2000 Series Waterjet Operating Manual

Introduction

Overview

This manual gives ~~the~~an ~~process~~overview for the basic operation ~~for operating~~of the MachMotion Waterjet control. The screen is shown below, followed by a brief summary of the different features of the screen. The ~~number~~numbers shown in the screenshot refers to a brief description below the image.

Control Startup

To open the control software double-click on the profile icon on the desktop.

Control Screen Overview

GCode Tab

Toolpath
- Regen Toolpath: refresh the displayed toolpath
- View Top: top view of the part
- View ISO: Side view of the part
File
- Recent: load a recently loaded gcode program
- Load: load a gcode program from the computer
- Edit: edit the gcode program currently loaded into the control
- Close: close the gcode program that is currently loaded into the control
Advanced
- Single Block: when active, the control will go line by line through the gcode program when the operator presses [Cycle Start]
- Block Delete: when active, will skip the lines in the gcode program indicated by their block level
- Part Counter: displays the number of parts that the machine has produced
- M1 OPT Stop: when active, the control will stop at any M1 command in the gcode program and wait for the operator to press [Cycle Start]
- Dry Run: when active, the control will ignore all mist or flood commands
- M-S-T Lock: when active, the control will ignore all mcodes, jet commands, and tool commands
- File Resume: allows the operator to select a line of gcode to start the program from and makes the control ready to run from that location
- Collapse: minimizes the advanced section to only show M1 OPT Stop and File Resume
Status
- Status: displays the most recent message
- State: displays the current control state
- Cycle Time: displays how long the gcode program has been running
- Date: displays the current date and time of the control
Axis Digital Readouts
- For each axis on the control, there is the following:
  - A DRO displaying the current position
  - A DRO displaying the distance left to travel
  - A gauge displaying the current load on the axis
  - Indication that the axis has not been homed if the axis letter is flashing
- MDI: opens or closes a window for gcode commands
- Viewing Part: toggles the axis position DROs between machine coordinates and the current fixture coordinates
Active Modals
- Active Offset: displays the current fixture offset
Tool Display
- T: displays the current selected tool number
- Next Tool: displays the next tool to be used by the gcode program
- Diameter: displays the stored diameter of the current tool
- Length: displays the stored length of the current tool
Feedrate Display
- F: displays the current commanded feedrate
- Feed OV: displays the current feedrate override percentage (0-300%)
- Rapid OV: displays the current rapid override percentage (0-100%)
Jet Display
- Pierce Delay: displays the current pierce delay while jets are turning on in seconds
- Abrasive Rate: shows the rate of abrasive output at a percentage of ability
- High Pressure: toggles if the jets operate in high pressure mode
- Cut Recovery: moves machine to the closest point on the path of the loaded gcode program and asks for confirmation to start cutting from there
- Station 1 - 4: toggles which jet stations will turn on when jets are on and which stations also use abrasive

Fixtures Tab

Edit
- Edit Offsets: edit the active fixture offsets
Fixtures
- Fixture Table: view and edit the fixture table for all fixtures
Align
- Plate Alignment: open plate alignment wizard to rotate machine for crooked plate material
Fixture Offset
- Displays the current fixture offset for each axis
Work Shift Offset
- Displays the current work shift offset for each axis and allows the operator to edit them
G52 Offset
- Displays the current G52 offset for each axis
Axis Digital Readouts
- For each axis on the control, there is the following:
  - A DRO that displays the current position and allows to edit the current fixture offset
  - A DRO displaying the distance left to travel
  - A gauge displaying the current load on the axis
  - A button to zero the current fixture offset to the current location

Service Tab

Maintenance Tab

Limts
- Soft Limits: toggles software limits on or off
- Limit Override: toggles to allow for the machine to move off a limit switch
PLC
- Reset Pocket: only used for tool changers
- PLC Sequence
Enable
- Disable: toggles if the machine is enabled or disabled
Settings
- Interface Config: opens the MachMotion parameters for editing
- Motion Controller: opens the configuration for the active motion controller
- Screen Config: opens the configuration to change the colors and password protect aspects of the screen
- Industrial Theme: applies standard colors to screen objects
- Toggle Menu: opens settings for top menu bar
- Compile Scripts: refreshes programming scripts
Homing
- Home X: sends X axis to do its homing routine
- Home Y: sends Y axis to do its homing routine
- Home Z: sends Z axis to do its homing routine
- Home All: all axes do their homing routine in their configured order
Support
- Remote Support: starts a remote support session with the MachMotion technical support team
- Support: opens the online MachMotion Support Library
- Updates: checks for updates to the MachMotion control software
- History: view the operator message history
User
- Logout: logs out of the Windows username
- Power: turns off the computer

Dashboard Tab

The dashboard is used to make the control just the way you want it! For more information, read here.

Machine I/O Tab

This tab is used for diagnostics and shows all enabled machine signals.

Homing

To home the machine, begin by pressing the [Reset] button. Then navigate to the [Service/Maintenance] tab and press [Home All]. There is an optional parameter to prompt the user to home the machine on startup.

Programmed Movement

MDI

To command a movement using the MDI feature, press the [MDI] button.

Enter the desired gcode command into the field and press [Cycle Start] to execute the command(s). The up/down arrow buttons will scroll through the history of cycled commands. Click the [X] or the [MDI] button to close the MDI window.

GCode

The primary method of commanding motion is using gcode files. Gcode files can be hand written, generated by a wizard, or generated from CAD files using a CAM program.

Toolpath Screen

The controls to manipulate the toolpath screen are as follows:

- Zoom – Right click with the mouse and move mouse up/down or using the scroll wheel on the mouse
- Rotate – Left click with the mouse and rotate the part by moving the mouse
- Pan – Press and hold [Ctrl] on the keyboard and left click with the mouse, then pan by moving the mouse (one-hand control option is to use left and right mouse click and move the mouse. No [Ctrl] press needed)

Jet Control

Gcode Jet Commands

The jet is controlled with with mcodes M3 (On) and M5 (Off). These commands can be done in gcode or through MDI.

Manual Jet Control

To control the jet separately from gcode, use the spindle controls on the operator panel. The buttons for [FWD] and [REV] will both turn the jet on, while the [STOP] button will turn the jet off.

Jet Run Settings

The control supports up to four jets. A jet must be enabled in the parameters by mapping the appropriate outputs to control the pressure on, high pressure, and abrasive.

When commanding the jets on, the selection of which jets turn on is done on the screen. Each station can be selected individually if it should turn on and if it should use abrasive. All stations that are on will operate in high-pressure mode or not together. All stations using abrasive will use abrasive at the same rate. All stations that turn on will use the same pressure, abrasive, and pierce delays.