SmoothStepper User`s Manual 4/15/2008
Contents
1. Cancel OK Mach3 will now load with your new profile Since the SmoothStepper PlugIn has been installed in the Mach3 PlugIns file Mach3 will display a dialog box asking you to choose a control device Listed are all the control device PlugIns that are in the Mach3 PlugIns folder Note that the name of the SmoothStepper PlugIn is the filename of PlugIn that you installed in the previous section If you don t see a choice for the SmoothStepper return to section 4 0 of this manual Page 19 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Motion Control Hardens Plugin sensed X Select the Your system is showing more than one control device SmoothStepper Flease pick the one you would like this profile to use PlugIn and click l OK If desired C Normal Printer port Operation select Don t ask SmoothStepper Betaz 004 me this again eho Device This can be reset in Mach3 to show this dialog box on future C No Device Mach3 launches C No Device l Dont ask me this again OK The SmoothStepper PlugIn will now do most of the configuration automatically When it is done you should see the blue power on LED a steady green LED indicating that the PlugIn has loaded the firmware automatically and a blinking red LED that indicates Mach3 is transmitting data to the device Close Mach3 The red led should be solid and the green led should go out This means the firmware has been unloaded Launch Mach3 using2. This drawing points out the major points of interest on the circuit board Page 4 of 26 Jumper to connect 5V to pin 26 of the 26 pin header Port 1 for powering breakout boards SmoothStepper V1 2 Jumper to select 5V from the USB or from the External 5V Terminal Block Expansion Port Header In this position the jumper is for future expansion selecting 5V from the USB In the other position Header for Pluggable mear tor Piuggabie External 5V Terminal Block for External 5V Terminal Blocks for Quadrature Decoders i e MPG input or Jumper for grounding the i R TE E a 4 mounting hole to circuit ground wg leith ina Cw yrigs gt oh A Milos EO 5 8 Eas ono Fo Only this hole the other three holes G k Spindle Sync a No SE a i ACRA ansion it 8 3 arry e Gerae A MEIT ete eee are not grounded Single Ended Inputs 1B e lleBees A eN E NIRS eak 5S a i 1I fe yc23 167 gt ERE nae Le A 5U D 5V and Ground to Out Bt die Supply Encoders Type B USB Connector Copyright ELNE 2A Ve One of 4 locations for a hi AA Done LED is lit when the termination resistors _ ee TEREE uung Sra k FPGA is Successfully Configured Differential i i 4 Inputs gt y Nae Init is lit when the FPGA is first powered a 2 7 PETS N up or there is a configuration error It Short these together to eine Steele alt tir oen ss eor 22 Ge of may blink if the Pl
3. XP or Vista Because the SmoothStepper is a plug in that runs within Mach3 only Microsoft Windows 2000 Windows XP and Vista are supported with the SmoothStepper Breakout Board Warp9 Tech Design assumes no responsibility for damage to you your computer or the SmoothStepper device if a damaging voltage is applied to the I O of the SmoothStepper The use of a breakout board is recommended to protect you the computer and the SmoothStepper A breakout board is a device that connects to the SmoothStepper s I O connectors and connects each I O line to buffer ICs or terminal blocks The terminal blocks provide a convenient method of connecting Page 3 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 motor drivers limit switches etc to the SmoothStepper These buffer ICs may be optical isolators which are ICs that transfer a signal by way of light rather than electricity By converting electricity to light and back again an electrical path for damaging voltages and currents is eliminated See the Warp9TD website for boards that are compatible with the SmoothStepper s speed website page TBD Mach3 Mach3 must be installed on the computer When upgrading Mach3 please make sure that the current rev of Mach3 is compatible with the current rev of the SmoothStepper PlugIn The SmoothStepper downloads website will document this You will be exploring new territory if you use the very latest version of Mach3 Hopefully if a new
4. is only available on the Warp9TD site but the MachSupport website 1s a mirror for the latest driver and PlugIn Please note that there might be a lag from the time a new PlugIn is posted on the Warp9TD website and when it appears on the mirror You will need the windows drivers for the SmoothStepper as well as the current version of the Mach3 PlugIn for the SmoothStepper http warptd com downloads htm http machsupport com artsoft plugin htm 2 2 SmoothStepper Description The SmoothStepper is a 6 axis motion control device that connects to the USB port of a computer It accepts commands from a trajectory planner 1 e Mach3 and produces a very high quality pulse train to stepper and servo motors At this time the SmoothStepper only works with Mach3 but a Software Development Kit SDK is planned which will allow developers to integrate the SmoothStepper with other motion planning software When used with Mach3 the SmoothStepper can act as a replacement for two printer ports both in terms of function and connections It can be viewed as a super printer port If your system is currently using Mach3 with one or two printer ports changing to the SmoothStepper should be very easy The SmoothStepper allows computers with no printer ports such as laptops to control motion with Mach3 Great care was taken to make the SmoothStepper an easy replacement for the parallel ports Initial wiring in most existing systems will be as simple as unplugging
5. software may impair i or destabilize the correct operation of your system the driver is not either immediately or in the future Microsoft strongly digitall d recommends that you stop this installation now and Igitaly signed contact the hardware vendor for software that has passed Windows Logo testing Continue Anyway STOP Installation Cancel Found New Hardware Wizard ma m Please wait while the wizard installs the software X Confirm File Replace i es If the following Source c Strpemoothsteppensbdrivers 04 064 3664FT Lang all prompt 1S display Target CMWINDOW S system324FT Lang dll Click Y es The target file exists and is a different language than the source Overwrite the English United Kingdom file with the unspecitted language one Yes Ho Ho to All lt Black ext gt ance Page 10 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Found New Hardware Wizard OOOO Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard The wizard has finished installing the software for z SmoothS tepper Click Finish Click Finish to close the wizard Back Finish Eancel 3 2 2 Windows 2000 After extracting the files close all programs Connect the smooth stepper board to your computer using the USB cable provided You should see a blue power on LED illuminate on the SmoothStepper board There will also be a steady red LED indicating the firmware is not
6. the clone which can then be modified to work with the SmoothStepper leaving your Page 17 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 original profile intact It is not good to use one XML file and change it back and forth between SmoothStepper and printer port Make a copy of your XML file and store it in a safe place leaving the original in your Mach3 folder If you are setting up Mach3 for the first time just select either Mach3Mill or Mach3Turn from the Session Profile dialog box To make a clone of your settings go to your Mach3 folder and double click on Mach3 exe The following dialog box will appear Session Profile g x Current Profiles Create Frofile Mach3turn Delete Profile Click Create Profile Cancel OK Cas SS Page 18 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Session Profile x Create Profile x In the Clone From Clone From New Profile Mame window select your current SmoothStepper working profile In the New a a Profile Name window type Default Profile Values in the name you want to use Do nok put any extension for your SmoothStepper on the new profile profile Click OR OK Cancel You now have a new profile with all your settings ready to configure for SmoothStepper operation Session Profile E x Current Profiles Create Profile Delete Profile Highlight your new profile in the Current Profile window and click ORK
7. version of Mach3 requires a change to the PlugIn it will be known beforehand and the following link will provide that information http warptd com downloads htm 3 0 Unpacking And Preparing Your SmoothStepper Your SmoothStepper will be packaged in an anti static bag Please be careful to handle it in a static free environment 3 1 Package Contents Depending upon what you ordered the package should include the following SmoothStepper board USB Cable Ribbon Cables 4 small shorting jumpers These jumpers are plugged onto the board already though the power jumper is the only one of them doing any shorting The other three are only attached to one of the two posts You should note where they came from and store them for safe keeping if you do not use them see section 3 2 for a picture of the SmoothStepper and further description of what the jumpers are used for 3 Resistors used for termination at the differential receivers These resistors are provided for your convenience if you choose to terminate a differential encoder The resistors may be attached to the wires on the screw terminals They may also be soldered to the circuit board if you are qualified to do so The resistors have a value of 121 ohms This may or may not match the impedance of your cable That is one reason they are not pre installed 3 2 Getting Acquainted With The Circuit Board Please look at the following page which is a picture of the SmoothStepper board
8. yet loaded in the SmoothStepper The Windows Hardware Wizard should appear If not go to the windows Start menu and under Settings Control Panel select Add Hardware Page 11 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Found New Hardware Wizard Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard This wizard helps you install a device diver for a hardware device Click Next To continue click Next Found New Hardware Wizard Install Hardware Device Drivers device driver is a software program that enables a hardware device to work with an operating system This wizard will complete the installation for this device 66 Choose Search for Smooth Stepper v1 2 a suitable driver for my device eee 3 A device driver is a software program that makes a hardware device work Windows recommended needs driver files for your new device To locate driver files and complete the Installation click Mext What do you want the wizard to do m 66 DO era en a Click Next Search for a suitable driver for my device recommended C Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that can choose a specific driver lt Back Cancel Page 12 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Found New Hardware Wizard E Locate Driver Files Where do pou want Windows to search for driver files Search for driwer files for the following hardware device op Smooth Stepper v1 2 Ch
9. SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 1 Preface Any machine tool is potentially dangerous Computer controlled machines are potentially more dangerous than manual ones Warp 9 Tech Design Inc accepts no responsibility for the performance of any machine or any damage or injury caused by its use It is your responsibility to insure that you understand the implications of what you design and build and to comply with any legislation and codes of practice applicable to your country or state If you are in any doubt you must seek guidance from a professionally qualified expert rather than risk injury to yourself or to others This document is intended to give details about how to set up the Warp9TD SmoothStepper for the Mach3 system It assumes that you are familiar with the contents of Using Mach2Mill or Using Mach2Turn still in preparation as appropriate You are urged to join the online discussion forum on the Warp9TD website and the Mach3 forum on the Artsoft website In addition there is a valuable forum for all things Mach related on the Mach Yahoo group http www warp9td com http machsupport com forum index php http groups yahoo com group mach mach2cnc 2 0 Overview This manual provides the information necessary to install the SmoothStepper in a CNC system controlled by Mach3 It is assumed that Mach3 is installed on your computer and that its version is compatible with the SmoothStepper PlugIn It is outside the sco
10. ads page http warp9td com downloads htm 4 2 Installing SmoothStepper drivers The installation of the SmoothStepper driver is just like the installation of any Plug and Play driver under Windows The following step by step instructions will insure the drivers are properly loaded Go to the folder that contains the zipped driver file and extract contents In Windows XP and above the operating system has a built in zip utility In Windows 2000 you will need a program such as WinZip to extract the files Page 6 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Open Search Explore Extract All In XP and Vista you might Sce something Scan with Norton Antivirus similar to this F Extract files FS Extract Here 3S Extract to SmoothStepperL SBDriver2 04 06 Right click on the zip file and select Extract Open With Here SS oso Send To Cut Copy Create Shortcut Delete Rename Properties This remainder of section 4 2 1s divided into three sections one for each of the supported operating systems Please fast forward to your operating system and go from there 4 2 1 Windows XP After extracting the files close all programs Connect the SmoothStepper board to your computer using the USB cable provided You should see a blue power on LED illuminate on the SmoothStepper board There will also be a steady red LED indicating the firmware is not yet loaded in the SmoothStepper The Windows Hardware Wizar
11. ady to talk to the SmoothStepper device The PlugIn for Mach3 1s the application that will be doing that This section describes how to install the PlugIn The Mach3 PlugIn for the SmoothStepper is available as an m3p file on the Warp9TD website s Downloads page http warp9td com downloads htm Save the file to a convenient place on your computer An m3p file is a Miach3Plugins file It is the same thing as the dll file that is located in the Mach3 PlugIns folder It is provided in this form because it becomes a simple matter of installing the file by double clicking it When you double click it the file will automatically be copied to the Mach3 PlugIns folder and its extension will be changed to dll 6 0 Configuring Mach3 for the SmoothStepper With drivers and PlugIn installed and the SmoothStepper connected to the USB port it is time to prepare Mach3 for the SmoothStepper A steady blue LED power on and a steady red LED firmware not loaded should be illuminated on the SmoothStepper board One computer running Mach3 can have several different profiles to run different machines or the same machine in different configurations The configuration files for these profiles have the extension xml If you already have a working system it is important to preserve your existing profile Mach3 has the ability to create a new profile that is a clone of your existing profile This allows all your settings to be transferred to
12. d should appear If not go to the windows Start menu and under Settings Control Panel select Add Hardware Be Found New Hardware Y Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard Windows will search for current and updated software by looking on your computer on the hardware installation CO or on the Windows Update Web site with your permission When the wizard Read our privacy policy appears select No not at this time and click Next Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for sottware Yes this time only Yes now and every time connect a device f No not this time Click Next to continue lt Back Hext gt Cancel Page 7 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Found New Hardware Wizard This wizard helps you install software for SmioothStepper YT Select Install from alst andclick fe If your hardware came with an installation CD or floppy disk insert it now Next What do you want the wizard to do Install the software automatically Recommended Install from a list or specific location Advanced Click Nest to continue Back Ment gt Cancel Found New Hardware Wizard Please choose your search and installation options Select Include this location in the 29 Search f Search for the best driver in these locations Use the check boxes below to limit or expand the default search which inclides loca
13. er options Found New Hardware SmoothStepper V1 2 Browse for driver software on your computer Search for driver software in this location C tmp SmoothStepperUSBDriver2 04 06 Include subfolders Page 15 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 D Found New Hardware SmoothStepper V1 2 Installing driver software GI Windows Security 66 ja Select Install this x Windows can t verify the publisher of this driver software driver software anyway This gt Don t install this driver software warning 1S because You should check your manufacturer s website for updated driver software the driver 1S not for your device digitally signed gt Install this driver software anyway Only install driver software obtained from your manufacturer s website or disc Unsigned software from other sources may harm your computer or steal information v See details WS mi Found New Hardware SmoothStepper V1 2 Installing driver software ber The drivers will install Page 16 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 a Wo Found New Hardware SmoothStepper The software for this device has been successfully installed Windows has finished installing the driver software for this device Up on suc ces sful pe SmoothStepper installation you will see this dialog box 5 0 Installing the SmoothStepper Plugin for Mach3 With the driver installed the computer is re
14. he 5V from the USB there is no way to connect it improperly 7 2 Connect to a Breakout Board The SmoothStepper was designed to be a parallel port replacement You should be able to connect its I O ports directly to a breakout board and follow the instructions for that piece of hardware This manual will be expanded to cover this topic in detail 8 0 Specifications 6 axes of coordinated movement plus a spindle Spindle control may be Step amp Direction PWM or discrete on off Maximum Step Frequency is 4 MHz I O Port 1 12 Outputs and 5 Inputs Port 2 12 Outputs and 5 Inputs or 4 Outputs and 13 Inputs Port 3 6 Inputs 3 differential and 3 single ended Grand Total 24 Outputs and 16 inputs or 16 outputs and 24 inputs depending upon configuration All outputs are 5V CMOS logic Port 2 pins 2 9 have CMOS thresholds input and output All other inputs are TTL except for 3 of them that are differential and are intended to be used with an encoder Except for Port 2 pins 2 9 and the differential inputs all other inputs are Schmitt Triggers All outputs capable of sinking or sourcing 32 mA An expansion port 1s available for future expansion which will allow for practically unlimited I O that does not have a high speed requirement roughly 10 Hz which is as fast as Mach3 processes most I O The interface to the computer is through an FTDI FT245RL USB chip The interface is Full Speed USB which is 12 Mbps USB 1 1 or 2 0 requ
15. ired Power Requirements depend upon load You may optionally choose to power from either the USB 5V or an external 5V via screw terminals or pin 26 of either 26 pin header Page 25 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 9 0 Troubleshooting TBD Page 26 of 26
16. l Click the Browse paths and removable media The best driver found will be installed button and select Search removable media floppy CD ROM the folder I Include this location in the search containing the C Mimp SmoothStepperISEDriver2 04 06 Browse SmoothStepper drivers previously C Dont search will choose the driver to install downloaded and Choose this option to select the device driver from a list Windows does not guarantee that the driver you choose will be the best match for your hardware unzipped This directory may be different than that shown lt Back Next gt Cancel Page amp of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Please choose your search and installation options Browse For Folder Click OK O rollie carts la Sadie sara_rob slides O Semooth Schtepper doc El D SmoothStepperUSbDriverz 04 06 3 amd 4 O i386 O solid edge key Please choose your search and installation options Click Next C Mtrp SmoothStepperU SB Oriver2 04 06 kd Page 9 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Please wait while the wizard installs the software eS __ EE i The software you are installing for this hardware E Smooth tepper Click Continue has not passed windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility Anyway This with Windows sF Tellme why this testing iz important warning is because Continuing your installation of this
17. nicate with the SmoothStepper hardware The installation of the drivers is the same as it is for any new hardware in Windows and need only be done once The second part is the Mach3 PlugIn which allows Mach3 to send motion and I O information to the SmoothStepper The Mach3 PlugIn for SmoothStepper is installed once on initial setup and whenever you choose to upgrade to a new version For reference the communication hierarchy is as follows Mach3 gt SmoothStepper PlugIn gt SmoothStepper USB driver gt SmoothStepper device When Mach3 loads and runs the SmoothStepper PlugIn the first thing the PlugIn does is download the computer program called firmware into the SmoothStepper hardware This happens automatically and invisibly The firmware contains the instruction set for all the SmoothStepper functions All of the digital hardware including the pulse generators is included in the firmware The firmware is actually a component of the PlugIn file so no action is required on the part of the user With the firmware being a component of the PlugIn it insures that the firmware and the Mach3 PlugIn software are of the same versions This eliminates the costly headache of mismatched firmware and software Upgrades are also trivial with this arrangement 2 3 System Requirements Processor TBD Memory Mostly a requirement of Mach3 The additional memory required by the SmoothStepper is minimal USB 1 1 or 2 0 Operating System Windows 2000
18. oose Specify a e 59 The wizard searches for suitable divers in its driver database on your computer and in location Click any of the following optional search locations that you specify Next To start the search click Nest IF vou are searching on a floppy disk or CO AOM drive Insert the floppy disk or CO before clicking Next Optional search locations Floppy disk drives CD ROM drives M Specify a location RDO S SLID OIONCaN OO OO Microsoft Windows Update Back Cancel Navigate to the folder containing the SmoothStepper driver files look for a file ftdibus inf Found New Hardware Wizard Locate Driver Files ae Where do you want Windows to search for diver files Found New Hardware Wizard B E xjl Click Open and l th Cli k OK Look irr a SmogthStepperU SB Driverz 04 06 d El en Clic oO E History Click Next m File name b int My Network F Files of type Setup Information inf Cancel Page 13 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Found Sew Hardware Wizard Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard O SmoothStepper Windows has finished installing the software for this device Click Finish To close this wizard click Finish E ance 4 2 3 Vista After extracting the files close all programs Connect the smooth stepper board to your computer using the USB cable pro
19. pe of this document to explain the operation or configuration of CNC systems and Mach3 except for that information that is specific to the SmoothStepper For information pertaining to the operation of Mach3 and CNC systems in general there is a wealth of sources already available See the links in section 2 1 for sources Installation of the SmoothStepper is meant to follow the order of the chapters in this manual Please follow this sequence and you should have a successful installation The following chapters are contained in this manual 2 0 Overview Description and System Requirements 3 0 Unpacking your SmoothStepper Unpack your SmoothStepper and learn about its features Page of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 4 0 Installing the SmoothStepper Drivers Downloading and installation process for the SmoothStepper drivers This step includes connecting the SmoothStepper to your computer The installation is described in detail for each of the three supported operating systems Windows 2000 XP and Vista 5 0 Installing the SmoothStepper PlugIn for Mach3 6 0 Configuring Mach3 7 0 Connecting the SmoothStepper to Your Machine 8 0 Specifications Electrical and Mechanical Specifications 9 0 Troubleshooting If you happen to have trouble these hints might offer a solution 2 1 Useful Links The Warp9 Tech Design web site is the main source for all files for the SmoothStepper The latest version of this manual
20. rom everything Select external 5V by moving jumper JP4 unfortunately the JP4 designator is hidden by the large yellow capacitor to the two terminals away from the USB connector The middle pin of the three pins is the 5V for the board and this is either jumpered to the USB 5V or the external 5V screw terminals TERE C10 Jumper in USB 5V Position Jumper in External 5V Position The screw terminals are pluggable that is they may be unplugged from the board The 11 pin terminal is actually composed of several 2 and 3 pin connectors so don t be alarmed 1f it starts to come apart as you pull it off Also note that these connectors can be plugged onto their headers in one of two orientations One is with the wires facing up and one with them facing out Either Orientation Is OK Page 24 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 The polarity of the external 5V is printed on the PCB in front of 2 terminal screw terminal Ground is the terminal closest to the mounting hole This is the only mounting hole of the four that connects to the ground of the circuit board all the other holes do not connect to anything Jumper JP5 right next to the hole connects this hole to the ground of the PCB You may connect it as you see fit If you connect the SV with the correct polarity the blue power LED will be lit If not no LEDs will be lit Once you have the 5V connected properly then you may proceed If you are using t
21. s manual 4x15 Diags Diffs Encoders Encoder 1 fo Encoder 2 fo Encoder 3 fo Queue Status Sequence ID 37 Total Sequence Count fo Line Number fo Buffer fo Command Interrupted Error Device Time ms 1922215 Velocity FIFO Ran Dry E Limit Hit Probe Reg x axis T Probe or Homing Hit 7 Is Still Probe Reg Y 4xi E DCM Unlocked Probe Reg Z Axis 0 Invalid Command Error Probe Reg A Axis fo Command Not Set Error T Diagnostics Logging rvc_Fifo en velocity fifo Fill mode 7 probe or home decel en rvc_decel all axes Spindle Ratio 0 Pw mode Current Vel T Current Acc Jogging Spindle ay ty 2 4 6 orc E C axis B axis axis z Axis Y Axis O x Axis 7 Jog Cmd Unknown m Jog Cmd Too Long E 7 0 Connecting The SmoothStepper to Your Machine The SmoothStepper is intended to be used with breakout boards that make it easier to wire motors and switches as well as protect it from damaging voltages by way of optical isolation Optical isolation also keeps electrical noise from one circuit away from another since the signals are transferred by light rather than electricity If you are using an external 5V supply please see section 7 1 before connecting the SmoothStepper to anything This section of the manual still needs a fair amount of material to be complete Please check back later for
22. the printer port cables from the back of the computer and plugging them into the two 26 pin headers on the Smooth Stepper using an adapter An advantage here is that the ports amp pins setup under Mach3 for the printer port should work without change with the SmoothStepper Page 2 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 The only connection required between the SmoothStepper and the host computer is through a USB port This connection provides power and allows communication between the computer and the SmoothStepper The SmoothStepper may also be powered from an external regulated source of 5VDC The SmoothStepper receives movement instructions from the motion planner in Mach3 and produces step and direction pulses for motor controllers that accept that form of control either servo or stepper In addition the SmoothStepper provides spindle control and can handle all the other Input Output I O functions that are normally handled by the two printer ports under Mach3 By taking over the task of producing step and direction signals the SmoothStepper relieves the host computer of most of the CPU load normally involved in running Mach3 The dedicated hardware in the SmoothStepper produces pulse streams up to 80 times faster and with more precise timing than Mach3 using the printer port The Software for the SmoothStepper consists of two parts The first consists of the SmoothStepper USB drivers that allow your computer to recognize and commu
23. the profile you made for the SmoothStepper If started with a cloned profile of a working system all the port and pin assignments should work with no modification If you are setting up Mach3 for the first time see Mach3 documentation for instructions If your motor tunings are such that the maximum step frequency is greater than 256 kHz you will need to change the settings in the SmoothStepper PlugIn Config See the next section for details If you do not do this the SmoothStepper s counters will overflow and you will lose or gain steps Be sure to check your motor tunings to make sure they are set properly The max step frequency settings of the SmoothStepper may affect them The strip of 11 green screw terminals is meant for encoders but may be used as input pins just the same as the pins on the two parallel ports This port is number 3 when you make assignments in the Ports amp Pins Config Per the silk screen on the board the Port 3 assignments are as follows Port 3 Pin Number me ooa E a E Page 20 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 Closing Mach3 and reopening it will force Mach3 to save the values to the XML file For most parallel port settings such as these you can save the config settings by selecting the pulldown menu option under Config but this will not save all the SmoothStepper settings The safest sure way is to restart Mach3 6 1 Optimizing SmoothStepper Operation There are two config
24. uency For each axis A axis 256 kHz Setting this higher than it needs to be will limit resolution For example if the real max l step rate is SOO kHz and you set the Max SRGHIE 256 kHz x Step Frequency to 1 MHz then Full scale will be 1 MHz but the plugin will newer send 4 c axis 256 kHz velocity command to the SmoothStepper greater than 1 2 of Full scale thus losing one Spindle 256 kHz bit of resolution Spindle PWM Base hz 1000 Max Step Frequency If in doubt set the values to 4 MHz The only drawback is that the motion might not be as smooth But the SmoothStepper s counters will not overflow Select PWM if you wish to use that mode of operation Otherwise it will default to Step amp Direction The base frequency is the frequency of the PWM signal PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation The frequency is constant but the pulse width duty cycle changes If you make any changes to this screen please retune your motors see the Mach manual for details and restart Mach3 The Data Monitoring screen shows the data flow between Mach3 and the SmoothStepper board Page 22 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 D _ evice Status Monitoring g Plugin Version Beha ver 0 004 FPGA Version 12 FTOI C2 Driver Version 2 04 05 Inputs A description i Fin Number of the items on gt 8 9 40 this page will l be added in a Prt2 FFP PP E future release of thi
25. ugin is configured to p Cy i t Ki p s 7 reset the FPGA Do not apply i a N gt do so when Mach transmits data voltage Note that you should oii JEG EGS He Seas tgisttts iiiihe agaat i not need this Power LED is connected to 5V Jumper to connect 5V to pin 26 of the 26 pin header Port 2 for powering breakout boards or vice versa or vice versa Pin 14 Port 1 Port 2 Pin 1 pin2 Pin13 Pin1 Pin numbering conforms to the pin numbering of a DB25 connector not the convention for low profile headers SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 3 3 Initial Setup and Testing The SmoothStepper does not need to be connected to motors and breakout boards in order to test its operation with Mach3 Place the SmoothStepper on a static free surface near your computer You may mount it in your chassis control box but do not connect anything to it yet Please use USB power for the initial test The SmoothStepper is shipped in this configuration so you will not need to do anything to select it Later on you may use an external 5V source for power but please read the section on that before doing so 4 0 Installing the SmoothStepper Drivers If you have not already done so download and install the latest version of Mach3 The latest version can be found at http machsupport com downloads downloads htm 4 1 Downloading SmoothStepper Drivers The SmoothStepper USB drivers are available as a Zip file on the Warp9TD website s downlo
26. updates Page 23 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 7 1 Using an External 5V Supply The SmoothStepper may be powered from either the 5V of the USB cable or a regulated 5V supply It absolutely must not peak any higher than 5 5V otherwise you will damage the device External 5V may be applied via the pluggable screw terminal J7 or 1t may also be applied via jumpers JP2 and JP3 These jumpers are meant for breakout boards and it 1s not recommended to use them unless you re using them that way If you are using this method of powering the SmoothStepper you should be very sure to move the power selection jumper JP4 to the External 5V position Otherwise you would be connecting the external 5V on pin 26 of the header to the computer s USB supply There is no reverse polarity protection for JP2 and JP3 However J7 has a PMOS transistor in series with the positive lead to protect against the accidental connection of power in the wrong polarity But before you connect the 5V to the device disconnect all cables including the USB cable Otherwise if you have the polarity backwards you will be connecting 5V to the ground of your system This can damage your computer and the ground of the SmoothStepper If there is no return path to ground there 1s nothing to worry about The PMOS transistor blocks the current in the reverse direction and current from the 5V supply goes nowhere because the ground of the SmoothStepper is insulated f
27. uration screens for the SmoothStepper both are found under the PlugIn Control pull down menu FaMachs CNC Controller File Config Function Cfg s View Wizards Operator Plugin Control Help Video Window SmoothStepper Beta ver 0 004 Config SmoothStepper Data Monitoring XE The first is a configuration screen for SmoothStepper communication with Mach3 It sets the amount of data that is sent from Mach3 to the SmoothStepper and the maximum pulse frequency for each axis Included also is the opportunity to configure the I O configuration of the second port Page 21 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual 4 15 2008 x OK Controller Frequency The Controller Frequency controls how mans 1 kHz times per second the velocity is updated when outputting pulses This setting has tradeoffs At higher Frequencies the motion should be smoother because there are more veleocity updates per second Buk at higher Frequencies the negative aspects include lower resolution probably a minor pointi a smaller data buffer and more demands on USB bandwidth At 250 Hz up to 4 seconds of data can be queued up Each doubling of Frequency halves the buffer length so at 500 Hz 2 seconds can be buffered 1 kHz 1 second etc Port 2 Pins 2 through 9 Direction x axis 256 kHz Out Y axis 256 kHz Set the maximum step Frequency to the 7 avjs 206 kHz value that is greater than the maximum step Freq
28. vided You should see a blue power on LED illuminate on the SmoothStepper board There will also be a steady red LED indicating the firmware is not yet loaded in the SmoothStepper Found New Hardware Select Locate and Windows needs to install driver software for your install driver SmoothStepper V1 2 software recommended Locate and install driver software recommended It will try to find the Windows will guide you through the process of installing driver software for your device files on the Internet 4 but it won t find gt Ask me again later them You can Windows will ask again the next time you plug in your device or log on speed up the process i by disconnecting Don t show this message again for this device Your device will not function until you install driwer software your Ethernet cable to the Internet first Page 14 of 26 SmoothStepper User s Manual Select I don t have the disc and click Next Click the Browse button and select the folder containing the SmoothStepper drivers previously downloaded and unzipped This directory may be different than that shown Found New Hardware SmoothStepper V1 2 Insert the disc that came with your SmoothStepper V1 2 4 15 2008 F you have the disc that came with your device insert it now Windows will automatically search the disc for driver software I don t have the disc Show me oth
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search