Jul 18
Uncategorized Colinbus Profiler No Comments
I have ordered a new Kress FME 800 spindle motor and mounting kit for the Colinbus Profiler Pro Z-axis. I also ordered a 3mm endmill for plastics. I hope to receive everything from DamenCNC this week. The new z-axis and a stepper motor to replace the broken one will be ordered from Colinbus one week before I travel to Spain again. Then it should arrive a day or two after I arrive there.
Jun 29
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn, Stoern No Comments
I have finally received some MAGAMP cores. Two different sizes, 11 cores in all. Can’t say it was easy as it took 6 weeks and several friendly reminders before the seller finally sent them. They will of course be tested in the eOrbo replication, but that project will delayed about 3 months and I will therefore do some other experiments with thee cores in the mean time. It is unlikely I will share these experiments with the public at this time.
Jun 23
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
I found that the stepper motor for the x axis has an internal short to its metal body and this most certainly disturbs the driver circuit. I have contacted Colinbus support for their opinion and expect a reply tomorrow. It usually takes two workdays for them to reply. I hope I finally found the source of my problems and that a new stepper motor will be the fix. However, this will take time and the next window of opportunity to use the milling machine is in September or so I hope. Oh well, there is a lot of other work to be done at home and now I have no excuse not to do some at least some of it.
Jun 21
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
Yesterday I took the machine apart to adjust the x, y and z axes. This is finished and I found that two ball bearings need to be replaced. After assembling the machine again it would not start. This threw me off balance and I needed to find a quiet place for some moments. Eventually I disconnected the three stepper motors from the drivers and reconnected them one at a time. It worked, but I don’t know why. It is an indication that I have an electrical problem somewhere. When the machine was running again I was touching the bare metal of the machine and noticed a tingling sensation in my fingers whenever the x axis was running. (I am extremely sensitive to this and often feel this tingling when touching a wire from a USB port.) It is interesting to note that the random moves always happen on the very same x axis.
Jun 20
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
This is so frustrating. With the new controller the milling machine sometimes has its own mind. Suddenly it moves to a position it should not have moved to and I have to start over. Cutting through 10mm Lexan is done 0.5mm or 1mm at a time and if the random move happens when the cutter is 9mm into the Lexan the cutter grinds to a smoking halt putting a tremendous load on the machine, the spindle motor and the cutter. Now the Z-axis is out of adjustment and the cutter is bent (or maybe it is the spindle motor). In a last attempt I will reinstall the old controller, try to adjust the machine and try again. Time is running out.
Jun 13
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
Finally I have received and installed the new 3D controller for the Profiler milling machine. Then I wrote a test file with G-codes, but it didn’t work right away. Seems that the controller takes feed rate as mm/sec, but the control program (ColiDrive) expects mm/min in files. I have contacted Colinbus support asking for a file format specification. I have also readjusted the Z-axis – everybody say it’s a bitch to do it and it really is. Now I believe it is as good as it can be and the nNext step will be to start milling….
Jun 01
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
I went to a local glass shop today to get some Lexan. The pieces I need are relatively small and they had leftovers I got at a reduced price. I guess they knocked off 70-75 % which I really appreciate because Lexan is expensive. Plexiglas is less expensive, but not an option because it melts in the milling machine. If I can find the best milling bit, spindle speed and feed rate for the job I am quite sure the melting can be avoided. Lexan can also be difficult to mill, but I have found a way that works.
Yesterday I ordered and paid for a new 3D controller board for the Colinbus Profiler milling machine. This will replace the 2.5D controller board currently in the machine. As I said earlier there is a problem with the machine and it was either necessary to repair the 2.5D controller or upgrade to a 3D controller. The new controller can read G-code, it can be configured by software and I believe it can be flashed when there is a new firmware release.
May 30
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
Yesterday’s post was a mistake. The hall switch is sensitive to a single magnetic pole on one side and to the opposite pole on the other side. I knew this and at the moment I was thinking that if the sensor didn’t sense I could just move it to the other pole. That is correct only if the same side of the hall switch is facing the other pole. This was not the case yesterday. I was lazy and didn’t think when I just moved the sensor around. The way to do it is to turn the sensor because it will work every time and does not depend on the situation at hand.
With my rotor the magnetic field is shooting up and down and not radially out the where the toroids are placed. This is not optimal, but having pockets in the rotor is attractive seen from an experimenter’s point of view. I can easily play with different size magnets just to see what happens. This may or may not be the best way to replicate eOrbo. It is, however, a good way to learn more.
The motor was started with a single toroid and with strong enough magnets the acceleration is good. I like running it with a load and the load this time was fan blades. It accelerated to around 3000 RPM. In my first replication the load was the fan motor (converted to a generator) and I used two toroids. This means the two replications cannot be compared at this time.
May 29
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
I connected everything together, put magnets in the 8 pockets of the rotor and holding the hall sensor in my hand I moved it around to see if my circuit was switching the toroids on and off as expected. It didn’t, the hall sensor did not sense the magnetic field at the poles at all. I tried above and below. As I moved it between those two positions it turned on near the center of the magnet, but at this position it didn’t turn off when I turned the rotor. Anyway, I had some changes to make and removed all the magnets from the pockets. When I was ready to try again the hall sensor behaved as expected and I didn’t think more about it. At least not before it happened again. Thinking I had blown the sensor I checked with an extra magnet. No problem at all. This lead me to believe the magnetic field around the rotor had two different and stable configurations. One that behaves as I expect and another one. I experimented for a while and so far it seems that when I put the magnets in the pockets I get one or the other configuration, but I never know which one.
May 26
eOrbo replication 2 Orbo, Steorn No Comments
I have mounted the PC fan on an MDF board. When I started replication 2 I wanted to be able to raise and lower the toroids to find the optimal position, but now the PC fan with the orbo rotor can be raised and lowered instead. As quickly as possible I will mount the two toroids at fixed positions and see if I can make this thing run. It will run, that is not the hard part, but I do not know how well it will run. At this stage I will not even test for excess energy.
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