Newby needs software advice

mneuro said:

I am not going to chime in on the software aspect. There is plenty of better educated people than me on that one.

As far as the RS232 issue, I would look into something called: B&B Vlinx Ethernet Serial Server VESP211-232. At the last shop I worked for, we had a dozen machines from the 80's and we used these to connect to the server to load programs. Easy enough to set up, and fairly inexpensive.

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pikefisher said:

Hi,

I'm an engineer who is just joining a small company in the food processing roll-form machine servicing business who just bought a Fadal 2040A VMC to start making our own aluminum tooling/forms/dies for these machines. The pieces we will be manufacturing are relatively simple in geometry...small inside and outside radii, a lot of hogging out, and some large and tiny holes. I've been tasked with getting this machine up and running and although I understand the basic process of CAD to CAM to Machine Control, I don't have an idea of the most appropriate software to acquire. So I'm looking for some help in zero-ing in on some smart software choices. I doubt I need something as capable as Pro-E(CREO), Solidworks, or Inventor, but I really don't know. I will want to be able to do tool routing visualization, and even using the Fadal Learn Mode to reverse engineer some parts we've been having to send out and no drawings exist for. Can you suggest the software tools I need? I also am struggling with the fact that this machine only uses RS-232 serial COM and none of our computers even have that anymore. I've been reading that USB to RS-232 is very unreliable. So looking for best solutions there. Thanks for your help. Kent

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Hardplates said:

I run every machine I have with a USB. I've used everything from a laptop with USB and DB9 to Greco drives I replaced the floppy with a USB floppy emulator, to cheap import Micro DNC 2 wifi. Never any problems.

I believe the problems are with crappy USB to RS232 adaptors. I've never used one but there are ones that work well.

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1953chevB said:

that's perfect for one or two machines, nice post mnuero, a like for your post, for a shop a with bunch of old style machines with serial connections a multiport will be required.

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goooose said:

Another engineer who thinks machining is just pushing a button.
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len_1962 said:

Does the company have any old PC's they stored? they may have serial port.

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EmanuelGoldstein said:

But what if his machines have a Facit 4070 parallel port ? or current loop ?

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len_1962 said:

Kent
don't take their crap.......................

Does the company have any old PC's they stored? they may have serial port.

If not go to goodwill or salvation army , there might be an old PC that you can get for just spoon feeding to the Fatal ....... oops Fadal, don't take mine either

Another place is surplus from either the university or community college, I picked up a Dell Precision 3400, xeon, 12 meg ram, Pro graphic card with 2 gig ram, small HD that I replaced for $100 but had to get my own OS.

Now for the software.

If you are designing I would go with SolidWorks and yes you get CAM, 2.5 axis but have to be on subscription to use it, you can upgrade to Pro or if you need more capability you'll have to jump to CAMWorks (SWCAM is CAMWorks lite)

SW has other CAM vendors that run inside also, just check their partner site,

why I suggested is if you change you design the toolpath update automatically, no need to re-import and re-select stuff like you would have to do with a stand alone (yes some do this)

and if you want the inexpensive route go Fusion 360, it is cloud based but then again may or may not bother you or the company.... design and cam for one monthly car payment for the year ..... $495 (i'll wait for the )

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pikefisher said:

thanks Serview... I got in touch with them and it's exactly what I needed. much appreciated. Kent

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serview said:

Great to hear Kent, I am glad to help.
You will love the Calmotion, at least one member of the original Fadal familiy are at Calmotion, probably next generation, at least he has the same name (de Caussin), so you are in good hands.
I remember matching # data bits, # stop bits,parity, hardware vs. software hand shake all need to match on both sides. When you use it, Don't rush the transfer, be patient, and until you know it is working reliably, always check at the bottom of the program after transfer to make sure M30 is present.
This way if the transfer is truncated, you will see it right away and not run a partial program.

Watch the panel display, and you will see changing data until the download is done, then wait a few extra seconds (at least I found this helps or sometimes programs are truncated if you proceed too quickly.. it is RS232 after all) Waiting a few extra seconds seems to make it 100% reliable for me.

They gave me info to run xmodem so you can do that if you need to. (I have info for Haas, just PM me or ask them if you are getting noise/errors in the program after transfer this will help, not sure if Fadal would support xmodem protocol)
If you push the baud rate up too high, you might get noise and errors, I use 19Kb with the cable they included and it is basically bullet proof.

Here is another tip...
You can get the unit to sync time from an internet timeserver working so file timestamps will be correct
This is handy so you dont have to see crazy timestamps

Filezilla is a free software tool, just enter the IP address of the unit, default 192.168.1.111 and quick connect, you can see files on the Calmotion Lancnc and copy, drag & drop, delete, pull them back to the PC etc.
Very nice tools, I don't think you will even think about USB ever again on that machine once you get this working...
It is great if you have wireless, just hardwire a CAT5 from the Calmotion to your wireless router, then you can drop files from your laptop on wifi, to the Calmotion ftp server, and then download via RS232.

I also mounted the CALMOTION right on the Haas monitor/panel, was able to use existing fasteners and mounted it in a piece of ABS so you can access for download right at the control.

Feel free to ask if you have trouble, but Calmotion will help you through any issues as well.

The time is set with NTP. You will add to the INI file:

IP ntp=207.200.81.113
TIME ADJUST=-7

The time adjust is if the NTP is in wrong time zone.

Attached is an example INI.
FYI - you can edit this to suit your network, adjust up to proper up address to suit your needs
(save this text as
LANCNC.INI and put it on the CALMOTION LANCNC)
IP address=192.168.2.111
IP mask=255.255.252.0
IP gateway=192.168.2.1
IP dns=0.0.0.0
IP ntp=207.200.81.113
TIME ADJUST=-7

Good choice on going with Calmotion!
You will be happy
Glad it is working out for you
Steve

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