PMDX-SmartBOB-USB
Mach4 Plug-in Release Notes
Version 0.46.221
31 Aug 2016

Support for the PMDX-SmartBOB line of products is available on our support forums here: http://www.pmdx.com/pmdx-forums/

Plug-In Updates: We announce new versions of both Mach4 and the SmartBOB Mach4 Plug-In software on our forums. You can subscribe to receive an email whenever we post an annoucement so that you always have the latest features and bug fixes. We also post plug-in releases on the SmartBOB-USB Mach4 Plug-in page.

Documentation Updates: We also announce new versions of the PMDX-SmartBOB Quick Start Guide and the upcoming User's Manual on our forums.

• Plug-In version: 0.46.221 (31 Aug 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.53.195
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2872 and higher (tested with builds 2872 and 2914)
  ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2872 **

(2.1) M6 Tool Change Macro Notes:

The M6 macros provided in our sample profiles in PMDX SmartBOB plug-in versions 0.43.213 and earlier DO NOT WORK due to a file name corruption. Plug-in release 0.44.214 and later releases (including this release) fixes this file name problem if you are installing the sample profiles for the first time. It WILL NOT fix any existing sample profiles, nor will it fix any profiles that you have copied from the sample profiles.

The issue has to do with upper case vs. lower case "M" the "M6" part of the file name. In order for the macros to be called by Mach4, the case of the file name must match the case of the function name. If the file name is "m6.mcs" then the function name inside the file must be "m6()". Likewise, if the file name is "M6.mcs" then the function name must be "M6()". The sample M6 macros that we provide use upper case in the function name, but the file name got changed to lower case.

This problem does not affect the upper or lower case used to call the "M6" macro from your GCode files or MDI commands. You may still use either upper or lower case (i.e. "M6" or "m6").

There are two ways to fix this in your existing profiles:

1. EXIT MACH4! In the "YourProfileName/Macros" directory, rename the "m6.mcs" file to "M6.mcs" (i.e. using upper case "M" as the first character of the file name). Then you must also delete the "m6.mcc" file to force Mach4 to re-compile the M6 macro.
2. Or... EXIT MACH4! Edit the "m6.mcs" file in the "YourProfileName/Macros" directory and change the function name from "M6()" to "m6()" (i.e. now using a lower case "m"). You will need to do this in two places. The first is at the top of the file where the line reads "function M6()". The second place is near the end of the file where there are 3 lines that tell the debugger to call this function.

(2.2) Screen Set Note:

If you are using the older "wxMach" screen set and have NOT made any modifications to it, we strongly urge you to update your profiles to use the newer "wx4" screen set. The "wxMach" screen set is no longer under active development, and does not include any of the probing support that is in the newer "wx4" screen set. Furthermore, the "wx4" screen set is being actively improved and enhanced.

How do I know which screen set I an using? The "wx4" screen set has "Probing" and "Offsets" tabs along the top of the Mach4 window, next to the "Program Run", "Tool Path" and "Machine Diagnostics" tabs. It also shows you the screen set name in the lower right corner of the Mach4 window, at least in the wx4 screen set as installed with Mach4 build 2914. This might change in future releases or if someone has edited the screen set. The "wxMach" does not have the "Probing" or "Offsets" tabs, and does not show the screen set name.

Changing the Screen Set: To change the screen set:

1. start Mach4 and load your profile
2. Go to the "View" menu and select "Load Screen"
3. When the "Select Screen File" dialog appears, change into the "Screens" folder if it is not already there.
4. Select/highlight the "wx4.set" file and click on "Open"

(2.3) New features since Version 0.45.217:

• The "Steps" LED no longer flashes during "dwell" (G04) intervals.

(2.4) Bug Fixes Since Version 0.47.217:

• Fixed bug introduced in version 0.45.217 that corrupts the Spindle RPM measurement mode (sets to "Disabled") and encoder mode (sets to "None"). This happens on PMDX-410, PMDX-422, PMDX-416 and PMDX-424 devices, and only when the spindle speed control is set to "PWM" or "Pulse Frequency". The PMDX-411 and PMDX-412 are not affected.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the "Steps" LED to continue flashing after a "motion underrun" error has halted motion.
• Do not allow "Expanded Input" mode on the PMDX-416.
• Prevent INDEX input messages from flooding the plug-in's debug log and possibly crashing Mach4 (could only happen if the debug log is enabled and the "Debug Mode" set to "Debug").

(2.5) Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)

**WARNING**

If your profile contains macros for M3, M4 or M5 like the ones installed by the Mach4Hobby installer in the "Mach4Mill" profile, you MUST delete these files in order for the PWM spindle speed control to function. The macros as provided with the "Mach4Mill" profile DO NOT WORK, and they are not needed for the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB to function. See the instructions below on how to delete these files.

If you used the Mach4 Loader's "Copy Profile" button to copy the "Mach4Mill" profile to a new profile, that new profile will contain these macro files. If you copied the "PMDX-Sample" profile to a new profile, that new profile will not contain these macro files (see note below). If instead of copying an existing profile, you clicked on the "Create Profile" button to create a new profile, that new profile should not contain these macro files.

NOTE that if you installed the PMDX sample profile from plug-in version 0.13.63 (Nov 2014) or earlier, that profile may contain these macro files. You will need to manually delete them (see below for instructions). EVEN IF YOU TOLD THIS LATEST INSTALLER TO INSTALL THE SAMPLE PROFILE! The installer does NOT overwrite an existing copy of the sample profile.

If you have created custom versions of the M3, M4 or M5 macros, or have Lua code that affects that functionality, you will need to test them with the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB plug-in to see if the plug-in still works with your macros.

To delete the M3/M4/M5 Macro files: Presuming that you intalled Mach4 in the default "C:\Mach4Hobby" directory, these macros files are stored in the "C:\Mach4Hobby\Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros" directory. If you installed Mach4 into a different directory (for example, "C:\MyMach4"), the substitute that directory name for the "Mach4Hobby" directory in the directory path mentioned above (it now becomes "C:\MyMach4\Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros"). You should see two files for each M-code. For example, "M3.mcc" and "M3.mcs". You must remove both of these files for each M-code, either by deleting them or by moving them to another directory.

Symptoms of Mach4 Startup Input Signal Problem

Sometimes, when you start Mach4 with a PMDX-SmartBOB connected and enabled, the input signals from the SmartBOB will not be properly handled by Mach4. If you display the "Machine Diagnostics" tab in Mach4, some of the input signals that come from the SmartBOB will show as active when they are in fact NOT active. If any of these signals are assigned to limit switches then Mach4 will not allow motion towards those limits until the inputs are properly synchronized. Toggling that input signal will cause Mach4 to then display the proper input signal state.

NOTE: This only happens on Mach4 startup. Once Mach4 and the SmartBOB plug-in and device are running, the input signals function as they should.

This happens only on some computers, and only on input signals from the SmartBOB are defined as "Active Low". Even then, this does not always happen.

Work-Around

Our work-around for this problem was for PMDX to add a delay to our plug-in. During startup, the plug-in inserts a delay between the time Mach4 tells us it is OK to start reporting signal values and when we actually start reporting them. By default this delay is set to 250 milliseconds. This works for a variety of computers here at PMDX, but it may not work for you. If not, see the steps below to adjust the delay.

If you see the symptoms described above, then try changing the startup delay as follows:

• With Mach4 running but not enabled, go to the "Configure" menu and select "Plugins"
• Click on the "Configure" button for the PMDX-SmartBOB
• In our configuration dialog, click on the "Performance Settings" tab
• Change the "Startup Configuration Delay". Try increasing that delay then click on "OK" until you are back at the main Mach4 screen. Exit Mach4 and re-start it.

If you still see the input sigals displaying incorrectly on startup, increase the delay some more and try again. If you reach the maximim startup delay and you still see the input signals displaying incorrectly, contact PMDX support. Meanwhile you should be able to use the "Manual" work-around described below.

Manual Work-Around

Opening and closing the "Mach Configuration" dialog will also correct this problem. Go to the Mach "Configure" menu and select "Mach". When the "Mach Configuration" appears, click on either "OK" or "CANCEL". This causes the SmartBOB plug-in and the Mach4 core to resynchronize and Mach4 will display the correct input signal states.

Section contents:
    (4.1) Encoder Overview
    (4.2) Displaying and Changing the Encoder Position
    (4.3) Connecting the Encoder to the PMDX-SmartBOB
    (4.4) Configuring the Encoder as an MPG
    (4.5) Configuring the Encoder for Spindle RPM

(4.1) Encoder Overview

The following PMDX-SmartBOB boards support an encoder interface:

• PMDX-410 (revision B and higher)
• PMDX-422 (revision B and higher)
• PMDX-416 (all versions)
• PMDX-424 (all versions)

The encoder can be used as an MPG (Manual Pulse Generator) for jogging axes or changing parameters (such as "Feed Rate Override"). The encoder can also be used to measure the spindle RPM (see the Spindle RPM section for more information). Note that using an encoder to jog axes or change Mach4 parameters currently requires custom Lua code to select the axis to jog, or to update the Mach4 parameter from changes in the encoder position. Once an axis has been selected for MPG jogging, Mach4 will handle converting encoder position changes into jog motion.

Encoders on the PMDX-SmartBOB can operate in one of two modes:

• Without an Index Pulse (infinite linear scale) - when the encoder is configured without an index pulse, it emulates an (almost) infinite linear scale. Turning the encoder clockwise will increment the encoder count up to the maximum value of a signed 32-bit number (2,147,483,647). Rotating the encoder counter clockwise will decrement the encoder count to the minimum value of a signed 32-bit number (-2,147,483,648). These modes should be used when the encoder will be used as an MPG. These modes should not (and cannot) be used for spindle RPM.
• With an Index Pulse - when the encoder is configured with an index pulse the encoder count will reset to zero on each index pulse. The encoder also uses the "Encoder Counts per Revolution" field to determine the maximum encoder count. When the encoder is rotating clockwise, the encoder count and will roll over to zero when the count reaches that value even if there is no index pulse. Conversely, the encoder count will roll over from zero to (counts per revolution)-1 when the encoder is rotating counter clockwise. These modes should be used for measuring spindle RPM and position. These modes should not be used when the encoder is an MPG as the roll-over will cause unexpected jogging motion.

(4.2) Displaying and Changing the Encoder Position

If the encoder is enabled, the SmartBOB's real-time display will show the current encoder position. To display the real-time status window, go to the "Diagnostics" menu and select "PMDX-SmartBOB-USB", then click on the "Show Real-Time Input/Output Status"button.

If you wish to create a DRO on your screen set to display the encoder position, use the following steps.

NOTE: What follows is not a detailed step-by-step process for editing the screen set. It just outlines the major steps needed. Please refer to the "Scripting Manual" in the Mach4Hobby\Docs directory and the MachSupport forums for more help with editing the screen sets.

1. Enter the screen editor by going to the Mach4 "Operator" menu and selecting the "Edit Screen".
2. Add a DRO somewhere on your screen.
3. Click once on the DRO to display its properties in the lower left corner of the Mach4 window.
4. Set the "Register" parameter to "SmartBOBUSB/EncoderDRO". DO NOT SET TO "SmartBOBUSB/Encoder&MPG"! Doing so can cause spurious jog motion when you edit the DRO value to change the encoder position. The plug-in will also ignore external changes made to the "SmartBOBUSB/Encoder&MPG" register and will overwrite any changes with the actual value from the SmartBOB device the next time the encoder is rotated.
5. Set the "Format" field to "%d" (without the quotes).
6. Set the "Editor" field to "In Place" if you want to be able to change the encoder position by editing the DRO value (see below). If all you want to do is display the encoder position, then set the "Editor" field to "Read Only".
7. Close the screen editor by again going to the Mach4 "Operator" menu and selecting the "Edit Screen". When asked if you want to save the changes, answer "Yes"

Changing the Encoder Position: If you allowed the DRO to be edited, the plug-in will allow you to change the current encoder position only in the following circumstances:

• If the encoder mode is "without index"
• AND the encoder is mapped to an MPG AND Mach4 is disabled (this prevents spurious jog motions due to changing the encoder, and therefore possibly changing the MPG position).
• OR the encoder is NOT mapped to an MPG (in which case we don't care if Mach4 is enabled or not).

If the encoder mode is one with an index pulse, the plug-in will not allow you to change the encoder position. Instead it relies on the index pulse to set the zero location. If the encoder is mapped to an MPG and Mach4 is enabled the plug-in will not allow changing the encoder position because that could cause spurious (and quite large) jog motions from the MPG system.

(4.3) Connecting the Encoder to the PMDX-SmartBOB:

To connect a quadrature encoder (with or without index):

1. Connect the "A" and "B" phases to the "A" and "B" input terminals on the encoder connector.
2. If the encoder has an "index" signal, connect the "index" wire to the "C" terminal on the encoder connector. While it is possible to connect the "index" wire to any input on the PMDX-410 and PMDX-422 boards, the "C" input has a faster response time. On boards with isolated inputs (the PMDX-416 and PMDX-424, for example), you must use the "C" input because the other inputs do not share the same ground as the encoder connector and all signals from the encoder must use the same ground reference.

To connect a single-line encoder (with or without index):

1. The encoder input must be connected to the "B" input on the encoder connector.
2. If the encoder has an "index" signal, connect it to the "C" input on the encoder connecter as described above in the quadrature encoder section.

(4.4) Configuring the Encoder as an MPG

WARNING: When using an encoder for jogging an axis or changing a Mach4 parameter, DO NOT use an encoder mode with index. If you use an encoder mode with an index input, you will get unexpected behavior (very large jog motion) when the encoder position rolls over from "max count" to zero at the index pulse.

To configure the encoder for use as an MPG:

1. Enable the encoder. In Mach4 go to the "Configure" menu and select "Plugins..." and then select the "PMDX SmartBOB-USB".
2. Click on the "Encoder Config" tab.
3. Click on either the "Bi-Directional Encoder without Index" or "Uni-directional without index".
4. Currently, the "Encoder Counts per Revolution" field is ignored when using encoder modes without an index pulse, so you can leave that field set to its default value.
5. Click on the "OK" button to save the changes and close the plug-in configuration dialog.
6. Go to the Mach4 "Configuration" menu and select "Mach...", and then click on the "MPG" tab.
7. Use the row marked "Mpg #0" unless you have other encoders already configured using that row.
8. Click on the red "X" in the "Enabled" column to change it to a green check mark.
9. Click in the box in the "Encoder" column, then click on the down arrow to display a list of available encoders. Select "SmartBOBUSB/Encoder&MPG".
10. Leave the "Counts per Detent" set to "1". The current plug-in version ignores this field.
11. Enter a non-zero value in both the "Accel%" and "Velocity%" columns. These numbers represent the acceleration and velocity used for jogging motion from this MPG. They are a percentage of the velocity and acceleration values entered in the "Motors" tab. For example, if you enter "50" in both columns, MPG jog motion will use 50% of the axis' maximum velocity and 50% of the axis' acceleration.
    NOTE: If you leave these set to zero, the PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in will not allow you to enable Mach4. These must be set to non-zero values.
12. The "Reversed" column should only be checked if rotating the MPG causes the axis to jog in the opposite direction from what you expect. Normally this is not needed, and you should use the "Quadrature Encoder Reversed" setting in our plug-in encoder configuration tab.
13. Click on the "OK" button to save the changes.

The encoder is now configured to act as an MPG. You will need either custom buttons on you screen set, or custom Lua code in order to select which axis the MPG will jog (it defaults to the "X" axis).

WARNING: In Mach4 builds up through 2914 (at least), the default screen sets (both the "wx4" and "wxMach" screens) do not provide a way to disable MPG jogging. It is enabled by default. When an encoder is configured as an MPG, if Mach4 is enabled and you turn the encoder, Mach4 will jog the current axis. The only way to be able to turn the encoder/MPG without jogging an axis is to disable Mach4, or use the "Jog MPG" output signal as described below.

Using the "Jog MPG" Output: In the Mach configuration dialog on the "Output Signals" tab is a signal names "Jog MPG". If that signal is enabled and in-active (i.e. set to zero), then Mach4 will ignore the MPG and not jog the current axis. If the "Jog MPG" output is active (i.e. set to one), then Mach4 will attempt to jog the current axis if the MPG changes and Mach4 is enabled. The "Jog MPG" output is special in that any Lua script or screen control may control its output value using mc.mcIoSetState(), the Mach4 core does not control it.

(4.5) Configuring the Encoder for Spindle RPM

WARNING: If the encoder will be mounted on the spindle, DO NOT configure the encoder as an MPG! Doing so will cause Mach4 to attempt to jog the current axis whenever the spindle is turning.

To configure the encoder for spindle RPM calculations, follow the steps in the How to Configure an Encoder for Spindle RPM section.

In addition to PWM (pulse width modulation) spindle speed control, the PMDX-SmartBOB also supports "step pulse frequency" mode. In this mode the PMDX-SmartBOB outputs a series of step pulses whose frequency is related to the desired spindle speed. The pulse frequency is calculated by:

Pulse Freq (Hz) = (CommandedRPM / MaxRPM) * MaxPulseFrequency

The "MaxRPM" value is the value entered in the Mach4 spindle configuration tab as described below.

The step pulses are always 50% duty cycle, meaning that the pulse width is one-half of the pulse period. In other words:

pulse width (in seconds) = 1 / [ 2 * (pulse frequency in Hz) ]

To configure an output pin for step pulse frequency mode:

1. Go to the plug-in configuration dialog and click on the "Spindle Config" tab. To bring up the plug-in configuration dialog go to the Mach4 "Configuration" menu and select "Plugins...", then select "PMDX-SmartBOB-USB".
2. In the top section labeled "Spindle Speed Control" click on the "Pulse Frequency" radio button.
3. Select the output pin that you wish to use for the step pulse output.
4. In the "Max Pulse Frequency" field enter the pulse frequency that corresponds to your spindle controller's maximum RPM. The plug-in will accept values between 100 Hz and 25,000 Hz (25 KHz). Consult the documentation for your spindle controller to find out the frequency value to enter here.
5. There is also a "PWM/Pulse Freq Output Polarity" field. Normally you can leave this (or set this) to "Active High". Since the PMDX-SmartBOB outputs a 50% duty cycle waveform, the polarity does not matter when we are outputting pulses (i.e. when the spindle is moving). The only time that the polarity MIGHT matter is when the spindle is idle. If "Active High" does not work with your spindle controller, try the "Active Low" setting.
6. Click on the "OK" button to save your changes.
7. Now configure your spindle speed range. Go to the Mach4 "Configuration" menu and select "Mach...". Then click on the "Spindle" tab.
8. In the first row (labeled "0"), enter the minimum RPM (usually zero) and maximum RPM of the actual spindle. This is NOT the same as the maximum step pulse frequency that you entered above! Rather, this is the spindle RPM that will (or should) result from the PMDX-SmartBOB outputting that maximum step pulse frequency.
9. If you wish to fill in the "Accel Time" and "Decel Time" fields, enter the maximum time (in seconds) that it takes your spindle controller to go from stopped to max RPM, and from max RPM to stopped. Mach4 will then add a delay after each M3, M4 or M5 command. The delay (in seconds) is calculated as:

   Acceleration delay: [(CommandedRPM - CurrentRPM) / (MaxRPM)] * AccelTime
   Deceleration delay: [(CurrentRPM - CommandedRPM) / (MaxRPM)] * DecelTime

10. The PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in currently ignores the "Feedback Ratio" and "Reversed" fields.
11. The PMDX-SmartBOB plug-also in ignores the "Max Spindle Motor RPM" setting near the bottom of this dialog.
12. We usually recommend leaving the "Wait onspindle to stabilize to" box un-checked.
13. Click on the "OK" button to save these changes.

You should now be ready to run your spindle.

WARNING: Step Pulse Frequency control is NOT the same as using a Mach4 "Out of Band" motor for spindle speed control. Out of Band motors are controlled by the Mach4 motion planner and are not currently supported by the PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in. Step pulse frequency speed control is controlled entirely by the PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in in the same manner as PWM speed control.

Section contents:

(6.1) Spindle RPM Overview
(6.2) Limitations
(6.3) How to Configure a 1 Pulse per Revolution Spindle Sensor
(6.4) Configuring an Encoder for Spindle RPM
(6.5) Configuring the Encoder for Spindle RPM

(6.1) Spindle RPM Overview

The PMDX-SmartBOB supports three methods of measuring or estimating the spindle RPM and reporting that to Mach4:

• A 1 pulse per revolution sensor attached to the spindle and connected to any input pin on the SmartBOB device, then mapped to the Mach4 "Index" signal.
• On PMDX-410 (revision B or higher), PMDX-422 (revision B or higher), PMDX-416 and PMDX-424 boards, an encoder with index mounted on the spindle. The encoder can be a "quadrature" encoder with 2 phase signals, or a "single-line" encoder, also known as a tachometer.
• When PWM spindle speed control is enabled in the SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog, there is a checkbox to calculate the estimated spindle RPM based on the PWM duty cycle.

(6.2) Limitations

• In order to use an encoder to measure RPM, the encoder must have an index pulse. Future versions of the plug-in may support calculating RPM from encoders without an index pulse.
• The SmartBOB is configured to measure spindle RPM from 5 RPM up to more than 20,000 RPM. In order to measure spindle speeds down to 5 RPM, the SmartBOB needs to wait up to 12 seconds for a pulse from the spindle sensor (5 RPM is 1 revolution every 12 seconds). Therefore, when the spindle stops running, it can take up to 12 seconds for the SmartBOB to report zero RPM to Mach4. Until that happens, the RPM readout on the Mach4 screen will continue to display the last reported (non-zero) RPM reading.
• The plug-in reports spindle RPM to Mach4 approximately every 100 milliseconds. The SmartBOB device can calculate and update the RPM to the plug-in more often than that. The plug-in restricts the reporting rate to Mach4 to try to balance the need/desire for rapid updates for the operator to see versus unnecessary screen updates.
• When calculating the estimated RPM from the PWM duty cycle, the reported RPM will most likely not exactly match the commanded RPM. That is due to the discrete nature of the PWM signal. The SmartBOB supports 10-bit resolution (1024 counts) when calculating the PWM duty cycle. That means that the duty cycle has 1024 discrete steps between zero RPM and the maximum RPM that you have configured for the current spindle range. The reported RPM will be rounded to the nearest step. For example, if your spindle range is 0 to 20,000, and you command the spindle to 3,000 RPM, the PWM duty cycle will be:
  

  duty cycle = ROUND((commanded RPM) / (max RPM)) * 1024
  cuty cycle = ROUND((3000/20000)*1024)
  dyty cycle = 154 (out of 1024), or 15% duty cycle
  

  To calculate the RPM to report back to Mach4:
  

  calculated RPM = ((duty cycle) / 1024) * (max RPM - min RPM)
  calculated RPM = (154/1024) * (20,000 - 0) = 3007.8 RPM

(6.3) How to Configure a 1 Pulse Per Revolution Spindle Sensor

To configure Mach4 to use a SmartBOB input as a 1 pulse per revolution spindle speed sensor input:

1. Connect your sensor (usually an optical or proximity sensor) to one of the SmartBOB's input terminals. You may use any of the SmartBOB inputs. If you are using a PMDX-410 (revision B or higher), PMDX-422 (revision B or higher), PMDX-416 or PMDX-424, we recomment using the "C" input on the encoder connector as that input has a faster response than the regular input terminals.
2. In Mach4, go to the "Configure" menu and select "Mach...".
3. Click on the "Input Signals" tab and scroll down almost to the bottom to find the "Index" signal.
4. On the "Index" line, click on the red "X" in the "Mapping Enabled" column to change it to a green check mark to enable that input. In the "Device" column select the "SmartBOBUSB". Then in the "Input Name" column select the SmartBOB input pin that you have the sensor connected to. Depending on your sensor configuration you may also have to change the "Active Low" setting.
5. Click on "OK" to apply the new configuration.
6. To test your spindle sensor, click on the Mach4 "Machine Diagnostics" tab (in older screen sets this was also called "Diagnostics"). Then slowly rotate the spindle by hand. You should see the "Index" indicator in the upper left section of the screen light up when the sensor triggers. If the indicator is "on" most of the time and only turns off when the sensor triggers, then change the "Active Low" setting on the "Input Signals" tab as mentioned above.

You should now be able to see the measured spindle RPM in the "Spindle" section in the lower right corner of the Mach4 screen.

(6.4) How to Configure an Encoder for Spindle RPM

Connect your encoder as described in the Connecting the Encoder section.

To configure the plug-in and Mach4 to use the encoder for spindle RPM:

1. Configure the "Index" input as described above in How to Configure a 1 Pulse Per Revolution Spindle Sensor.
2. Next enable the encoder. In Mach4 go to the "Configure" menu and select "Plugins..." and then select the "PMDX SmartBOB-USB".
3. Click on the "Encoder Config" tab.
4. Click on either the "Bi-Directional Encoder with Index" or "Uni-directional with index".
5. Fill in the "Encoder Counts per Revolution" field with the number of encoder counts (also called "number of lines") per spindle revolution. This is not the number of quadrature counts (quadrature counts are 4 times the line count).
6. Click on the "Spindle Config" tab.
7. In the section titled "Spindle RPM Measurement and Reporting", select "Measure RPM from the Encoder".
8. Click on the "OK" button to save the changes.

(6.5) How to Configure the Spindle RPM from PWM Duty Cycle

If you don't have a sensor on your spindle, and you are controlling the spindle speed with a PWM signal from the SmartBOB, then you can have the SmartBOB plug-in calculate an estimated RPM based on the PWM duty cycle. This is the estimated RPM because the spindle speed interface (for example, the PMDX-407) and the spindle control electronics (VFD, etc.) may not have an exactly linear response to the PWM signal.

NOTE: This option is not available if there is an input pin mapped to the Mach4 "Index" input. An "Index" signal that can measure the actual spindle RPM take priority over an estimated RPM reading.

To enable using the PWM duty cycle for spindle RPM:

1. Open the SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog by going to the "Configuration" menu and selecting "Plugins...", then click on the "PMDX SmartBOB-USB" item. In older versions of Mach4, you will see a plug-in dialog and you will have to click on the "Configure" button on the PMDX SmartBOB line.
2. When the SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog is displayed, click on the "Spindle Config" tab.
3. Make sure that the PWM output is enabled in the "PWM Spindle Speed Control" section.
4. Then check the box labeled "Report calculated spindle RPM to Mach4". Note that this check box will not be available if there is a SmartBOB input mapped to the Mach4 "Index" input signal.
5. Click on "OK" to activate the new setting.

You should now be able to see the estimated spindle RPM in the "Spindle" section in the lower right corner of the Mach4 screen.

The PMDX-SmartBOB's probing implementation makes the following assumptions and restrictions:

• Supports G31 probe command.
• The probe input MUST be connected to a PMDX-SmartBOB input signal, and assigned to the Mach4 "PROBE" input. Note that in some Mach4 profiles created with older versions of Mach4, the "PROBE" input was called "DIGITIZE".
• When Mach4 attempts to execute a G31 probe move, if there is no signal assigned to the "PROBE" input, or if that signal is not a PMDX-SmartBOB input, then the SmartBOB plug-in will halt/disable Mach4.
• Does not yet support G31.1, G31.2 and G31.3 variants of the probe command, which use the Mach4 "PROBE1", "PROBE2" and "PROBE3" input signals respectively. If Mach4 attempts the execute one of these G31.x commands, the PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in will halt/disable Mach4 and display an error message on the Mach4 status line (and in the history window).

WARNING: There is a bug in Mach4 builds up through 2568 that can cause the Mach4 core to hang if the limit switch input is active when a G31 command is started. This was partially fixed in build 2568, but running the G31 command from the MDI window still exhibits this problem. G31 commands inside of a GCode file work properly in build 2568.

COMING SOON

The SmartBOB plug-in allows you to show a window that displays the states of the input and output signals as they appear to the screw terminals or 26-pin ribbon header pins on the SmartBOB board. It also displays the current encoder position for devices that support encoder inputs. This can be used to help diagnose issues with signal assignments in Mach4 and also to make sure that the SmartBOB is "seeing" the signals you have connected to it.

To display the real-time status of the I/O signals, go to the Mach4 "Diagnostic" menu and select the "PMDX-SmartBOB-USB" from the drop-down list. On the diagnostics window that is displayed, click on the "Show Real-Time Input/Output Status" button. That will display another window to show the states of the input and output signals. This new window defaults to being always on top, meaning it will always be on top of any other window, including the main Mach4 display. If you don't want that behavior then un-check the "Stay on Top" check box.

The real-time status uses colors to show the state of the input and output signals:

• Green - The signal is a logic "high", or somewhere between 3.3V and 5V (roughly).
• Red - The signal is a logic "low", or somewhere close to 0V (i.e. ground).
• Yellow - The signal is toggling (note that the display updates approximately every 100ms, and "toggling" means that the signal changed state at least 2 times during that 100ms interval).
• Orange - This color is used only for Charge Pump signals, and only for the special case of the SmartBOB Plug-In having "PMDX-126 Expanded Inputs" mode enabled and Mach4 being disabled. Orange shows that the charge pump is toggling but at a very low rate. The rate is low enough that the PMDX-126 sees it as not valid and keeps its outputs disabled. But it still allows the SmartBOB to read the multiplexed inputs from the PMDX-126. Please see the Expanded Inputs section of this document and the PMDX-126 User's Manual for more information about "Expanded Inputs" mode.
• Black - The signal's state cannot be displayed. This was used for the step and direction signals (pins 2 through 9), and for any pin that was assigned to one of the "charge pump" outputs or the PWM spindle speed control. However, as of plug-in release 0.33.159 the states of all of these signals can be displayed, so the color black is not used any more.

Homing Assumptions and Restrictions

The PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Plug-In and firmware are designed with some assumptions about the machine's configuration and some restrictions as to what machine configurations are supported. These assumptions and restrictions only pertain if the SmartBOB is selected as the "motion device" in Mach4.

The plug-in will generate an error message and abort the homing sequence if the configuration does not meet these restrictions. Some of these restrictions will be removed in future releases of the PMDX-SmartBOB plug-in.

The assumptions and restrictions are:

• As of plug-in version 0.18.97 the plug-in supports a maximum of 2 motors per axis (previous versions did not support any slaved motors)
• All motors assigned to the same axis must have the same motor tuning parameters (steps/unit, acceleration and velocity). The "Reversed" setting does not need to be the same for each motor assigned to an axis.
• DEFINITION: An axis is "homable" if the "Home Order" is non-zero and the "Home In Place" setting is disabled (i.e. has a red "X"). These settings can be found in the "Homing/Soft Limits" tab of the "Mach Configuration" dialog.
• For each axis that is "homable" (see above definition) AND will actually be homed, each motor assigned to that axis must have a home switch input configured in the "Input Signals" tab of the "Mach Configuration" dialog. Furthermore, the home switch must be connected to an input on the SmartBOB device. The SmartBOB plug-in and device do not support homing configurations with the home switches connected to other devices.
• This release of the SmartBOB plug-in uses only one home switch input per axis, even if there is more than one motor assigned to that axis. In the Mach4 configuration, that one home switch must be assigned to all motors for that axis, with the same setting (red "X" or green check mark) in the "Active Low" column. For example, say that the X axis has motor0 and motor1 assigned to it, and that the home switch for motor0 is on SmartBOB input Pin11 and the switch signal is active low. In the Mach4 "Input Signals" tab, the "Motor 0 Home" and "Motor 1 Home" must both be assigned to the SmartBOBUSB Pin11 with a green check mark in the "Active Low" column.
• The SmartBOB presumes that the home switch is located near or at one end of the allowable travel for that axis. In addition, the SmartBOB presumes that when a homing sequence starts none of the motors are "beyond" their home switch. If the axis is beyond the home switch when homing starts, the machine configuration is not usable for automatic homing.
• If the axis is on its home switch when a homing sequence starts, the SmartBOB will attempt to move off of the home switch ONLY IF the limit switches for that axis are either (a) not configured, or (b) configured on a different input than the home switch. If the home and at least one limit switch for that motor share the same input, the SmartBOB will require the operator to manually jog the axis off of the home/limit switches before homing can start. Depending on your limit switch configuration, jogging off of the limit switches may require enabling the "Limits Override" feature in Mach4.
• If multiple axes have home switches that share the same input, none of the axes can be on their home switch when homing starts. If any of these axes are on its home switch, the SmartBOB will require that the operator manually jog all affected axes off of their home switches before homing can start.
• If multiple axes have home switches that share the same input, the "Home Order" must be configured so that each of these axes homes one at a time. For example, if the X and Y axis home switches are both wired to the Pin11 input, the "X" and "Y" axis must have a different value in the "Home Order" field so that one axis homes and then the other one homes. This homing order constraint is assumed to be correct and the plug-in does not explicitly test for this configuration.

Homing Operation

The PMDX-SmartBOB-USB takes the following steps to home an axis:

• If the axis is on the home switch, the SmartBOB will do one of two things depending on the limit switch configuration:
  • If there are no limit switches defined for that axis, or the limit switches are assigned to a different input than the home switch, then the SmartBOB will attempt to move the axis off of the home switch by moving approximately 1 inch in the opposite direction than what is specified in the "Home Dir" setting in the "Homing/SoftLimits" configuration tab of the regular Mach4 configuration dialog. The speed of this move is the "Home Speed %" setting from the "Homing/SoftLimits" configuration tab. If, after moving 1 inch the axis' home switch is still active the SmartBOB will abort the homing procedure and return an error the Mach4.
  • If there are limit switches defined for that axis and they share the same input as the home switch, then the plug-in will abort the homing operation and prompt the operator to manually jog the maching off of the home switches. Once the axis has been jogged off of the home switch the operator can request another homing sequence.
• The axis then moves towards the home switch at the "Home Speed %" setting until the home switch becomes active
• Once the home switch is active, the SmartBOB moves an additional 0.050" (or 1.27mm) to ensure that the axis stops beyond the hysteresis point of the switch. The axis then decelerates to a stop.
• Then the axis starts moving back off of the homing switch at a speed that is 1/4 (25%) of the homing speed used to approach the home switch.
• Once the home switch de-activates, the SmartBOB moves the axis an additional 0.050" (1.27mm) off of the switch to ensure that it is beyond the hysteresis point (in case the home switch is also a limit switch).
• The SmartBOB plug-in then tells Mach4 that the axis' position is the value specified in the "Home Offset" field of the "Homing/SoftLimits" tab.

Future versions of the SmartBOB plug-in will allow the user to configure all of the parameters used in the homing sequence above.

The SmartBOB plug-in now supports the PMDX-126 in "Expanded Inputs" mode. When "Expanded Inputs" mode is enabled, there are an additional 4 input signals available. The additional inputs signals are named "PinE", "PinF", "PinG" and "PinH" to match the signal names on the silkscreen on the PMDX-126 circuit board. This means that the PMDX-411 has 9 input available (all through the PMDX-126), the PMDX-410 and PMDX-422 have 12 inputs available (9 through the PMDX-126 and 3 from the PMDX-410/422's J10 connector). See the following table.

Expanded Inputs Mode Assumptions and Restrictions

The SmartBOB plug-in and the PMDX-126 board have certain requirements and restrictions in order for Expanded Inputs mode to function properly.

• One and only one of the two Mach4 charge pump signals must be assigned to the SmartBOB's output Pin17. If that is not the case when you enable Expanded Inputs mode in the plug-in, the plug-in will attempt to modify the Mach4 configuration to assign a charge pump signal to Pin17 (after warning you about what it is going to do).
• The PMDX-126 must have it's DIP switches configured for "Expanded Inputs" mode. The SmartBOB does not support the PMDX-126's "Expanded I/O" or "Expanded Outputs" modes. See the PMDX-126 User's Manual for more information on configuring and using "Expanded Inputs" mode.

Expanded Inputs Mode Input Signal Sample Rates

When in "Expanded Inputs" mode, inputs Pin11, Pin12, Pin13, Pin15, Pin E, PinF, PinG and PinH are sampled at a rate determined by the charge pump frequency, which has a fixed (non-user editable) value depending on which SmartBOB device you have. PMDX-411 devices sample at 2.5 KHz (every 400 microseconds). PMDX-410 and PMDX-422 devices sample at 300 Hz (every 6.67 milliseconds). The difference in sample rates is due to the RC filters on the PMDX-410/422 input signals, which limit how fast we can sample. The PMDX-411 does not have these RC filters and thus can run at a higher sample rate.

If you selected to install and of the sample profiles during the plug-in installation, there will be a sample Mach4 profile on your system that are pre-configured to use the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB (PMDX-410/411/422). The profile is named "PMDX-Sample". The profile for the PMDX-424 is named "PMDX-424-Sample".

The PMDX-410/411/422 sample profile has the following configuration:

• PMDX SmartBOB Plug-in is enabled and selected as the motion device
• All four motors are set for 1000 steps/unit, max velocity = 10 units/sec, accel = 5 units/sec^2, motor not reversed, 0 backlash
• Homing: soft limits disabled, homing enabled, no homing offset
• Inputs:
  • E-Stop assigned to PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Pin 10
• Outputs:
  • Charge Pump assigned to PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Pin 17
  • Spindle On assigned to PMDX-SmartBOB-USB Pin 1 (this controls the relay on the PMDX-422)
  • PWM Spindle speed control disabled

The PMDX-424 sample profile has the following configuration:

• PMDX SmartBOB Plug-in is enabled and selected as the motion device
• All four motors are set for 1000 steps/unit, max velocity = 10 units/sec, accel = 5 units/sec^2, motor not reversed, 0 backlash
• Homing: soft limits disabled, homing enabled, no homing offset
• Inputs:
  • E-Stop assigned to the PMDX-424 "EStop" input
• Outputs:
  • None mapped to Mach4 output signals.

There are two ways to run these profiles:

• Use the "Mach4 Loader" shortcut on your desktop and select "PMDX-Sample" or "PMDX-424-Sample"
• Use the "PMDX Sample" or "PMDX-424 Sample" shortcuts on your desktop *if* you selected that they be installed

!! IMPORTANT !! We strongly suggest that you NOT make changes to the sample profile, since it may be overwritten in future plug-in updates. Instead, make a copy of the profile, like this:

• Double-click on the "Mach4 Loader" icon to bring up the "Select Profile" dialog
• Click once on the "PMDX-Sample" line and then click on the "Copy Profile" button
• Enter a name for your new profile
• Optionally, you can select a screen set. If you leave this blank, Mach4 will default to using the "wxMach.set" screen set, which looks mostly like Mach3.
• Then click on "OK" to create the new profile
• Finally, while still in the "Mach4 Loader" window, double-click on the new profile name to start running that profile

If you want to change the PMDX-Sample shortcut on your desktop to run your new profile name:

• Right-click on the PMDX-Sample icon and select "Properties"
• At the right end of the "Target" line you will see "/p PMDX-Sample"
• Change the "PMDX-Sample" to the name of your new profile.
• Click on OK
• The right-click on the PMDX-Sample icon again and select "Rename" and give it new, meaningful name. Then click on "OK"
• Enjoy!

• DO NOT USE - SEE VERSION 0.46.221
• Plug-In version: 0.45.217 (9 Aug 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.52.189
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2872 and higher (tested with builds 2872 and 2914)
  ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2872 **

(2.3) New features since Version 0.44.214:

• Support PWM spindle speed control on any output pin that is not connected to an on-board relay (i.e. PMDX-422 Pin1 drives the on-board relay and thus is not allowed as a PWM output pin).
• Support Step Pulse Frequency spindle speed control on any output pin that is not connected to an on-board relay (same as PWM mentioned above). See Step Pulse Frequency Spindle Speed Control for more information on this mode.

(2.4) Bug Fixes Since Version 0.44.214:

• None

(2.5) Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)

• Plug-In version: 0.44.214 (12 Jul 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.51.178
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2872 and higher (tested with builds 2872 and 2914)
  ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2872 **

(2.1) M6 Tool Change Macro Notes:

The M6 macros provided in our sample profiles in previous vesions of the PMDX SmartBOB plug-in DO NOT WORK due to a file name corruption. This release fixes this file name problem if you are installing the sample profiles for the first time. It WILL NOT fix any existing sample profiles, nor will it fix any profiles that you have copied from the sample profiles.

The issue has to do with upper case vs. lower case "M" the "M6" part of the file name. In order for the macros to be called by Mach4, the case of the file name must match the case of the function name. If the file name is "m6.mcs" then the function name inside the file must be "m6()". Likewise, if the file name is "M6.mcs" then the function name must be "M6()". The sample M6 macros that we provide use upper case in the function name, but the file name got changed to lower case.

This problem does not affect the upper or lower case used to call the "M6" macro from your GCode files or MDI commands. You may still use either upper or lower case (i.e. "M6" or "m6").

There are two ways to fix this in your existing profiles:

1. EXIT MACH4! In the "YourProfileName/Macros" directory, rename the "m6.mcs" file to "M6.mcs" (i.e. using upper case "M" as the first character of the file name). Then you must also delete the "m6.mcc" file to force Mach4 to re-compile the M6 macro.
2. Or... EXIT MACH4! Edit the "m6.mcs" file in the "YourProfileName/Macros" directory and change the function name from "M6()" to "m6()" (i.e. now using a lower case "m"). You will need to do this in two places. The first is at the top of the file where the line reads "function M6()". The second place is near the end of the file where there are 3 lines that tell the debugger to call this function.

(2.2) Screen Set Note:

If you are using the older "wxMach" screen set and have NOT made any modifications to it, we strongly urge you to update your profiles to use the newer "wx4" screen set. The "wxMach" screen set is no longer under active development, and does not include any of the probing support that is in the newer "wx4" screen set. Furthermore, the "wx4" screen set is being actively improved and enhanced.

How do I know which screen set I an using? The "wx4" screen set has "Probing" and "Offsets" tabs along the top of the Mach4 window, next to the "Program Run", "Tool Path" and "Machine Diagnostics" tabs. It also shows you the screen set name in the lower right corner of the Mach4 window, at least in the wx4 screen set as installed with Mach4 build 2914. This might change in future releases or if someone has edited the screen set. The "wxMach" does not have the "Probing" or "Offsets" tabs, and does not show the screen set name.

Changing the Screen Set: To change the screen set:

1. start Mach4 and load your profile
2. Go to the "View" menu and select "Load Screen"
3. When the "Select Screen File" dialog appears, change into the "Screens" folder if it is not already there.
4. Select/highlight the "wx4.set" file and click on "Open"

(2.3) New features since Version 0.43.213:

• None, but re-introduces support for the new PMDX-412 SmartBOB-MiniUSB and PMDX-416 SmartBOB-OptoUSB originally released in version 0.43.213.

(2.4) Bug Fixes Since Version 0.43.213:

• Fix bug introduced in version 0.43.213 that caused the "Pin15" input on the PMDX-411 to not function corrrectly.
• M6 tool change macros in the PMDXSample and PMDX424Sample directories have been fixed. Please see the M6 Tool Change Macro Notes section for instructions on how to fix this in your existing profiles.

(2.5) Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)

• DO NOT USE - SEE VERSION 0.44.214
• Plug-In version: 0.43.213 (1 Jul 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.50.173
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2872 and higher (tested with builds 2872 and 2914)
  ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2872 **

(2.1) Screen Set Note:

If you are using the older "wxMach" screen set and have NOT made any modifications to it, we strongly urge you to update your profiles to use the newer "wx4" screen set. The "wxMach" screen set is no longer under active development, and does not include any of the probing support that is in the newer "wx4" screen set. Furthermore, the "wx4" screen set is being actively improved and enhanced.

How do I know which screen set I an using? The "wx4" screen set has "Probing" and "Offsets" tabs along the top of the Mach4 window, next to the "Program Run", "Tool Path" and "Machine Diagnostics" tabs. It also shows you the screen set name in the lower right corner of the Mach4 window, at least in the wx4 screen set as installed with Mach4 build 2914. This might change in future releases or if someone has edited the screen set. The "wxMach" does not have the "Probing" or "Offsets" tabs, and does not show the screen set name.

Changing the Screen Set: To change the screen set:

1. start Mach4 and load your profile
2. Go to the "View" menu and select "Load Screen"
3. When the "Select Screen File" dialog appears, change into the "Screens" folder if it is not already there.
4. Select/highlight the "wx4.set" file and click on "Open"

(2.2) New features since Version 0.41.205:

• Support for the new PMDX-412 SmartBOB-MiniUSB and PMDX-416 SmartBOB-OptoUSB

(2.3) Bug Fixes Since Version 0.41.205:

• None

(2.4) Known Issues:

• Introduced bug into PMDX-411 firmware that caused the "Pin15" input to not work (found after this version was released)
• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)

• Plug-In version: 0.41.205 (26 May 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.48.165
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2872 and higher (tested with builds 2872 and 2914)
  ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2872 **

(2.1) Screen Set Note:

If you are using the older "wxMach" screen set and have NOT made any modifications to it, we strongly urge you to update your profiles to use the newer "wx4" screen set. The "wxMach" screen set is no longer under active development, and does not include any of the probing support that is in the newer "wx4" screen set. Furthermore, the "wx4" screen set is being actively improved and enhanced.

How do I know which screen set I an using? The "wx4" screen set has "Probing" and "Offsets" tabs along the top of the Mach4 window, next to the "Program Run", "Tool Path" and "Machine Diagnostics" tabs. It also shows you the screen set name in the lower right corner of the Mach4 window, at least in the wx4 screen set as installed with Mach4 build 2914. This might change in future releases or if someone has edited the screen set. The "wxMach" does not have the "Probing" or "Offsets" tabs, and does not show the screen set name.

Changing the Screen Set: To change the screen set:

1. start Mach4 and load your profile
2. Go to the "View" menu and select "Load Screen"
3. When the "Select Screen File" dialog appears, change into the "Screens" folder if it is not already there.
4. Select/highlight the "wx4.set" file and click on "Open"

(2.2) New features since Version 0.38.188:

• Support quadrature and single-line (i.e. tach) encoders on PMDX-410/422 Rev B and Rev C, and PMDX-424 boards. Note that the PMDX-410/422 Rev A boards (of which we only shipped a handfull back in 2014) and the PMDX-411 do not support encoders. Encoders can be used as MPGs for jogging or for spindle RPM measurement. See the Encoder Configuration and Spindle RPM Calculation sections for more information.
• Runs with Mach4 Hobby builds 2872, 2914 or newer. Encoder/MPG functionality required features only available in build 2872 or newer.
• Plug-in configuration option to disable the PMDX-424's Motor3A and Motor3B step signals. This is typically used only when the PMDX-424 is connected to a PMDX-340 using the 26-pib ribbon header J6. This can be found on the "FeatureConfig" tab of the plug-on configuration dialog only when a PMDX-424 is connected to the PC. When a different SmartBOB is connected to the PC, other feature configuration items will appear instead, including charge pump and "PMDX-126 Expanded Inputs" mode.
• Added PMDX-424 sample profile. See the Sample Mach4 Profiles section for more details.
• All PMDX sample Mach4 profiles have been updated to use the "wx4" screen set instead of the older "wxMach" screen set which is no longer under active development. However, the installer will not update an existing sample profile. So if you already have the sample profiles installed from a previous plug-in release, you will need to manually change the screen set as described above.
• Added "Help" buttons to the plug-in config " Encoder Config" and "Spindle Config" tabs. Clicking on either of these buttons will display the corresponding section in these release notes.

(2.3) Bug Fixes Since Version 0.38.188:

• Fix bug that caused USB buffer overflows and/or communication timeouts when sending GCode motion to the SmartBOB device.
• Fix bug that under certain conditions caused the direction signal to change too soon after a step pulse (known as a hold time violation), which in turn could cause the motor driver to move the motor in the wrong direction.
• SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog now stores updated motor direction polarity when running in Mach4 Hobby build 2914 or higher.
• Fixed a bug relating to un-mapping multiple Mach4 input signals mapped to a single PMDX-SmartBOB pin.

(2.4) Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)

• Plug-In version: 0.38.188 (6 Apr 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.45.155
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (only tested with builds 2872 through 2914)
  ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.36.171:

• Support PMDX-424 Revision B boards
• Support spindle RPM calculations using a 1 pulse-per-revolution sensor mapped to the Mach4 "Index" input. See here for more information.
• Support M62/M63 real-time output commands.
• Add M6 (tool change) macro to the PMDX sample profile. This is a slightly modified copy of the "StopManualToolchange" sample Lua code from the Mach4 "LuaExamples\Toolchanger" directory. The edits were mostly cosmetic and did not affect the functionality of the macro.
  NOTE: If you already have the PMDX Sample profile installed the installer will update your profile with the M6 macro file (leaving all other profile files untouched). If you already have an M6 macro file the installer will leave your existing M6 macro in place.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.36.171:

• Re-send device configuration after communication timeout.
• Resynchronize the machine's actual position to Mach4 after hitting a limit switch or getting and EStop or 'Disable' during motion.
• Fixed bug that caused motion underrun on very short jog moves
  (mostly cause by VistaCNC iMach pendants, but can also be caused by
  certain motor tuning settings).
• Enable the PMDX-424 Motor3 "Slave" step output (appears on screw terminal connector J11 as "Motor 3B Step").
• Prevent spindle TIMING input messages from flooding the debug log and crashing Mach4
• Improve communication error handling and recovery.

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)

• Plug-In version: 0.36.171 (28 Jan 2016)
• Firmware version: 0.44.145
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2803) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.33.159:

• Added information to debug log for comms error debugging
• Add support for PMDX-424 SmartBOB-ISO-USB
• The green LED now has a different flash pattern when waiting for a connection from the plug-in. While waiting for the plug-in the LED flashes one short flash every 2 seconds. When the device is connected to the plug-in the green LED will flash on for 1 second and off for 1 second. On the PMDX-410, PMDX-422 and PMDX-424 this is the green LED that is just under the red LED.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.33.159:

• Fixed bug that corrupted the polling timer interval
• Fixed a bug in the homing code that caused an "Error 7" in certain situations
• Prevent spindle INDEX input messages from flooding the debug log and crashing Mach4

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.33.159 (6 Nov 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.42.137
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2763) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.31.147:

• The real-time status display shows the PWM signal if assigned to the SmartBOB Pin16 or Pin17. Does not show the PWM signal when using a PMDX-407. The real-time display now also shows the values of the step and direction pins.
• Enhanced the debug log capability to include information from the SmartBOB device.
• Enhanced USB communication error recovery.
• Closes debug log files before Mach4 creates its "package" (from the Help->Support menu) and then re-opens them afterwards. This allows the log files to be included in the package even if they were open.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.31.147:

• Fixed a bug in the PMDX-411 firmware that prevented the spindle PWM signal from appearing on Pin16.
• Fixed a bug that re-mapped the charge pump signal to Pin17 if it was mapped to any other SmartBOB output pin.
• Fixed issue with motion planner interface that mis-reported the actual position for certain moves. The result was that the ending position for subsequent moves would be off by a couple of step pulses. This happened when the motor tuning parameters had a slow max velocity and a slow acceleration/deceleration rate.
• Fixed a bug that required exiting Mach4 and re-starting it in order to disable "Wildhorse Probe" mode or "Expanded Inputs" mode.
• No longer overwrite fixture offset table when homing an axis.
• Fix memory access error in USB interface.
• Fix memory access error in configuration dialog.

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.31.147 (18 Sep 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.40.130
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2686) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.30.136:

• Supports the PMDX-126's "Expanded Inputs" mode (see the PMDX-126 Expanded Inputs section for more information).
• Plug-in's spindle configuration moved to a separate "Spindle Config" tab in the Plug-in Configuration Dialog to make room on the "Feature Config" tab for the expanded inputs configuration.
• The red LED on the SmartBOB boards now indicates commumications failure (i.e. red LED turns on when there is no communications between the SmartBOB and the plug-in).

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.30.136:

• SmartBOB device disables outputs on communication failure with PC.
• Plug-in correctly identifies PMDX-422/PMDX-410 revision C boards.
• The real-time status display removes the "pinA", "pinB" and "pinC" input indicators when connected to a PMDX-411 (which does not support those input signals).

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home switch for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support backlash compensation (this is a Mach4 and plug-in issue)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.30.136 (1 Aug 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.39.120
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2580) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.29.128:

• Added a real-time Input/Output status display to plug-in diagnostics dialog. This allows you to see the input and output signals as the SmartBOB device sees them. This can help diagnose wiring problems or issues with the Mach4 input and output signal mapping. See the Real-Time Signal Display section for more information.
• Plug-in diagnostics dialog now shows Mach4, plug-in and firmware versions along with circuit board information (like the plug-in configuration dialog).
• Displays the current screen set name along with all of the version information in the the SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog, and also the diagnostics dialog.
• The plug-in writes the current version information (like is displayed on the plug-in configuration dialog) into a text file in the current profile directory every time Mach4 starts. This will help PMDX diagnose issues when we receive a Mach4 profile "package" as built by the Mach4 "Help->Support->Package Current Profile" or "Email current profile" operations.
• Firmware download moved from plug-in diagnostics dialog to plug-in configuration dialog.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.29.128:

• Fixed probing bug that reported incorrect probe positions.
• Changed the algorithm used to find the SmartBOB communications port to avoid issues with some Bluetooth modems on Windows 8.1. This has a side effect of speeding up the start-up process on any PC with multiple devices that look like serial ports.

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.29.128 (16 Jul 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.39.120
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2568) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.26.117:

• Added support for G31 probing (see Probing Features and Restrictions for more information).
• Homing supports the CYCLE STOP button (the red button marked "Stop" under the "Feed Hold" button). Pressing CYCLE STOP will abort the homing sequence and disable Mach4. Note that the FEED HOLD button is ignored by the SmartBOB plug-in during homing.
• If the SmartBOB is selected as the motion device, the plug-in checks the motor and axis configuration and reports an error if a motor is disabled and is assigned/mapped to an axis that is enabled. Mach4, up through build 2522 (the latest version available for testing before this plug-in release), allows motion on motors even if they are marked as "disabled" (by un-checking the box next to the motor name in the "Motors" tab of the Mach Configuration dialog).
• Decreased the distance that homing moves the axis onto the home switch before stopping, and increased the speed used to move the axis back off of the home switch. See the "Homing Operation" section of the Homing Features and Restrictions section.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.26.117:

• Fixed installer bug that failed to detect Mach4 Industrial running during the installation process.
• Add work-around for startup issue in Mach4 that prevented Mach4 from properly interpreting input signals from our plug-in on startup.
  See the Issue with Input Signals and Mach4 Startup section below for important information on using this work-around.
• No longer report a motor configuration error if the motor is disabled and NOT assigned to an axis.

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.26.117 (29 May 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.38.117
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2472) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.25.111:

• Support PMDX-422 Rev C boards

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.25.111:

• Fixed issue that caused Mach4 build 2441 and higher to crash on some PCs.
• Fixed installer bug that thought Mach4 was running when the Windows user name was "Mach4".

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming soon)
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.25.111 (8 May 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.37.115
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2336) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.23.107:

• Supports 20 microsecond step pulse width (used mainly with Sherline stepper drivers)
• Disables Mach4 whenever the SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog is displayed (used to only disable Mach4 if changes were made to the SmartBOB configuration).

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.23.107:

• Fixed issue that caused the axis DROs to occasionally display incorrect data.
• Fixed bug that did not always update step pulse width.
• Fixed a bug that occasionally caused Mach4 to hang when exiting the SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog.
• Changed sample Mach4 profile so that the Mach4 log window is visible on all screen resolutions.

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming REALLY soon)
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Firmware version: 0.35.111
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2313 and higher (tested with 2313 through 2326) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2313 **

New features since Version 0.22.106:

• Support for Mach4 builds 2313 and higher
• Otherwise same as Version 0.22.106 (see release notes here)

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.19.100:

• None (same as Version 0.22.106, see release notes here)

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming REALLY soon)
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Firmware version: 0.35.111
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2223 and higher (tested with 2223 through 2270) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2223 NOR ON ANY VERSION NEWER THAN 2270 **

New features since Version 0.19.100:

• Updated homing parameters related to how far to move onto and off of the homing switch to accommodate machines with large values of "steps per". See Homing Features and Restrictions for more information.
• The SmartBOB plug-in configuration dialog now shows the current motor step and direction pin assignments on the "Motor Config" tab in the "Step/Dir Configuration" section.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.19.100:

• Fixed race condition in homing code that sometimes displayed error messages when there were no errors.
• Fixed limit switch handling
• Fixed limit override handling

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming REALLY soon)
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.19.100 (24 Mar 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.35.111
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2223 and higher (tested with 2223 through 2270) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2223 **

New features since Version 0.18.97:

• None

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.18.97:

• Fix issue with homing and motors with the "Reverse" box checked in the 'Motors' configuration tab (or the "DIR Polarity" settings in the SmartBOB plug-in configuration set to "Reverse").
• Displays the correct error message when homing an axis and the SmartBOB is unable to move the axis off of the home switch (used to display "INTERNAL ERROR").

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming REALLY soon)
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Plug-In version: 0.18.97 (16 Mar 2015)
• Firmware version: 0.34.110
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2223 and higher (tested with 2223 through 2270) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2223 **

New features since Version 0.17.86:

• Support for slaved axis (i.e. an axis with more than one motor). Includes basic homing of axis with slaved motors. See the Homing Features and Limitations section for more information.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.17.86:

• Homing errors due to configuration issues now abort homing, disable Mach4 and display an error message in the Mach4 message bar at the bottom of the Mach4 screen.
• Homing now checks for configuration conflicts that would prevent successful homing (see the Homing Features and Limitations section for more information).
• Revised method of retrieving motion data from Mach4 core to avoid issues discovered when screw mapping was added to Mach4.
• Some motion sequences left the axis not at expected position (related to previous item regarding motion data).
• Fix minor position errors in final homing sequence.

Known Issues:

• When homing an axis, if the axis starts on the homing switch, the SmartBOB attempts to move off of the homing switch before starting the homing sequence. If the SmartBOB is unable to move off of the homing switch (i.e. the home input remains active), the plugin will display an "INTERNAL ERROR" instead of the actual "Could not move off of home switch" error.
• Does not (yet) support probing (coming soon)
• Does not (yet) support "gantry squaring" during homing using one home swtich for each motor on a tandem axis
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode
• Does not (yet) support threading

• Firmware version: 0.32.104
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2223 and higher (tested with 2223) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2223 **

New features since Version 0.16.82:

• Support for Mach4 Build 2223

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.16.82:

• Fixed issues with homing when the user clicks on the "Disable" button while the machine is homing.
• SmartBOB plug-in configuration screen now should show all digits of the charge pump frequency and minimum spindle PWM duty cycle on high-resolution monitors
• Fixed issues with firmware download occasionally hanging after the download completed successfully
• Fixed issue with downloading firmware to PMDX-410 boards

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming soon)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support slaved motors
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode

• Firmware version: 0.31.103
• Mach4Hobby versions: build number 2192 and higher (tested with 2192) ** WILL NOT run on any build older/lower than 2192 **

New features since Version 0.15.77:

• Support configurable charge pump frequency
• Configuration option for "charge pump on always" (as long as Mach4 is running), as opposed to only when Mach4 is "enabled". This option should be used when connected to a Geckodrive G540.
• Improved motion queue handling code that should prevent most "motion queue underrun" errors.
• Support for PMDX-411

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.15.77:

• None

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming soon)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support slaved motors
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode

• Firmware version: 0.29.100
• Mach4Hobby versions: build numbers 2114 and higher (tested through 2157) ** WILL NOT run reliably on any build older/lower than 2114 **
  ** SPECIFICALLY - The spindle speed control will not work at all **

New features since Version 0.14.72:

• Support the PMDX-407 Simple Spindle Speed Controller. SEE WARNING BELOW!
• Improved error reporting when configuring the SmartBOB device.
• Can now select the spindle speed PWM polarity (only when using pin 14 or pin 16 for PWM output, the PMDX-407 PWM polarity is fixed).

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.14.72:

• Fixed spindle speed PWM when assigned to pin 14 on revision "A" SmartBOB boards. Note that revision "A" boards were only sent to beta testers and were never sold through our web site.

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming soon)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support slaved motors
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode

**WARNING**

If your profile contains macros for M3, M4 or M5 (like are installed by the Mach4Hobby installer), you MUST delete these files in order for the PWM spindle speed control to function. The macros as provided with some Mach4Hobby installations DO NOT WORK, and they are not needed for the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB to function.

NOTE that if you installed the PMDX sample profile from previous plug-in releases, that profile may contain these macro files. You will need to manually delete them. EVEN IF YOU TOLD THIS INSTALLER TO INSTALL THE SAMPLE PROFILE! The installer does NOT overwrite an existing copy of the sample profile.

These macros are in the Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros directory. You should see two files for each M-code. For example, "M3.mcc" and "M3.mcs". You must remove both of these files for each M-code, either by deleting them or by moving them to another directory.

If you have created custom versions of the M3, M4 or M5 macros, or have Lua code that affects that functionality, you will need to test them with the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB plug-in to see if the plug-in still works.

• Firmware version: 0.27.93
• Mach4Hobby versions: build numbers 2114 and higher (tested through 2157) ** WILL NOT run reliably on any build older/lower than 2114 **

New features since Version 0.12.53:

• Updated for Mach4 build 2114 and higher (tbough we recommend running the most recent Mach4Hobby release, which is build 2157 as of this release date)
• Add PWM spindle speed control on pins 14 or 16 (see plug-in configuration dialog on the "Feature Config" tab). SEE WARNING BELOW!
• Supports Mach4 configurations where this plug-in is not the motion controller (i.e. the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB can act as an I/O device without driving step and direction to motors)
• Plugin configuration allows the user to change the motion buffer lengths in case they see "buffer underrun" errors (see new "Performance Settings" tab)
• Plugin configuration dialog has button to restore default debug settings
• Plug-in allows Mach4 to come out of reset (i.e. "enabled") if the plug-in is disabled and there is no device connected. Previous versions required a SmartBOB-USB to be connected even if the plug-in was disabled, or the plug-in would prevent Mach4 from going into the "enable" state.
• The installer log file copied to the Plugins\PMDX-SmartBOB-USB directory in case there are installer issues.
• The installer checks if Mach4 is running or a SmartBOB-USB is plugged in and prompts the user to close Mach4 and unplug the SmartBOB-USB.
• The installer now presents a license before proceding with the installation and stores a copy of the license in the Plugins\PMDX-SmartBOB-USB directory.

Bug Fixes Since Version 0.12.53:

• Fix motion buffer underrun issue when Mach4 is "Step jog mode" and the selected step size is "small" (usually 0.010 or 0.001, depending on your machine configuration).
• Increased default motion buffer length to avoid "buffer underrun" errors
• Fixed installer bug that did not install the USB Virtual COM Port driver
• Fixed/updated error reporting from device driver interface
• Removed Mach4 macro files from sample Mach4 profile (they did not work and interfered with PWM spindle operation).
• Only validates motor tuning parameters when selected as the motion device

Known Issues:

• Does not (yet) support probing (coming soon)
• Does not (yet) support coordinated I/O (via M62 and M63 codes)
• Does not (yet) support threading
• Does not (yet) support slaved motors
• Does not (yet) support PMDX-126 Expanded Input Mode

**WARNING**

If your profile contains macros for M3, M4 or M5 (like are installed by the Mach4Hobby installer), you MUST delete these files in order for the PWM spindle speed control to function. The macros as provided with some Mach4Hobby installations DO NOT WORK, and they are not needed for the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB to function.

NOTE that if you installed the PMDX sample profile from previous plug-in releases, that profile may contain these macro files. You will need to manually delete them. EVEN IF YOU TOLD THIS INSTALLER TO INSTALL THE SAMPLE PROFILE! The installer does NOT overwrite an existing copy of the sample profile.

These macros are in the Profiles\YourProfileName\Macros directory. You should see two files for each M-code. For example, "M3.mcc" and "M3.mcs". You must remove both of these files for each M-code, either by deleting them or by moving them to another directory.

If you have created custom versions of the M3, M4 or M5 macros, or have Lua code that affects that functionality, you will need to test them with the PMDX-SmartBOB-USB plug-in to see if the plug-in still works.