Working with alignments.

[Jan d.]

Does any of you work with alignments in NC? I have never gotten them to work, so I gave up on them. But maybe I am just not smart enough? Anybody out there that has written alignments into programs and still getting the right G-code?

I'd be very interested in code that actually works. Please post some samples, if you have something that works.

I work exclusively with FANUC 15i and 30i.



Jan.

[pcdmisNC]

Alignments in NC

Hi Jan

With NC the concept of alignments is slightly different than traditional live CMM measurement.

You still have to create your pc-dmis part program as normal whilst remembering that in general terms the co-ordinate system of the machine tool will not change throughout the measurement program. This means that even though you might have more than one local alignment in your measuring program they will be ignored when posting out the g-code program.

What happens is that all the features get measured according to the machine tool alignment (co-ord system, for example G54) and when the data comes back to pc-dmis for analysis, this is when it gets transformed to the alignments you have chosen in your program.

So, to answer the question there won't be any change in the g-code that gets produced whether or not you have alignments in the pc-dmis program. All that happens is that if you do have alignments in the program the data will be transformed as and when analysis takes place.

Thanks, pcdmisNC.

[bawoody]

Alignments

I have successfully used the alignments to create new coordinate systems when I rotate my pallet (B axis). Then I use these alignments to update my work offsets. SO I can then machine in the rotated coordinate system.

Two key commands to invesigate.

Ignorerotab (Ignore rotary table)

After you create a new alignment use the Compute Workoffset command to compute a workoffset update. This will output a .wrk file to update your offsets (if you are using a serial port). I believe if you are using ethernet this will happen automatically.

bw

[Jan d.]

Thanks man! I found the Ignorerotab, but the other one is new to me. I will go after it later today.


Jan.

I have successfully used the alignments to create new coordinate systems when I rotate my pallet (B axis). Then I use these alignments to update my work offsets. SO I can then machine in the rotated coordinate system.

Two key commands to invesigate.

Ignorerotab (Ignore rotary table)

After you create a new alignment use the Compute Workoffset command to compute a workoffset update. This will output a .wrk file to update your offsets (if you are using a serial port). I believe if you are using ethernet this will happen automatically.

bw