Is there a way to incorporate into a part program to ask the operator what tool changer slot is currently loaded? PC-DMIS would then accept the slot the operator has specified. My goal is to create a part program in the event that a part program is aborted. I want the operator to be able to move the probe to a safe area for rotation to A0B0 before it approaches the tool changer. Thanks.
I have a need that is similar to Mark's. I'd like to be able to find out what tool is loaded but
without any operator prompts (can't trust inexperienced operators). This would have to be done BEFORE the first LOADPROBE command. I looked through the HELP files for some sort of GETSETTING command or GETPROGRAMINFO command or PROBEDATA command but nothing exists to extract this info. The system has is somewhere - if I could open/read a .DAT file or if there's something deep in the bowels of PC-DMIS that I can extract, I can figure out the rest.
Number the probe bodies to identify them with a slot, then you can keep a list handy of the tool rack setup so all your operators could easily interpret what probe file it is that is loaded.
Or color code them with some cheap nail polish. It only requires a dot of color on the rack and you could put it on the shank if needed. (Not optimal in all situations but where no other surface is available to mark, this is the easiest type of visual identifier)
^These aren't program solutions but thought maybe they could still be helpful.
The CMM can remember the last probe used, there is a setting that can be checked in the Probe Setup window. "Don't ask operator for currently loaded probe file when using probe changer." < This function works best for where I work. I think it also means that Gary should be able to find the last loaded probe file using a script.
Thank you Kai Kendall and R2ah1ze1l for your response. There are many easy solutions to my problem but due to all the limitations of the CMM volume, fixture setups, etc., I am unable to employ them. Without getting too deep in the weeds, here is what I need to accomplish: 1.) If the inexperienced operators have an issue that stops the execution of the measure program and they restart the program, it could crash into the tool change rack IF the first LOADPROBE command in the program is different than what was loaded at the time of program interruption (ok...I'll just say it...when the operator crashes the program) and IF the last probe 'A' angle is in a negative (-) direction (example: A-100B-90). 2.) I need to write a utility program that can extract the current loaded probe and then I can rotate it to A0B0 in a safe area further away from the rack load position...that's it. Don't want to write a script file if a simpler solution can be used. (See also my 1-10-2023 post). I thought I'd try to pick everyone's brain on the forum first before I submit a case with Hexagon Support.
Just going to say your operators are going to answer this question wrong more than you think and cause the crash. I would avoid this like the plague..... or covid....
Perhaps I didn't explain this properly - my bad. Let's break it down by disregarding everything I wrote about the need for this. Simply put, PC-DMIS knows what the loaded probe is. I need to be able to find and grab that loaded probe info, from a measure routine, so I can do whatever it is I want.
Gary Gosine, I don't think you will be able to get all of the information you are looking for without using scripting. Even then, assuming you are able to get what PC-DMIS
thinks is the currently loaded probe, there is no fool-proof way of knowing what is
actually loaded other than physically checking yourself or maybe employing some sort of RFID and reader or a barcode and scanner. As you have said yourself, the reason you are wanting this is because you cannot trust your operators and, no matter how idiot proof you think you may make something, trust me, someone will come along who dives to a much deeper depth of idiocy than you ever anticipated and royally mess everything up.
As I've said, PC-DMIS only stores or has available what it has requested, not necessarily what the actual "real-time" state of the system is. Most of that information is only available at the controller level and is inaccessible to customers / automation.
It would be great to have a RIFD in every probe head and stylus module so that PC-DMIS is sure what probe is loaded.
To many times a user accidentally selected to wrong active probe (its pretty easy to mess up as the selected probe can be changed accidentally with the mouse wheel) .
sort of like what they have in the Romer modules? It reads the ID of whatever you have plugged in and 'automatically' inserts that 'loadprobe' into the program.
Matthew D. Hoedeman I don't know romer moduls. What I want is that every stylus module has a chip. The probehead has a chip reader/writer.
So instead of asking the user what is the loaded probe (or if the question is turned off, guessing what probe is loaded). It knows is with certainty.
