CNC Bender v11-20091218

Type of Upgrade: Critical ACCURACY The changes in this version are designed to make CNC Bender more accurate and run faster.

REPAIR - Feed Accuracy Issues During Feed/Rotate Motion When Bend Arm Returning

There were circumstances were the Feed positioning axis accuracy could decrease unacceptably by Processor making multiple calls to the BEND axis when the BEND axis was returning to ZERO, and the Feed/Rotate axes began to move at the same time. We discovered this problem running on a new high-speed Pro-face operator station running LiteControl. We are convinced that this issue could occur in any bender with newer software being run in a fast Pro-face control. After several tests, we have confirmed that this version of CNC Bender completely RESOLVES the issue.

The issue is directly linked to: The "Don't Move if Within Position Tolerance Of" value in the AXIS configuration file - where axis moves are skipped when they are already in position. ...Combined with situations where multiple axes are called simultaneously in the same COMDEF (like when the bend arm is returning and the Feed/Rotate axis starts up).

CHANGE - Removed TOLERANCE Option from AXIS File

The "Dont Move If Position Within Tolerance Value" value is no longer used This resolves issues discussed in the previous section. This line can be safely removed from all future main.axislist files This feature was originally introduced in version CNC Bender 10.0.6.0m - Tolerance Move Skip in November of 2006. It was intended to reduce problems with the axes floating near zero, and Absolute moves having difficulty determining which way to move into position. (For example, the Feed axes could attempt to run backwards behind zero under very rare circumstances until version CNC Bender v11-20091201, where all axes are now kept far from internal zero.) Because of the permanent resolution to the absolute direction problem in version CNC Bender v11-20091201, and because of the problems caused by this option as discussed in previous sections, it was removed from CNC Bender.

REPAIR - For [BEGIN RUN AGAIN] Feature

We discovered that the return of the process to the [BEGIN RUN AGAIN] label did not occur until after the second time through the processlist. This increased time slightly, and sometimes caused the bend arm to pause on the way to the home position when the "Last Row Absolute Feed Clear - Immediate Move" was ENABLED. This problem has been resolved. Parts now run faster on the second time through the process, and the bend arm motion will not be stopped and restarted while returning.

Explanation of Feature: As of version CNC Bender v11-20091104, CNC Processlist Builder inserts a new [BEGIN RUN AGAIN] label placed in the middle of each part's process list to trim off processing time. This allows CNC Processor to skip the initialization section of each new part after it has been run once. The benefit is removal of all latency when the process initializes all axes for loading the next part into the machine.

REPAIR - Placed Collision Messages back in the Immediate Message Box

As of the previous version (CNC Bender v11-20091201), the collision warnings were no longer sent to the Immediate Message box. This is a problem because the software would switch between AUTO and MANUAL mode without any kind of report why. This version resolves that issue. All collision warnings are now again sent to the Immediate Message box. This places the collision messages directly in front of the user on the screen.

ENHANCE - TCP/IP Error Messages Now Include the Module Name

As of this version, the TCP/IP messages sent to the Immediate Message box include the module name that caused the problem. This is how the new message will appear: [TCP/IP Errors] - STOPPING Communication with Modules (Problem with module: digital_output_221) This places the module names directly in front of the user on the screen, rather than only in the TCP/IP log on disk.

Other Pages

• Back to CNC Bender
• Back to CNC Bender Software Updates
• See CNC Bender General Information
• See Final Feed Clearance