Settings reference

Every setting of the controller. $<n> shows one, $<n>=<value> changes it, and $$ lists them all. The values given are the MC-1's. A setting marked restart takes effect after the controller restarts.

Contents

General

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$10Status report optionsbit field15871What the real-time status report contains. The parser state is sent as its own line, only when it changed. Bits: 0 Position in machine coordinate, 1 Buffer state, 2 Line numbers, 3 Feed & speed, 4 Pin state, 5 Work coordinate offset, 6 Overrides, 7 Probe coordinates, 8 Buffer sync on WCO change, 9 Parser state, 10 Alarm substatus, 11 Run substatus, 12 Enable when homing, 13 Distance-to-go
$11Junction deviationmmdecimal0.002How far the path may deviate at a corner between two moves; it sets the corner speed. Smaller is slower and more exact.
$12Arc tolerancemmdecimal0.002How exactly arcs are followed.
$13Report in inchesboolean0Positions and rates in reports are in inches.
$28G73 Retract distancemmdecimal0.100The short retract between the pecks of G73.
$32Mode of operationchoice0Mill, laser or lathe. Choices: 0 Normal, 1 Laser mode, 2 Lathe mode
$39Enable legacy RT commandsboolean1'?', '!' and '~' act as real-time commands everywhere, also inside $ commands and comments.
$60Restore overridesboolean0Overrides go back to 100 % at the end of a program.
$62Sleep enableboolean0Go to sleep after a long idle time.
$63Feed hold actionsbit field3What a feed hold does besides stopping the motion. Bits: 0 Disable laser during hold, 1 Restore spindle and coolant state on resume, 2 Set RPM to minimum (except for laser M4)
$64Force init alarmboolean0Start in the alarm state after power-on.
$384Disable G92 persistenceboolean0G92 offsets are not kept over a power cycle.
$398Planner buffer blocks (restart)integer30–1000100Moves the planner looks ahead over.
$481Autoreport interval (restart)msinteger100–10000Send status reports at this interval without being asked (0: off).
$484Unlock required after E-Stopboolean1After an emergency stop the machine stays locked until unlocked ($X) or homed.
$486Lock coordinate systemsbit field0Coordinate systems that G10 may not change. Bits: 0 G59.1, 1 G59.2, 2 G59.3
$676Reset actionsbit field15What a reset clears. Bits: 0 Clear homed status if position was lost, 1 Clear offsets (except G92), 2 Clear rapids override, 3 Clear feed override
$1030Stop the job when the host is lostboolean1When the link of the sender that runs a job goes down for 0.1 s (USB unplugged, the port closed), the job stops as at a stop (0x19): the motion slows down to a stop, spindle and coolant go off, the lines it sent that have not run are dropped, the position is kept. The sender is told once it is back. A program from the file system runs on without its sender.

Control signals

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$14Invert control inputsbit field0Control inputs that are inverted. Bits: 1 Feed hold, 2 Cycle start, 6 EStop, 8 Motor fault
$17Pullup disable control inputsbit field0Control inputs without the internal pull-up resistor. Bits: 1 Feed hold, 2 Cycle start, 6 EStop, 8 Motor fault

Limits

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$5Invert limit inputsaxis mask7Limit inputs that are inverted, e.g. for normally-closed switches.
$18Pullup disable limit inputsaxis mask0Limit inputs without the internal pull-up resistor.
$20Soft limits enableboolean1Refuse motion beyond the travel ($130 ...). Needs homing, so that the position is known.
$21Hard limits enablebit field1Stop at once when a limit switch triggers. Strict mode: no motion at all while a switch is active. Bits: 0 Enable, 1 Strict mode (bit 0 enables the rest)

Coolant

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$15Invert coolant outputsbit field0Coolant outputs that are active low. Bits: 0 Flood, 1 Mist
$673Coolant on delaysdecimal0.5–200.0Time the coolant gets to start after M7/M8.

Spindle

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$30Maximum spindle speedRPMdecimal24000.000The highest spindle speed.
$31Minimum spindle speedRPMdecimal6000.000The lowest spindle speed.
$340Spindle at speed tolerancepercentdecimal5.0Motion after M3/M4 waits until the spindle speed is within this many percent of the programmed one (0: no wait).
$394Spindle on delaysdecimal0.5–6015.0Time the spindle gets to come up to speed after M3/M4 (with $340: the longest wait before an alarm).
$539Spindle off delaysdecimal0.5–600.0Time the spindle gets to stop after M5.

Tool change

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$341Tool change modechoice3What M6 does. Choices: 0 Normal, 1 Manual touch off, 2 Manual touch off @ G59.3, 3 Automatic touch off @ G59.3, 4 Ignore M6
$342Tool change probing distancemmdecimal70.0How far the tool setter is searched for.
$343Tool change locate feed ratemm/mindecimal25.0The slow rate that locates the tool setter exactly.
$344Tool change search seek ratemm/mindecimal200.0The fast rate that searches for the tool setter.
$345Tool change probe pull-off ratemm/mindecimal200.0The rate that moves off the tool setter.
$346Tool change optionsbit field0Options of the tool change. Bits: 0 Restore position after M6, 1 Change tool at G30, 2 Fast probe pull off
$485Keep tool number over rebootboolean0The number of the tool in the spindle is kept over a power cycle.

Homing

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$22Homing cyclebit field541The homing cycle and its options. Bits: 0 Enable, 1 Enable single axis commands, 2 Homing on startup required, 3 Set machine origin to 0, 4 Two switches shares one input, 5 Allow manual, 6 Override locks, 9 Per axis feedrates, 10 Run startup scripts only on homing completed (bit 0 enables the rest)
$23Homing direction invertaxis mask0Axes that home towards their negative end.
$26Homing switch debounce delaymillisecondsinteger250Time to wait after a switch triggered before the next homing move.
$27Homing switch pull-off distancemmdecimal2.000How far homing moves back off the switch.
$43Homing passesinteger1–1281How many times the switch point is located.
$44Axes homing, first phaseaxis mask4Axes homed first.
$45Axes homing, second phaseaxis mask3Axes homed second.
$46Axes homing, third phaseaxis mask0Axes homed third.

Probing

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$6Invert probe inputsbit field1Inverts the probe input, e.g. for a normally-closed tool setter. Bits: 0 Probe
$19Pullup disable probe inputsbit field0The probe input without the internal pull-up resistor. Bits: 0 Probe
$65Probing optionsbit field0How probing motion is handled. Bits: 0 Allow feed override, 1 Apply soft limits

Parking/Safety door

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$41Parking cyclebit field0Retract the spindle when the safety door opens. Bits: 0 Enable, 1 Deactivate upon init, 2 Enable parking override control (bit 0 enables the rest)
$42Parking axischoice2The axis that parks. Choices: 0 X, 1 Y, 2 Z
$56Parking pull-out distancemmdecimal5.0How far the tool is first pulled out slowly.
$57Parking pull-out ratemm/mindecimal100.0The rate of that pull-out.
$58Parking targetmmdecimal≥ -100000-5.0Where the parking axis goes, in machine coordinates.
$59Parking fast ratemm/mindecimal500.0The rate of the rest of the parking move.
$61Safety door optionsbit field0What stays on while the safety door is open. Bits: 1 Keep coolant state on door open
$392Spindle on delaysdecimal0.5–604.0Time the spindle gets to come up to speed when the door closes again.
$393Coolant on delaysdecimal0.5–201.0Time the coolant gets to start when the door closes again.

Jogging

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$40Limit jog commandsboolean0Jogs stop at the soft limits instead of being refused.

ModBus

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$374ModBus baud ratechoice3Baud rate of the Modbus line (the VFD's must match). Choices: 0 2400, 1 4800, 2 9600, 3 19200, 4 38400, 5 115200
$375ModBus RX timeoutmillisecondsinteger50–25050How long to wait for a Modbus answer.
$681ModBus serial formatchoice0Parity of the Modbus line (the VFD's must match). Choices: 0 8-bit no parity, 1 8-bit even parity, 2 8-bit odd parity

Stepper

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$0Step pulse timemicrosecondsdecimal≥ 2.05.0Length of the step pulses, in microseconds. The drives need a minimum (see their manual; MC-1's closed-loop drives need 2.5).
$1Step idle delaymillisecondsinteger≤ 65535255How long the drives stay enabled after motion stops, so the axes settle before the current is switched off. 255 keeps them enabled.
$2Step pulse invertaxis mask0Step outputs that are active low.
$3Step direction invertaxis mask5Axes whose direction output is inverted (the axis runs the wrong way otherwise).
$4Invert stepper enable output(s)axis mask7Drive enable outputs that are active low (most drives). With one shared enable signal only X counts.
$29Pulse delaymicrosecondsdecimal≤ 205.0Time between setting the direction outputs and the step pulse.
$37Steppers to keep enabledaxis mask7Drives that stay enabled when the machine is idle or in an alarm.
$680Stepper enable delaymsinteger≤ 5000Time between enabling the drives and the first step.

VFD

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$460VFD spindle ModBus addressinteger≤ 2551The Modbus address of the VFD.

X-axis

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$100X-axis travel resolutionstep/mmdecimal800.00000Steps per millimetre of the axis: steps per motor turn times microsteps, divided by the screw lead.
$110X-axis maximum ratemm/mindecimal3000.000The highest speed of the axis, also for rapids.
$120X-axis accelerationmm/sec^2decimal300.000The acceleration of the axis.
$130X-axis maximum travelmmdecimal202.000The travel of the axis from its home position, for the soft limits.
$180X-axis homing locate feed ratemm/mindecimal50.0The slow rate that locates the switch point of the axis exactly.
$190X-axis homing search seek ratemm/mindecimal1200.0The fast rate that searches for the switch of the axis.
$1000X-axis input shaperchoice0Shapes the axis' motion so that it does not excite a resonance of the machine at the frequency below: ZV is exact at it, the others take out a wider band less exactly. The motion comes to rest up to 1.5 periods later. Choices: 0 None, 1 ZV, 2 ZVD, 3 MZV, 4 EI, 5 2HUMP_EI
$1010X-axis input shaper frequencyHzdecimal15–500100.0The resonance the axis' input shaper takes out.
$1020X-axis input shaper damping ratiodecimal≤ 0.50.100The damping ratio of that resonance.

Y-axis

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$101Y-axis travel resolutionstep/mmdecimal800.00000Steps per millimetre of the axis: steps per motor turn times microsteps, divided by the screw lead.
$111Y-axis maximum ratemm/mindecimal3000.000The highest speed of the axis, also for rapids.
$121Y-axis accelerationmm/sec^2decimal300.000The acceleration of the axis.
$131Y-axis maximum travelmmdecimal152.000The travel of the axis from its home position, for the soft limits.
$181Y-axis homing locate feed ratemm/mindecimal50.0The slow rate that locates the switch point of the axis exactly.
$191Y-axis homing search seek ratemm/mindecimal1200.0The fast rate that searches for the switch of the axis.
$1001Y-axis input shaperchoice0Shapes the axis' motion so that it does not excite a resonance of the machine at the frequency below: ZV is exact at it, the others take out a wider band less exactly. The motion comes to rest up to 1.5 periods later. Choices: 0 None, 1 ZV, 2 ZVD, 3 MZV, 4 EI, 5 2HUMP_EI
$1011Y-axis input shaper frequencyHzdecimal15–500100.0The resonance the axis' input shaper takes out.
$1021Y-axis input shaper damping ratiodecimal≤ 0.50.100The damping ratio of that resonance.

Z-axis

SettingNameUnitTypeRangeMC-1Description
$102Z-axis travel resolutionstep/mmdecimal800.00000Steps per millimetre of the axis: steps per motor turn times microsteps, divided by the screw lead.
$112Z-axis maximum ratemm/mindecimal1500.000The highest speed of the axis, also for rapids.
$122Z-axis accelerationmm/sec^2decimal200.000The acceleration of the axis.
$132Z-axis maximum travelmmdecimal82.000The travel of the axis from its home position, for the soft limits.
$182Z-axis homing locate feed ratemm/mindecimal50.0The slow rate that locates the switch point of the axis exactly.
$192Z-axis homing search seek ratemm/mindecimal600.0The fast rate that searches for the switch of the axis.
$1002Z-axis input shaperchoice0Shapes the axis' motion so that it does not excite a resonance of the machine at the frequency below: ZV is exact at it, the others take out a wider band less exactly. The motion comes to rest up to 1.5 periods later. Choices: 0 None, 1 ZV, 2 ZVD, 3 MZV, 4 EI, 5 2HUMP_EI
$1012Z-axis input shaper frequencyHzdecimal15–500100.0The resonance the axis' input shaper takes out.
$1022Z-axis input shaper damping ratiodecimal≤ 0.50.100The damping ratio of that resonance.