect. I am driving 3 closed loop steppers and will be adding a rotary table. The rotary table is currently powered by a dc servo. Can I use Kanalog +-10V for the 4 axis with this setup?

yes

Also, from what I understand I can use all features on Kanalog except for encoder inputs 4-7.

yes

In the configuration menu, I will select encoder. For the output, do I select Step/dir or CL Step or CL Micro? For the Kstep tutorial, you use stedp/dir but for the closed loop stepper you use Cl step. Since Kstep is a 16x microstep drive should I use CL Micro?

Select "Step Dir" for open loop step/direction and "CL Step" for closed loop step/direction. Microstepping is transparent to KFLOP it only deals with "steps" regardless of size.

I also confirm that with my setup I will be using channels 12, 13 and 14 for my x,y and z axis.

yes. Generators 4, 5, 6 in TTL mode for KStep

I also confirm that since I am using Kflop Jp7 on Kanalog that I only connect Kflop jp5 to Kstep Jp26 and connect GND, +5v, Enable and Controller 3.3v GND.

yes

BTW I figured out that enable on the Kstep requires a +5V. You may wish to add this info to Kstep J6 pinout info.

no a standard TTL or LVTTL output of 2.4V should be sufficient.

For the motor I presume that A+ is the stepper A winding connector and A- is the stepper A not winding.

no A+ A- connects to the A winding and B+ B- to the B winding.

Regarding Init file:

Please post using code tags for readability

DefineCoordSystem is executed twice

Enabling the amps is unnecessary as the forever loop will do this anyway.

looks like you have code after the forever loop. Because a forever loop executes forever anything after it will never execute. You must only have one forever loop. See here.

[darren]

Thanks again for the assistance