HAAS Mill Tool Changer Resequencing

[McLaren]

I wanted to post this up in case anyone wanted it. I wrote this program to reset the carousel tool changer on our VF2. It bugs me when I have a job with a few tools that has to index the changer all over the place.

I asked HAAS if there was any way to access the pot values directly, or to use a P# instead of T#, and both were no. So this was the alternative.

Variables #1-#24 correspond to the pots in the changer with #25 being the spindle.

Change the values to reflect which tool is in which pot.

Run it and each tool will be matched up with each pot with T25 being in the spindle.

Any and all comments are welcome.

%
O08003(TOOL CHANGER RESET)
G103(DISABLE LOOK AHEAD)
#1=1
#2=15
#3=14
#4=3
#5=2
#6=4
#7=16
#8=6
#9=8
#10=5
#11=9
#12=11
#13=7
#14=12
#15=10
#16=13
#17=19
#18=21
#19=17
#20=18
#21=23
#22=22
#23=20
#24=24
#25=25
#26=0(CURRENT TOOL)
#27=0(TOOL IN CURRENT TOOLS POCKET)
#28=1(POCKET CHECK#)
N1(TOOL CHANGE LOOP)
#28=1
IF[#25EQ25]GOTO2
#26=#25
#27=#[#25]
T#27M06
#[#26]=#26(POCKET NUMBER INHERITS TOOL#)
#25=#27(SPINDLE POCKET INHERITS CURRENT TOOL#)
GOTO1
(END LOOP)
N2(T25 LOGIC)
IF[#[#28]NE#28]GOTO3
IF[#28GT24]GOTO4
#28=#28+1
GOTO2
N3(MISMATCH LOGIC)
T#[#28]M06
#25=#[#28]
#26=#25
#[#28]=25
GOTO1
N4(END OF PROGRAM)
M30
%

[Guest SAIPEM]

You CAN do this directly on the Haas control but it depends on the software version and the tool changer type you have.

 

If it was made in the past three years you can do it directly at the control.

 

Cool Macro though.

 

FYI, convert it to a custom G-Code/M-Code and you'll be much happier.

[McLaren]

You CAN do this directly on the Haas control but it depends on the software version and the tool changer type you have.

 

If it was made in the past three years you can do it directly at the control.

 

Cool Macro though.

 

FYI, convert it to a custom G-Code/M-Code and you'll be much happier.

 

Ours is from 2005. And can you elaborate on the G-Code/M-Code idea please?

 

Edit:

Let me rephrase that. I have done custom M codes, but I don't see what the benefit would be in this circumstance. What do you see the benefit as?

[Guest SAIPEM]

You could do a custom M-Code if you just wanted to initialize ATC Carousel.

 

With a custom G-Code you could specify only the tool pockets you actually want to change

by including the arguments using local addresses.

[GF8er]

Go into your tool offsets page and press page up a couple times till it brings up the table that shows what tool is in what pocket. press 1 and then orgin and it will set the P# and the T# the same. works on our 05 vf2 and 04 vf3.

[Mr. Wizzard]

I could be wrong here, going from memory.

On the newer machines, if it's already loaded and all mixed up, I think you just hit P# ATC from MDI and the machine will load the tool from that pocket into the spindle. The # is whatever pocket the tool is in that you want to grab.

[McLaren]

gf8er:

That only works if you don't have any tools in the carousel. I usually have one other job always loaded into the machine with 16 tools, so I can't just zero out the tool table.

 

Mr. Wizzard:

You're right, but like I said you can't use P# in a program, so it can't be used to automate the task. What I was doing previously was going into MDI and calling up the pot number of whatever tool was in the spindle, and cycling through until they were all back in their homes. This way just does it semi-auto-magically.

[Mr. Wizzard]

I see what you're doing, now. Your way definitely seems way more efficient.

[McLaren]

*Bows* Thank you Mr. Wizzard.

 

And if any one is interested I made a program that uses the sleep timer to wake up at a set time the next day, instead of after a set number of minutes. It sure does seem like HAAS got several things only half right. *shrugs*

[cnc@52]

Tried to run this but it gets hung up on "T#[#28]M06". I get a 331 RANGE ERROR, number too large. 200 tools definable but nothing defined beyond tool 25.

[RCWannabe]

Is it the extra indexing that bothers you or do you not use tool staging and the time delay is the issue? If time is the issue, make sure you are using tool staging so the carousel is rotated to the next tool before the tool is called.

[within a thou]

I would be interested in that wake up program especially if I could add my warm up program to the end of it.