We have a couple older machines that are worth recontrolling. I am not immediately confident Linux is the answer because it seems to written by non-machinist types that may not understand what makes a great control. I think about anything can "make it move", but its the little things and special features that make them jam.
If we upgrade a couple machines, one of the priorities is the take a close look at turning up speeds as much as possible. I realize there are physical and sometimes electrical limitations to what can be done. We have one machine that runs Yaskawa drives/servos/spindle. It runs 787ipm rapids and 8K spindle. We want to take a close look at where the limits are. I know ballscrews and thrust bearings could get hot if pushed too hard but I seem to remember a lot of the limits of 20yrs ago had more to do with the ability of the motion controller to read the encoders? I know we checked on one machine and the MTB most certaintly pulled every bit they could from the system at the time, but I want to determine if today's tech can allow a bit more from the same amps and servos?
I realize machines were built with "everyday/all day" in mind, and they seem to take some objective away. For instance, rapids and accelerations are fixed whether you have 100lbs or 2000lbs on the table, and that can change the load to the servos considerably. As well, spindles seem to be fixed to run "safe" at full speed all day long.
What we are looking at is possibly we can improve acceleration for our own needs or possibly we cannot escape acceleration limits, BUT, max rapid speed could be turned up because we can now read encoders 10x faster? Maybe our machine is fixed with 2G accel to account for max table load, BUT if we are light, maybe we can push to 3G accel, or remain at 2G but push rapids from 787 to 1000?
Regarding the spindle, maybe we can't push the spindle to a higher "safe" limit, BUT maybe we can consider a "little more" with a certain duty cycle in mind? Usually higher RPM is used with smaller tools and maybe we only need that extra speed for one tool, for 10min/hr.
Now, I intend to fully inspect the mechanical limitations, but I want to look more at the electrical limitations. Where might we find those limits? Is the switching fast enough in older amps?
If we upgrade a couple machines, one of the priorities is the take a close look at turning up speeds as much as possible. I realize there are physical and sometimes electrical limitations to what can be done. We have one machine that runs Yaskawa drives/servos/spindle. It runs 787ipm rapids and 8K spindle. We want to take a close look at where the limits are. I know ballscrews and thrust bearings could get hot if pushed too hard but I seem to remember a lot of the limits of 20yrs ago had more to do with the ability of the motion controller to read the encoders? I know we checked on one machine and the MTB most certaintly pulled every bit they could from the system at the time, but I want to determine if today's tech can allow a bit more from the same amps and servos?
I realize machines were built with "everyday/all day" in mind, and they seem to take some objective away. For instance, rapids and accelerations are fixed whether you have 100lbs or 2000lbs on the table, and that can change the load to the servos considerably. As well, spindles seem to be fixed to run "safe" at full speed all day long.
What we are looking at is possibly we can improve acceleration for our own needs or possibly we cannot escape acceleration limits, BUT, max rapid speed could be turned up because we can now read encoders 10x faster? Maybe our machine is fixed with 2G accel to account for max table load, BUT if we are light, maybe we can push to 3G accel, or remain at 2G but push rapids from 787 to 1000?
Regarding the spindle, maybe we can't push the spindle to a higher "safe" limit, BUT maybe we can consider a "little more" with a certain duty cycle in mind? Usually higher RPM is used with smaller tools and maybe we only need that extra speed for one tool, for 10min/hr.
Now, I intend to fully inspect the mechanical limitations, but I want to look more at the electrical limitations. Where might we find those limits? Is the switching fast enough in older amps?