Homing and Precision Homing with ClearPath Integrated Servos
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- Watch this TekTips video to learn more about homing and the different homing features included in the ClearPath servo motors. Upon startup, machines typically don't know where each axis is positioned. Homing is the process of moving an axis to a known physical position which all future moves will be in reference to. This video also demonstrates ClearPath's built-in homing features which can be configured in the free ClearPath software and require no additional programming.
Teknic Website: teknic.com/
To downloads the newest version of the free ClearPath software, visit the Teknic Downloads page at: teknic.com/downloads/
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Teknic TH-cam Channel: / teknicinc
0:00 What is Homing?
0:40 Homing to a Sensor/Switch
1:05 Hard-Stop Homing
1:38 ClearPath's Precision Homing Feature - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
I already use the hard stop homing on my lathe and it works quite well. But this will definitely be a plus, I'll upgrade today. Thank you for supporting your products in the long run. The autonomous homing procedure is useful for DIY CNC because if makes for a much more accurate homing that inductive or mechanical sensors, and does not waste the feedback line (have to use it as fault feedback) or any CNC controller input.
Awesome, love new content! Really hoping you are making more videos because it goes a long way to showing what is possible!
There's no place like home
someone had to say it.... lol
How long do you support your motors with software updates?
Can older models use the new software?
Hi Systems Planet,
Assuming that there are no incompatibilities with previously shipped hardware, Teknic will often provide firmware upgrades for free. If the new firmware is an option that costs extra (i.e., it is not a replacement for the older firmware, but rather an optional upgrade), we do not provide the firmware upgrade for free. In this particular case, the new firmware did replace the old firmware (and is the same price), but unfortunately an upgrade to previously shipped motors is not technically feasible. Sorry about that.
Warren G. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
How you do the homing for rotation movements instead of linear movements?
For example, there is a CNC machine that has 4, 5th axis as rotary axes, the 4th axis can be rotated from -400 to 400 degrees due to cables. Since the angle is bigger than 360 degrees how to physically mount any homing element?
Hi Petras - There are a number of ways one could home a rotational axis. If I’m interpreting your question correctly, you’re asking “Is there a homing method for rotary axes that travel more than one full revolution, which prevents installation of any conventional hard-stop?”.
Using your example, with a 4th/5th rotary axis on a CNC machine, the most common solution would be to manage the homing through your CNC controller using some type of non-contact sensor to signal the home position (such as a proximity sensor or slot-type photosensor). CNC controllers will commonly have digital inputs that can be configured to read home sensors like these.
Another option for homing a rotary axis, assuming it is non-geared, is to use ClearPath’s ‘Shaft Angle Homing’ feature to set your home position. This method requires no additional sensor or end of travel hard-stop to use. Just be aware the motor may move more than one revolution before reaching the desired shaft angle, so I’m not sure if this feature fits the motion constraints of your example. The ClearPath user manual has more information about configuring Shaft Angle Homing: www.teknic.com/downloads/?download=0&clearpath=1#cpm_2
I hope this helps! Please feel free to give us a call (585-784-7454) or leave us a message at www.teknic.com/contact/ if you have any additional questions.
Best regards,
Matt C. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
Does it mean that your motors always "remember" its home position even without hard stop physical objects like show in the video?@@TeknicInc Is there a possibility that during the electricity disappearance the Teknic motors "forgets" its home position?
@@petrasvestartas4359
Hi Petras - Hard-stop homing is just one of a few different homing options available in ClearPath. The specific homing options available to you will depend on the ClearPath series and operational mode chosen for the application so the concept of “remembering” the home position could mean a couple different things.
It is difficult to provide you with a more accurate response without understanding more about your application requirements first. If you want to pursue this topic further I encourage you to contact Teknic at 585-784-7454 or send in a contact request to www.teknic.com/contact/ and an engineer will reach out to you directly.
Best regards,
Matt C. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
Dear @@TeknicInc Matt,
I would like to ask why Teknic has no official forum to ask questions?
Teknic motors are one of the best motors, but when it comes to software for example ClearCore and Atmel Studio there is really no support. Which means you must have good knowledge in microprocessors.
I already spoke with several users, which shared a similar story. A company, well known like yours is not really interested to help for small clients. Whereas youtube has a lot of small "DIY enthusiasts", which somehow share a common knowledge but is not a proper platform...
I would like to ask whether if I call directly to you by phone or organize a Zoom call can you actually provide software support related to ClearCore for really inexperienced users?
@@petrasvestartas4359
Hi Petras - Teknic supports all of our customers directly through our team of application engineers. Forum-based support is not something that we’ve strongly considered before. That said, Teknic has a database for feature requests like this, all of which are reviewed by senior engineering management. I’d be happy to add a request to have forum support considered.
I’m sorry if you or others have gotten the impression that Teknic is not interested in helping small clients - this is certainly not the case. We are happy to help answer questions about our products and provide guidance to our customers. This includes providing software support and troubleshooting for our products that require software programming.
What we won’t be able to do is write any application code (beyond the provided examples), or teach customers how to code or how to use any specific IDE. ClearCore is a software programmable controller and, as such, it is expected that the user should have some experience coding in C++ or Arduino (I’ll elaborate more on this next).
I think it’s important to first make it clear that there is no need to have any knowledge of microprocessors in order to use ClearCore. The ClearCore Motion and I/O API abstracts all of the processor hardware and provides base C++ functions for controlling all of ClearCore’s motion and I/O functionality. With this being said, Atmel/MicroChip Studio is a full-featured IDE for interacting with many of MicroChip’s microcontrollers; not just the one within ClearCore. Most of the functionality within that IDE is not relevant for a ClearCore user at all. For a simpler programming interface, I’d recommend taking a look at the Arduino wrapper we created for ClearCore. This allows the ClearCore to be programmed in the Arduino IDE just like an Arduino board. I would highly recommend installing the ClearCore Arduino wrapper and programming in the Arduino IDE if Atmel/MicroChip Studio is giving you trouble.
My final comment is that I kindly ask that you reach out to your Teknic application engineer with any additional questions vs. using TH-cam comments to reach us (TH-cam is not the best medium for providing application specific support). Please feel free to call us at 585-784-7454 or to email us directly at www.teknic.com/contact/.
Best regards,
Matt C. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
But *HOW* does it work?
By reading a document from clearpath, it appears that precision homing is done through the software remembering the partial rotation of the motor during the initial homing calibration. Then, if the end stop gets worn down by a mm, the software can still use the information from the endstop to restore the correct full number of motor rotations, but the partial motor rotation is reset from the initial calibration. This means that the motor can correct for worn down endstops up to +- half a motor turrn.
On the first homing it will memorize the encoder count. Then the homing procedure will only be used to identify on which rotation to home, and the encoder count on that rotation will do the rest.
Hi @Evan-inc.
As @CrazyMineCuber and @SuperYellowsubmarin said, precision homing can automatically account for variations in the physical home position (either a hard stop or sensor) because the motor "calibrates" the home location the first time it is homed. Then, the motor references that calibrated position every time it needs to home again.
As you can see in the video, even after adding the shim or removing the bumper, we home the motor until it detects the hard stop. Upon reaching the hard stop, the motor compares the measured home location to the calibrated home location and automatically accounts for any difference between the two (up to +/- 0.5 motor revs). Precision homing can also be used with a sensor to compensate for variations in sensor position and homing speed.
For more information about homing a ClearPath motor, I suggest checking out the ClearPath User Manual found on our website: teknic.com/downloads/.
If you have any additional questions about precision homing or anything else, please feel free to contact us directly at teknic.com/contact or give us a call at 585-784-7454.
Thanks,
Jon K. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
Im about to buy clear path SDSK-3421S-RLN for X and Y and then SDSK-3432S-RLN for Z axis. Just wondering for my mill should I get the HP models which cost a little more but then supposed to be very very good.
Hi James
I'm an applications engineer with Teknic and would like to help answer your question. The primary difference between the SDSK and the SDHP is that the SDHP has more shaft power. Because shaft power is the product of speed and torque you can get more power by either spinning faster, producing more torque, or both. The other notable difference is that the SDHP models come standard with the "Enhanced" ("E" versus "R" in the part number) encoder option with a command resolution of 6,400 quad counts/rev versus 800 quad counts per rev on the SDSK. The Enhanced option also includes the full complement of the Regressive Auto Spline settings for double jerk limiting your profile for smoother motion.
For most CNC mill retrofit kits, the power and capability of the SDSK closed-loop servo series is more than sufficient. As an example, many of these CNC retrofit systems use ballscrews with a 5 tpi pitch (0.2 inch lead) so, with the CPM-SDSK-3421S-RLN motor at 75 Vdc, you can theoretically achieve 200 inches/min (1,000 rev/min x 0.2 inches/rev = 200 inches/min).
There are naturally a lot of factors that go into picking the optimal motors for your CNC upgrade, but I would start with determining what top speeds (during both rapids and cutting) are important for your application. By understanding the top speed objectives along with your mechanics, you can then narrow down the motor selection.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Teknic at 585-784-7454 or submit a contact request at teknic.com/contact/.
Thanks,
Abe A. - Teknic Applications Engineer
@@TeknicIncwould you know can I use Centroid 6 axes with your motors sdsk 3421s-rln and 3432 sdsk motor?
Hello James,
We don’t personally have direct experience with the Centroid CNC controllers but we do know that many mutual customers use them and seem to be quite pleased with the performance and capabilities. The controllers well-suited for use with ClearPath SDSK and SDHP motors are the Centroid Acorn and AcornSix. There’s also a convenient break-out board for routing control signals from the controller to the ClearPath motors (you can use our standard controller cables without modification). This break-out board is produced and sold by CNC4PC and is called the “C89-ACCP”. www.cnc4pc.com/c86accp-clearpath-connector-board-for-the-acorn-controller.html
If you decide to use the Centroid Acorn controller, I’d also recommend the TH-cam channel, MartysCNCGarage. It’s an excellent educational resource for CNC hobbyists using ClearPath motors with the Acorn controller.
th-cam.com/channels/TNt9IIjsk5HNwnjzer6GVQ.htmlvideos
www.cnc4pc.com/c86accp-clearpath-connector-board-for-the-acorn-controller.html)
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Teknic at 585-784-7454 or submit a contact request at teknic.com/contact/.
Thanks,
Abe A. - Teknic Applications Engineer
@@TeknicInc I was trying to read the Acorn Six Datasheet and picked up on something I dont know whether its important or no. Basically it mentions AC motors and I'd though for some reason your motors were dc. I guess the DC part doesn't matter as they will have their own IPC5 power supply. The acorn six with software looks very impressive. So buy that and the breakout board from cncpc then your motors and ipc5 plus cables. Thats a good setup then?
If this motor has an absolute encoder to memorize the position, why does it need to pump to a hard stop? you can simply home it once forever.
Hi PLC24_max10:
Thanks for commenting and taking the time to ask a question.
Teknic motors have incremental (not absolute) encoders onboard. We’ve found that incremental encoders tend to be more reliable and less expensive than absolute encoders, which is why we use them in all of our motors.
To provide some of the benefits of absolute encoders without the drawbacks, Teknic developed the Precision Homing feature demonstrated in this video. Precision Homing works because the motor “calibrates” and stores (in non-volatile memory) the physical home position the first time it is homed on a set of mechanics. The motor can then reference this stored home position on each subsequent homing cycle. While we still need to home the axis after the machine is power cycled, Precision Homing combined with ClearPath’s Position Recovery feature (demonstrated here: th-cam.com/video/mALi3_QqyHk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=B-RDD600dfYfUctP&t=458), can provide much of the benefits of an absolute encoder as long as you maintain logic power at the motor(s).
Please feel free to give us a call (585-784-7454) or leave us a message at teknic.com/contact/ if you have any additional questions.
Best regards,
Jon K. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
Price?
Hi el SunShine,
Precision Homing is a feature included in all ClearPath SD and MC series motors at no additional cost. If you're looking for product pricing information, this is available on the Teknic website (teknic.com/).
If you have any further questions, please feel free to submit a contact request on Teknic’s website at teknic.com/contact/ or give us a call at 585-784-7454.
Aimee F. - Teknic Applications Engineer
@@TeknicInchow fast would you be able to ship to Mexico
Hi @@elsunshine9976,
The answer to your question depends on the part number(s) and quantities being ordered. All product-specific information regarding shipping and lead times can be found directly on the Teknic website. Here is a link to Teknic's FAQ's page which includes more information about international shipping: teknic.com/faq/?faq=9#faq_international
Aimee F. - Teknic Engineer
Before you waste time in these motors know one thing. I spent days familiarising myself on them only to find at checkout I cant buy any. Reason being is the firm only take credit card. After two emails I am finally told to go to motion industries and in doing so I loose money back guarantee. I pay more and they take longer to be sent to me.
One of these motor is over $500 and the established firm only take credit cards.
Hi James,
We appreciate your feedback to improve our e-commerce resources for customers and I will pass your suggestions on to our management and marketing teams. We work hard to make the information about our products, ordering, and services as clear as possible to prevent prospective customers from wasting their time if there is a reason they cannot move forward with our products.
Our webstore currently accepts all major credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and AMEX, but as you unfortunately found out, it does not accept debit cards. A notable reason for this is that debit cards have a higher level of fraud risk for the vendor (Teknic). We continuously evaluate payment options (e.g., PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and even crypto), but each option has different transaction fees, costs, and risks with incorporating them into the third-party checkout modules we license.
Best of luck with your application and I apologize again for any confusion about our ordering process.
Best,
Bridgette O. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer
@@TeknicInci use stripe on my ecommerce website to handle all card types. Credit and debit. To mention charges for uses debit card is one reason you dont accept them when your motors alone can be over $500 each makes me laugh.
I offered to wire funds direct to your account. Rather than accept knowing the trouble I have been put through and that the money was over $1800 dollars, neither was my idea accepted or even spoken about.
My time was wasted.