I have been using pcdmis on a Romer Arm for years but just got a job at a shop that has it on a CNC machine. Since I’ve only used it with a Romer Arm, I’ve never had to program move commands or alignment in relation to a machine. No one that I work with can tell me where or how to program alignment to the machine or the probe movement commands. Anything would help.
First thing to keep in mind with PCDMIS NC is that the probe length on the machine controller matters.
PCDMIS uses the center of the probe tip when telling it to move, so that's what you should set your length to on the controller (and this should be as accurate as possible).
I've found that calibration will make sure that measuring a sphere reads the perfect diameter. But if your tool length is off, then you're not measuring the sphere at the actual apex or largest point. If that's the case, all the diameters you measure will be off.
Here's what I did for a particularly tricky disk probe:
1. Put the cal sphere in the machine, and give it a work offset
2. Then put a ring gage next to it and give it it's own work offset
3. Write a quick program that calibrates on the sphere, then checks the ring
4. If the ring checks off, then adjust the length of the probe on the controller
5. Re-run program
6. If it got better, then fine tune till it's perfect. If it got worse, reverse the direction and repeat.
This worked for me, hopefully it works for you. Also, you can set the work offset at the beginning of your program by using the code:
CNC/USEWORKOFFSET... Then you tell is G54, G55, etc.
First thing to keep in mind with PCDMIS NC is that the probe length on the machine controller matters.
PCDMIS uses the center of the probe tip when telling it to move, so that's what you should set your length to on the controller (and this should be as accurate as possible).
I've found that calibration will make sure that measuring a sphere reads the perfect diameter. But if your tool length is off, then you're not measuring the sphere at the actual apex or largest point. If that's the case, all the diameters you measure will be off.
Here's what I did for a particularly tricky disk probe:
1. Put the cal sphere in the machine, and give it a work offset
2. Then put a ring gage next to it and give it it's own work offset
3. Write a quick program that calibrates on the sphere, then checks the ring
4. If the ring checks off, then adjust the length of the probe on the controller
5. Re-run program
6. If it got better, then fine tune till it's perfect. If it got worse, reverse the direction and repeat.
This worked for me, hopefully it works for you. Also, you can set the work offset at the beginning of your program by using the code:
CNC/USEWORKOFFSET... Then you tell is G54, G55, etc.
