Machines and power

The machines in Studio, how to switch between them, and how a machine is powered on and homed before it works.

Machines

Each machine keeps its own world: its position, its workpiece, its tools and offsets, its temperatures and its running hours. The machine in your window is the one that runs; the others wait as they were saved. In 1.0 one machine runs at a time.

Switching machines

1. Click the machine in the top bar, or press Ctrl+Shift+M (File > Switch machine…).
2. Type to find a machine, choose it with ↑ ↓, and press Enter. Result: Studio saves the machine you leave and starts again with the other one. That machine starts cold: power it on and home it.

You cannot switch while a program runs. The list also shows the Practice machines that AI clients use in the background; View (read-only) shows them in AI activity.

The machine library

File > Machine library…, or a click on the brand mark, shows your machines with their state, workpiece and tool, and the machine models. Click the brand mark again to go back.

For the selected machine:

• Open: switch to it.
• Rename…: give it a name of your own.
• Copy as a new machine…: a new machine with this one's world as it was last saved.
• Show its folder: its world on disk.
• Factory reset… (two clicks within 5 s): the machine as it came (see Starting a machine afresh).

New machine… adds a machine of the model in its factory state. New machines, copies and factory resets need the Technician level. The Real MC-1 row is a place held for later: in 1.0 a real machine is connected from the command line (see A real machine).

Power and homing

Powering on

The twin has the MC-1's power chain: the main switch QF1 gives the controller 24 V, and Power on closes the contactor KM1, which gives the drives 48 V and powers the spindle drive. The E-stop opens KM1.

1. Go to the step Power.
2. If the main switch is off, click Main switch on.
3. If the key reads Pressed, the E-stop is pressed: click it, or press F1, to release it.
4. Click Power on (F2). Result: the panel shows 48 V on and each drive Ready. The next step is Home.

Homing

Click Home (F3). Z goes up first, then X and Y together, each to the switch at its end of the travel; at real time this takes about 20 s.

Result: Homed: X Y Z, and the soft limits are on. Until the machine is homed after a power-on, the controller is in ALARM:11, and the tool setter, the probe and Go to zero wait.

Soft limits and the travel

The MC-1 travels 200 mm in X, 150 mm in Y and 80 mm in Z. After homing, each axis's machine coordinate is 0 at its home end: X runs from −200 to 0, Y from −150 to 0 and Z from −80 to 0, with 0 at the top of Z.

• A jog that would go past a limit is not done (error:15). A held jog stops just short of it.
• A program line that would go past a limit stops the program with ALARM:2. The position is kept: Reset, Unlock, then check the program and the work zero.
• An axis that hits a limit switch raises ALARM:1: Reset, Unlock, jog off the switch, then Home.