One PRGM w/2 parts

[Thomas Phillips]

I need to run alot of 30pc studies and was looking for help on setting up a prgm with Datapage, I am wanting to run one part while unloading and loading the next part. Do I call two different alignments or put in a offset, how do I set it to go back and forth?


thanks, Thomas

[\v/inston]

you could save as a different name so you have two of the same programs. do the manual alignments to locate each part. run one part, close the program when finished open the other program and run it. shouldn't take that long and this way you get two separate reports and two separate stat updates.

[cmmguy]

Couldn't you measure each fixture and save the ref frame as a different name and the loop in the program alternating between the two saved ref frames and the beginning.

Simplistically speaking:
Fixture 1 is called "odd"
Fixture 2 is called "even"

When the loop counter is odd then recall the odd fixture and vice versus.

[Matthew D. Hoedeman]

There are several thinigs you need to watch out for if you want to check 2 identical parts at 2 different table locations and be able to make stat reports that include BOTH parts.

1) You MUST un-mark the option to put brackets after ARRAYS in teh ID setup window
2) You MUST put in a STAT UPDATE command at the end of the loop, before it loops back to the beginning.
3) You MUST put in a PRINT command (not exactly sure of the syntax) so that you get seperate reports for each part
4) You MUST have an alignment for each position on the table.

Possibilities: You might be able to do this using MARKED SETS. Set 1 = POS1 and Set 2 = POS2 on the table. Click on Set 1, it would check at POS1, click on Set 2, it checks at POS2. I prefer NOT to use loops because I never have to worry about STAT UPDAT working properly, I can stop what I am doing and jump to something else without worring about where the heck I was at or any of a number of other things. But then again, the extra 10 seconds it takes un-loading and loading a part has never bothered me enough to want to be able to check 2 parts at different locations.

Jumping back and forth between programs would be a major pain. It would be one heck of a lot easier IF you could change which program was online and which was offline without closing and re-opening.

[Thomas Phillips]

thanks for the help, I'm not trying to pickup 10 sec. as much as I want to learn different was to use PC-DMIS. But than there is the acronym KISS.

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid

[Don Ruggieri]

2 programs??

If you do run separate programs, as someone suggested, you must also ensure that the part name in the header is IDENTICAL. This is what DataPage uses to store the part. If they are different by as much as 1 character, you'll have 2 sets of 15 transactions each, with no relation between them.

If you do run separate fixtures, it might be wise to include a tracefield to indicate which fixture. In case you are trying to analyze an anamoly later on you would be able to isolate parts to see if it was fixture (or position) dependent.

Whatever you do, stop after 2 or 3 parts to make sure it is working as you expected, including the datapage side of things. There i snothing worse than running 30 parts for a study only to find out that you have to start all over again because 1 setting was wrong and you have no data.

[John Kingston]

Here's what I do. I have 2 fixtures. I have 2 separate programs to align to the fixtures. In those programs I save an external alignment. Then, in the beginning of my part programs I use a COMMENT/INPUT, asking the operator which fixture to use. The input is pulled in to a variable. Then you recall the external alignment using the variable. An example follows:

First the actual part program.
FORMAT/TEXT,OPTIONS,HEADINGS,SYMBOLS, ;NOM,TOL,MEAS,OUTTOL, ,
C1 =COMMENT/INPUT,Enter FIX1 for FIXTURE 1,
,FIX2 for FIXTURE 2.
ASSIGN/V1 = C1.INPUT
RECALL/ALIGNMENT,EXTERNAL,V1,FIX2:fix2
MODE/DCC
MOVE/POINT,0,0,8

I follow up with a DCC part alignment!

This is the fixture alignment, without the features and hits. Just to show you the basic idea.

STARTUP =ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:, LIST= YES
ALIGNMENT/END
MODE/MANUAL
FLY/ON
A2 =ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:STARTUP, LIST= YES
ALIGNMENT/LEVEL,ZPLUS,F1
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE,XPLUS,TO,F2,ABOUT,ZPLUS
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,XAXIS,F3
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,YAXIS,F3
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,ZAXIS,F1
ALIGNMENT/END
MODE/DCC
FIX1 =ALIGNMENT/START,RECALL:A2, LIST= YES
ALIGNMENT/LEVEL,ZPLUS,F4
ALIGNMENT/ROTATE,XPLUS,TO,F5,ABOUT,ZPLUS
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,XAXIS,F6
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,YAXIS,F6
ALIGNMENT/TRANS,ZAXIS,F4
ALIGNMENT/END
SAVE/ALIGNMENT,FIX1,FIX1.aln,MACHINETOPARTS


Hope this helps.
John

[tking]

John,

Iwas thinking what you wrote as I read the post and then got to yours. Simple and elegant.

I'd like to think it was great minds thinking alike but more likely it was my lazy bones showing through again.

TK

[Thomas Phillips]

John, thanks, that looks like what I want to do I just needed the details.

'99 MM4 operator
'02 LK DMIS program repairman
'05 PC DMIS programmer/operator

[John Kingston]

Tking and Thomas,
Thanks for the compliments.

TKing,
Seeing that you homebrew, you must have a great mind. After work tonight a number of us are going to dinner at Great Lakes Brewing Company here in Cleveland. Amazing beer, Michael Jackson (not the gloved one) mentions some of their beer in his books.
John

[tking]

John,

I'm not so sure of the great mind but I'd accept good taste. From one with good taste to another, enjoy the brew and the time with friends. Be safe, life's too short. My boss is gonna' stop over tonight for his first homebrew, a fine India Pale Ale. He'll be a convert by the third glass!

TK

[Shelley Liebman]

I can think of something worse than running 30 prats and finding out something didn't work.......running 100 parts through a study and then finding it didn't work........