DATA TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Field Service Bulletins

M Series

Rev O 12/16/2009
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 Table of Contents

Table of Contents ...............................................2 TOOLS.I4I defaults ...................................18

Introduction .......................................................4 Bevel Knife .......................................................20
Using the Computer – M-series .........................5
Bevel Knife Calibration..............................20
The Controller ..............................................5 Surface Mapping .............................................21
Working Local ..............................................5 Theory of Operation ...................................21
Remote ...........................................................5 Procedure ....................................................21
Device Drivers ...............................................6 Contrast Sensor for Print Registration ...........23
Communication Problems ...........................6 Theory of Operation ...................................23
BIOS Settings ................................................6 Installing the Sensor ...................................23
Installing Y-Axis Motor – M-series ...................7 Aligning the Sensor .....................................23
Theory of Operation .....................................7 Aligning the Visual Dot ..............................24
Procedure ......................................................7 Understanding Machine Calibrations .............25
Installing X-Axis Motor.....................................8 Theory of Operation ...................................25
Theory of Operation .....................................8 Variables ......................................................25
Procedure ......................................................8 M Laser Calibrations .................................26
Installing Z-Axis Motor .....................................9
Tracking ......................................................27
Theory of Operation .....................................9
Legacy Rotary Calibrations .......................28
Procedure ......................................................9
Alphabet Calibrations ................................28
Reversing Direction of a Brushless Motor...... 10
M Laser Tracking ............................................30
Theory of Operation ................................... 10
Introduction ................................................30
Phasing a Brushless Motor ........................ 10
Theory of Operation ...................................30
Reversing Encoder Direction ..................... 10
Focus Spot ...................................................30
Reversing Motor Direction ........................ 10
Finding the Focus Spot ...............................31
Squaring procedure – M-series ....................... 11
M Laser Beam Compensation .........................32
Theory of Operation ................................... 11
Introduction ................................................32
Procedure .................................................... 11
Theory of Operation ...................................32
Tightening Procedure ................................. 11
Creating the Beam Compensation Table ..32
Tool Scanning – M-series................................ 12
Windows I0I Files ...........................................34
Theory of Operation ................................... 12
Introduction ................................................34
Physical Scanning ....................................... 12
Rotary Laser Settings .................................34
Holder Correction Factor .......................... 12
Rotary Laser Cylinders ..............................34
ID Mapping Procedure .............................. 13
Messages ......................................................35
Universal ID’s ............................................. 14 Legacy Rotary Upgrades..................................36
Current tool list: ......................................... 14 Introduction ................................................36
Holder Alignment procedure – M-series......... 15
LED Pointer ................................................36
Theory of Operation ................................... 15 Service Bulletin – Double Pass Cutting ..........38
Procedure .................................................... 15 Issue .............................................................38
Adding a 0ew Tool – M-series ........................ 16
Symptoms ....................................................38
Procedure .................................................... 16
Solution ........................................................38
Print Registration ....................................... 16
Different Materials .....................................38
How tool air is controlled – M-series .............. 17
Service Bulletin – Shoebox Power Supply ......39
Issue ............................................................. 17
Issue .............................................................39
Procedure .................................................... 17
Theory of Operation ...................................39
Default Tool Settings ....................................... 18

Page 2 of 60
 Symptoms .................................................... 39
Solution ........................................................ 39
4ew Machines ............................................. 39
Service Bulletin – Activating A Tool ............... 41
Issue ............................................................. 41
Solution ........................................................ 41
Service Bulletin – Machinable Surface
Thickness ......................................................... 41
Issue ............................................................. 41
Solution ........................................................ 41
Service Bulletin – LED Pointer Positioning ... 41
Issue ............................................................. 41
Solution ........................................................ 41
Service Bulletin – Positional Errors on Lasers
.......................................................................... 42
Issue ............................................................. 42
Theory of Operation ................................... 42
Solution ........................................................ 42
Service Bulletin – Adding an Electric
Reciprocating Knife ......................................... 43
Issue ............................................................. 43
Solution ........................................................ 43
Service Bulletin – RQL Y Axis Scale Factor .. 44
Issue ............................................................. 44
Theory of Operation ................................... 44
Solution ........................................................ 44
IO Assignments ................................................ 45
Jumper Settings ............................................... 49
Motor Settings .................................................. 51
Sample Makers: M1200, M1600SW,
M2200, M3000, M3000W, M4000W,
M4900SW .................................................... 51
Lasers: M1800L, M2400L, M7248AL,
M7260FL, M9660FL, M3000RL, MRL86L
...................................................................... 51
M1800L & M2400L .................................... 51
M9660FL ..................................................... 52
M7260FL ..................................................... 52
M7248AL..................................................... 53
M3000RL..................................................... 54
M3000RL..................................................... 54
MRL86L ...................................................... 54
AMD Geode 333 MHz SBC ............................. 55

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 Introduction

This document is an accumulation of various engineering documents relating to the M-series machines. The
documents are in no special order. Some are how-to and some are just technical bulletins.
As a service engineer, you should familiarize yourself with the pages that follow. If you encounter
something in the field that is not covered here, please take notes and forward them to Engineering for
inclusion in the next release of this document.

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 Using the Computer – M-series

The Controller
The controller is a single board computer mounted on a passive backplane inside a ‘shoebox’ enclosure. It
contains a standard Intel Pentium class PC architecture. The operating system is not DOS but rather a
simple real-time OS.
Working Local
In order to edit configuration files or change BIOS settings you must first connect a keyboard and a
monitor capable of displaying VGA in 800x600 mode. After connection turn on the computer and let it
boot. When finished booting it should be running the motion control software called Nextgen or some
variation of this name.
To exit the motion software, press and hold the Control key and then press the System Request key (Print
Screen). This will bring up the system menu. Scroll to Kill Task and select the task called Nextgen or
NextgenR etc. This will kill the motion control software.
In order to get a shell prompt so you can begin to work, press <CTRL>+<Sys Req> again and select Shell
from the menu. At the shell prompt type -? To see a list of the commands it accepts. You can do basic
things like file copying, renaming, directory creation, etc.
To edit a motion controller configuration file, type “CD \M3000” (or whatever name your machine is), and
then type “edit machine.ini” (or whatever file you would like to look at). This will bring up a simple text
editor where you can make changes to the machine configuration. As there is no UNDO it is a good idea to
copy any file you are about to edit to a backup name first. When you have finished editing, save the file.
To run the motion controller again, just type “NEXTGEN” or one of its variations at the command prompt
to launch the motion control software.
As the OS is multi-tasking, you can press <ALT>+<TAB> to shift the keyboard focus between open
applications. This will cycle thru all running applications. To access the system menu of the application
that has the focus, press <ALT>+<space bar>. You can move or close the application from this menu. Note
that resize is not implemented yet.
For diagnostics, you can run “CHECKMOT” to test the motors and encoders and limits. You can run
“CHECKIO” to test the inputs and outputs on the I/O card. These two programs can be run simultaneously,
but neither should be run at the same time as NEXTGEN or a runaway condition may happen.
When the computer boots, it is controlled by a file called BOOT.WML in the root directory of the boot
drive. This file is equivalent to the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files of DOS.
Remote
If you are at the reference screen on the hand controller, you can select Exit. This will kill the motion
control program and launch a remote control program in the controller. If you have already referenced, you
can force it to re-reference by pressing the right arrow key on the hand control and while the head is
moving left or right, pressing the Y-axis limit switch. This is a fatal error and will bring up the reference
menu after answering the error messages.
You can then exit the FRONTEND program in Windows, and then run the program called Remote (Start,
Programs, Frontend, and then Remote). This will allow you to do most things described above from the
Windows keyboard and monitor. Many of the special keys will not work from the Windows keyboard,
however. For example, the system menu, normally <CTRL>+<Sys Req>, is done from the Send menu,
System Menu (or F12).

Page 5 of 60
When you have finished working, press F12 (system menu) and select ReBoot. This will restart the
controller computer. Meanwhile, you must exit the Remote program in Windows and restart the Frontend
program. Do not run the controller program (Nextgen) while still using Remote.
Device Drivers
There are a couple of device drivers that need to be installed based on the machine configuration. All
controllers that communicate with a Windows front-end will require the serial driver.
DEVICE = C:\WMLOS.SYS\UART.OMF
If this is a laser then a parallel port driver must be installed.
DEVICE = C:\WMLOS.SYS\PARALLEL.OMF
Communication Problems
Some Rocky motherboards have an issue where they lose serial communication with the Windows
computer after a period of inactivity. This has been determined to be related to some BIOS settings. Please
be sure System BIOS Cacheable is set to DISABLE and Video BIOS Cacheable is set to DISABLE.
BIOS Settings
Many problems with the motion card will arise after a period of inactivity if any BIOS parameters are set
incorrectly. If the machine works correctly after turning on the power but begins to act up after a few hours
of inactivity then check the following settings. In the BIOS the POWER MANAGEMENT must be
disabled. The embedded software has no knowledge of sleep modes and cannot wake up the system from
this mode.

Page 6 of 60
 Installing Y-Axis Motor – M-series

Theory of Operation
The two Y-axis drive motors are independent servos. Each one references off of a mechanical home switch.
The software algorithm is as follows.
0) Drive each Y axis towards the home switch in velocity mode.
1) Stop motion when both home switches are activated.
2) Slowly drive each axis away from the home switches in velocity mode.
3) At the instant an axis falls off its home switch, begin looking for the Index signal from the
encoder.
4) At the instant the index is found, zero the encoder count.
5) When both indexes’ have been found, stop motion.
6) Move the Y Slave Axis to the current position of the Y Master Axis + Offset from Reference
script.
7) Slave the 2 axis together by setting Y Slave encoder count to the Y Master Encoder count.
What is not clear from the above description is that the index signal from the encoder must not be
coincident with the activation of the home switch or the machine could reference with the motor off by one
revolution. The following procedure guarantees this will not happen.
Procedure
1) Remove sheet metal covers from each end of the gantry.
2) Connect your new motor electrically but do not install it.
3) Using the CHECKMOT program try to phase the motor and be sure it passes this test before
continuing. Then check the count direction. When the gantry is pulled towards the machine front
the motor should count negative. If it is incorrect see the section on reversing a brushless motor
direction.
4) Using CHECKMOT, arm the index capture mechanism and slowly turn the motor shaft until the
index is captured.
5) Place a mark on the pulley and motor housing as a witness mark showing the index location.
6) Turn the motor shaft 180 degrees so the index location is 180 degrees from the witness mark.
7) Pull the gantry from the middle while watching the state of the HOME switch on the side you are
working on. (You can observe the state of the home switches using CHECKMOT program). At
the instant the home switch turns on, stop pulling the gantry and leave it there.
8) Now install the motor being careful to not move the pulley much. This assures the index mark is
far away when the home switch is activated.
9) Now refer to the squaring procedure to square the gantry.

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 Installing X-Axis Motor

Theory of Operation
The X-axis drive motor references off of a mechanical home switch. The software algorithm follows:
1) Drive the X-axis toward the home switch in velocity mode.
2) Stop motion when home switch is activated.
3) Slowly drive the axis away from the home switch in velocity mode.
4) At the instant it falls off the switch begin looking for the zero marker on the encoder.
5) At the instant the index is found, stop motion and zero the encoder.
6) Move to the final reference location to allow for tool stopovers and zero the encoders.

As with the Y-axis reference procedure, we do not want the index signal to be near the switch drop-off
location.
Procedure
1) Connect your new motor electrically but do not install it.
2) Using the CHECKMOT program try to phase the motor and be sure it passes this test before
continuing. Then check the count direction. When the carriage is pushed left the motor should
count negative. If it is incorrect see the section on reversing a brushless motor direction.
3) Using CHECKMOT, arm the index capture mechanism and slowly turn the motor shaft until the
index is captured.
4) Place a mark on the pulley and motor housing as a witness mark showing the index location.
5) Turn the motor shaft 180 degrees so the index location is 180 degrees from the witness mark.
6) Pull the carriage while watching the state of the HOME switch on the x-axis. (You can observe the
state of the home switch using CHECKMOT program). At the instant the home switch turns on,
stop pulling the carriage and leave it there.
7) Now install the motor being careful to not move the pulley much. This assures the index mark is
far away when the home switch is activated.
8) Reinstall the covers and you are ready to go.

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 Installing Z-Axis Motor

Theory of Operation
The Z-axis drive motor references by using a mechanical hard stop. The software algorithm follows:
1) Set the gain low and set a very small following error for the axis.
2) Drive the Z-axis toward the hard stop in velocity mode.
3) Stop motion when following error exceeds the setting.
4) Slowly drive the axis away from the hard stop in velocity mode and begin looking for the zero
mark on the encoder.
5) At the instant the index is found, stop motion and zero the encoder.

We do not want the index signal to be near the hard stop location.
Procedure
1) Connect your new motor electrically but do not install it.
2) Using the CHECKMOT program try to phase the motor and be sure it passes this test before
continuing. Then check the count direction. When the z-axis is raised the motor should count
negative. If it is incorrect see the section on reversing a brushless motor direction.
3) Using CHECKMOT, arm the index capture mechanism and slowly turn the motor shaft until the
index is captured.
4) Place a mark on the pulley and motor housing as a witness mark showing the index location.
5) Turn the motor shaft 90 degrees counterclockwise so the index location is 90 degrees from the
witness mark.
6) Push the z-axis all the way up until it hits the hard stop.
7) Now install the motor being careful to not move the bevel gear much. This assures the index mark
is 90 degrees away when the hard stop is hit.
8) The gear mesh is critical. Verify using CHECKMOT that you have 2 – 4 encoder counts of
backlash between the bevel gears. If there is no backlash at all you must readjust until there is.
9) Reinstall the covers and you are ready to reset the table height setting in MACHINE.INI.
10) Refer to the section entitled Understanding Machine Calibrations. Because you will not have the
precision measuring instruments used by the factory you will have to arrive at the number by
experiment. Begin by removing the sacrificial mat. Next use a piece of folding carton stock or
other heavy material for some test cutting. Measure the board with calipers and set up a job using
this thickness. Set up a row using the drag knife to cut 0.001” deep. Next put a new blade in the
tool and measure the protrusion as accurately as you can with calipers and enter this number into
the blade length field for the tool using the hand control.
11) Now hold or tape a piece of paper over the board and run the job. (It should only consist of a 2”
vertical or horizontal line). Be sure the vacuum is turned on and the zone controls adjusted
properly. The knife should have cut fully thru the paper but you should not be able to see any cut
in the folding carton stock under the paper.
12) If the cut was too deep or not deep enough then you must edit MACHINE.INI and change the
table height variable under section [MACHINE]. Remember that the units of measure are in
millimeters.
13) Increasing table height will make the tool cut deeper. Decreasing table height will make the tool
cut less deep.

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 Reversing Direction of a Brushless Motor

Theory of Operation
A brushless motor uses 3 windings with a three phase A.C. voltage to drive it. The amplifier must
synchronize the current with the physical location of the windings and magnets inside the motor. To get
this physical information the amplifier relies on feedback in the form of 3 hall sensors in the motor.
Phasing a Brushless Motor
If the motor you are about to replace phases incorrectly then it must be fixed. All this means is that when
the motion controller is trying to drive the motor in a positive direction, the encoder is counting in a
negative direction. There are two ways to fix this but only one will be correct. If the encoder is counting
correctly in terms of the axis it will be mounted on then the motor direction must be reversed. If the
encoder is counting backwards in terms of the axis it is mounted on then the encoder direction must be
reversed instead.
Reversing Encoder Direction
To reverse the direction of your encoder, you must swap some pins in the encoder connector. First reverse
channel A+ with B+. Then reverse channel A- with B-. After changing the wires always run CHECKMOT
and verify the change worked correctly.
Reversing Motor Direction
To reverse the direction of a motor, you must swap two hall sensor wires and two motor power wires. First
swap pin #2 and pin #3 on the power lead connector. Then swap pin #3 with pin #1 on the hall sensor
connector. After changing the wires always run CHECKMOT and verify the change worked correctly.

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 Squaring procedure – M-series

Theory of Operation
The two Y-axis drive motors are independent servos. Each one references off of a mechanical home switch.
The software algorithm is as follows.
1) Drive each Y axis towards the home switch in velocity mode.
2) Stop motion when both home switches are activated.
3) Slowly drive each axis away from the home switches in velocity mode.
4) At the instant an axis falls off its home switch, begin looking for the Index signal from the
encoder.
5) At the instant the index is found, zero the encoder count.
6) When both indexes’ have been found, stop motion.
7) Move the Y Slave Axis to the current position of the Y Master Axis + Offset. (From Reference
script).
8) Slave the 2 axis together by setting Y Slave encoder count to the Y Master Encoder count.
From the above description it is clear that the offset in the Reference Script is what squares the gantry.
Procedure
1) Remove sheet metal covers from each end of the gantry.
2) Loosen all gantry screws that connect to the Y axis drive carriage and then make finger tight.
Tighten the Center screw on each end until the Belleville washer is 50% compressed.
3) Reference the machine.
4) Draw on a Mylar sheet a wide U shaped drawing. (60” wide, 36” tall legs).
5) Fold the left side over on top of the right side and superimpose the horizontal line on itself.
6) Measure the error at the top of the vertical lines. If greater than the width of the line you should
adjust as follows, otherwise skip to the tightening procedure.
7) Press <CTRL>+<Enter> on the motion control computer keyboard. This will bring up a
manufacturing menu. Select the item Square Gantry.
NOTE: If the Controller is an older version that does have Square Gantry as a menu item, skip
steps 8-9 and do the following instead:
Exit the Controller program (<ALT>+<SPACE>, Close)
Edit M_PP.INI
Find the line that has “control,f9,a…”
Edit the number after the “a” as described in step 8
Save and close M_PP.INI
Restart the Controller program by typing NEXTGEN
8) Enter a new offset in the edit field. This number is the offset that is added to the Y Slave Encoder.
You will need to change this number to affect the square of the gantry. If the Vertical line of the
TOP sheet is to the left of the Vertical line of the BOTTOM sheet, then the Y Slave axis is too far
forward and you must reduce the number. If it is already negative then you must make it more
negative. If the vertical lines are reversed from the example then you must add to the value in the
edit field.
9) After the edit, exit out of the manufacturing menu by pressing escape.
10) Go to step 4 above and recheck.
Tightening Procedure
11) With the machine at reference and without ever have breaking the safety beam, reach under the
safety beam and tighten at least 4 gantry screws on each side of the gantry. After this it is OK to
turn off power and fully tighten all the gantry mounting screws.
12) Note that if this is an M-Laser then do not tighten the gantry screws until you slew the carriage as
close to the end that you are tightening first. This is required to maintain the correct gantry spacing
and minimize any extra load on the carriage bearings.
13) Replace the sheet metal parts.

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 Tool Scanning – M-series

Theory of Operation
Each tool holder in the tool head has a proximity sensor that detects the body of any installed tool. Each
tool has one or more machined pockets in its body that can be sensed by the proximity sensor. When the
controller tries to scan a tool, it spins the tool 360 degrees and monitors the proximity sensor to determine
the location of the machined pockets. This information is used to determine the tool’s PHYSICAL ID. Each
tool type has a unique physical id.
The Windows front-end specifies a tool by assigning meaningful names to UNIVERSAL TOOL ID’S,
(UID). The reason for using a UID to reference the tools is to keep all front-end software consistent, and
allows the use of human readable names to represent tools.
The controller has a configuration file that maps the UID to the PHYSICAL ID.
Physical Scanning
Looking down onto a tool holder, when the tool locating slot is at 3:00 o’clock, the tool is considered to be
at zero degrees. When the tool locating slot is here the proximity sensor is at 12:00 o’clock, (+90 degrees).
The circumference of the tool body is divided into 45 degree segments where a pocket is allowed to be.
This means there are 8 possible sensor locations. As a location is binary, (either on or off), there are 256
possible combinations. The controller treats (8) ones as an error and (8) zero’s as no tool present.
From the above description, it is clear that the pockets are in exact physical relation to the locating pin on
the tool body. The proximity sensor is in an exact location on the tool head. The location of the zero-marker
on the tangential encoder is NOT at an exact location in relation to the tool locating slot. There is a holder
correction factor stored in the controller that is added to the encoder count for each tool holder to
compensate for this fact. It is accessed using the hand control, in the setup menu.
When scanning, the tools are spun counter clockwise. The pocket in line with the tool locating pin is
considered to be the last bit, bit 7. Therefore, if you look down on a tool from the top and hold the locating
pin at 12:00 o’clock, bit 0 is at 1:30, bit 1 is at 3:00, etc.
Here is the actual software sequence used by the controller.
1) Preset all bits to zero in variable TOOLID for each holder.
2) Turn the tangential motor on for 1 revolution going counter clockwise.
3) Monitor the proximity sensors until the motor turns off.
4) If a proximity sensor turns off:
a. Determine which holder the sensor belongs to.
b. Get the current tangential encoder position. (Degrees absolute).
c. Subtract 90 degrees to compensate for the proximity switch location.
d. Add in the holder correction.
e. Normalize to a range between 0 and 359.99.
f. Divide by 45 and round to nearest integer.
g. This yields a number between 0 and 8. If it is 8 then set it to 0. Now we have a number
between 0 and 7 that corresponds to the bit location in the variable TOOLID. Set this bit
to one.
5) When the motor turns off, each TOOLID variable will contain the PHYSICAL ID.

Holder Correction Factor

If the holder correction factor is off by more than about 15 degrees the tools will probably not be read
correctly in that holder. It is important to set up the holder corrections properly. See page 15, entitled
Holder Alignment procedure – M-series
, for details.

Page 12 of 60
ID Mapping Procedure
The controller uses a file called M_TASK.INI to map PHYSICAL ID to UID. Look for section [UID MAP]
in the file. Following is an excerpt from the Sample Table’s M_TASK.INI.
[UID MAP]
; Looking at the top, hold the tool with the pin at 12:00 and
; scan clockwise. Add the following for every detent location:
; 1:30 1
; 3:00 2
; 4:30 4
; 6:00 8
; 7:30 16
; 9:00 32
; 10:30 64
; 12:00 128
; physical decoded value = UID
; 0: light duty router 30mm
; NOTE: use 0 = 149 if 3 tangential tools.
; use 0 = 146 if mounted in a non-tangential sleeve
0 = 146
; 1: super slitter tri-wall knife
1=5
; 2: bevel tri-wall knife (45 degree bevel)
2=6
; 4: ball-point pen (typ. black)
4 = 92
; 5: 2nd ball-point pen (i.e. red)
5 = 93
; 6: vinyl spring knife
6=9
; 7: 3rd ball-point pen (i.e. green)
7 = 94
; 8: precision flat drag knife (carbide blade)
8=7
; 16: corr. drag knife (griffold blade)
16 = 2
; 24: precision drag knife (round blade)
24 = 3
; 28: micrometer drag knife
28 = 8
; 30: sword drag knife (60 degree double-edge)
30 = 4
; 32: folding carton crease wheel
32 = 73
; 64: crease/crush wheel (2" diameter)
64 = 74
; 68: felt-tip pen
68 = 97
; 72: rubber reciprocating knife (5 degree bevel)
72 = 57
; 80: plastic corr. crease wheel (no pneumatic extend)
80 = 76
; 88: reciprocating knife (0.090" stroke)
88 = 56
; 112: foam knife (1/4" stroke)
112 = 53
; 120: standard reciprocating knife (0.032" or 0.016" stroke)
120 = 52
; 128: corr. crease wheel
128 = 72
; 192: folding carton crease wheel (1/2" diameter)
192 = 75

As you can see, the first number is the PHYSICAL ID and the second number is the UID. This is all that is
required to perform the mapping. If you need to add a new tool to a machine, you need to add a line to this
section. For the values, refer to Universal ID’s on page 14.

Page 13 of 60
Universal ID’s
Here are some currently defined UID. For the latest list, see tools.ini.
; 2=corr. drag knife (griffold blade), 3=precision drag knife (round blade),
; 4=sword drag knife (60 degree double-edge), 5=super slitter tri-wall knife,
; 6=bevel tri-wall knife (45 degree bevel), 7=precision flat drag knife (carbide blade),
; 8=micrometer drag knife, 9=vinyl spring knife, 16=2-pass bevel knife, 26=3-pass bevel knife,
; 52=standard reciprocating knife (0.032" or 0.016" stroke), 53=foam knife (1/4" stroke),
; 56=reciprocating knife (0.090" stroke), 57=rubber reciprocating knife (5 degree bevel),
; 58=electric recip. knife (0.090” stroke), 59=electric foam knife (1/4" stroke),
; 72=corr. crease wheel, 73=folding carton crease wheel,
; 74=crease/crush wheel (2" diameter), 75=folding carton crease wheel (1/2" diameter),
; 76=plastic corr. crease wheel (no pneumatic extend),
; 92=ball-point pen (typ. black), 93=2nd ball-point pen (i.e. red), 94=3rd ball-point pen (i.e. green),
; 97=felt-tip pen, 131-140=router, 146=light duty router 30mm (2-tang tool head),
; 149=light duty router 30mm (3-tang tool head), 151=drill, 180=wire feed with breakage encoder,
; 182=touchoff sensor, 183=contrast sensor (for print registration), 191=laser pointer,
; 192=rotary laser pointer (legacy), 201=wood laser, 202=metal laser

Current tool list:

For the most current listing, always refer directly to drawing B320316-00. If a tool’s UID is not listed on
the latest revision of this drawing, the tool probably cannot be scanned and has no PHYSICAL ID.

Page 14 of 60
 Holder Alignment procedure – M-series

Theory of Operation
The three tool holders are physically connected to each other via spur gears. Therefore when one turns the
others turn as well. Due to mechanical tolerances and the coarseness of the gear pitch, it is impossible to get
all 3 holders to have their tool drive slots physically oriented exactly the same. This procedure is for setting
a correction angle in the controller for each tool holder.
Procedure
1) Install the tangential motor encoder assembly. When installing, face the flat on the tangential
encoder at 3:00 o’clock, (usually this is the zero mark location), and face the slots in the tool
holders to 3:00 o’clock. This will get the mechanical alignment close.
2) With the vacuum on, draw a straight horizontal line on a piece of board using the ink pen.
3) Create a simple CAD file consisting of a single horizontal line 1 inch long. Open this file in
Frontend and create a job that maps the crease wheel tool to this line. Output the file to the Sample
Table. Set an index near the middle of the ink line.
4) Remove the ink pen and install the crease wheel holder into tool holder 1, (remove the crease
wheel first).
5) Run the file. If the crease wheel holder is not found correctly, the mechanical alignment is too far
off in relation to the encoder zero-marker. Try to physically align the holders again. Be sure the
slots in the tool holders face 3:00 o’clock at the zero mark of the tangential encoder. The zero
mark may be found using the CHECKMOT program and marked on the gear with an ink pen.
6) Hold a straight edge against the flat portion of the crease wheel holder and sight down onto the ink
line. (You must not break the safety beam when doing this). Take note of the angular mismatch.
7) Using the hand control, go to SETUP, HOLDER SETTINGS and select the holder that the crease
wheel holder is in. Change the correction value there by the amount you observed in step 6 above.
Negative corrections move the tool clockwise.
8) Run the file again and check the alignment again. If it is OK then move the crease wheel holder to
the next tool holder and go to step 5 above.

Page 15 of 60
 Adding a New Tool – M-series

Procedure
To use a new tool on an M-series machine, you must first make sure it has a CALIBRATION NUMBER. If
the new tool has not yet been calibrated, measure from the bottom of the pin to the very bottom of the tool
(the flat surface where you insert the blade). Put a sticker on the tool with this CALIBRATION NUMBER.
You must then identify the tool. From the following list, find the correct TOOL NAME and UID.
TOOL NAME UID TOOL NAME UID
Corr Drag 2 Crease Wheel 72
Prec Knife 3 F.C. Crease 73
Sword 60 Deg 4 2" Crease 74
Super Slit 5 1/2" Crease 75
Bevel Knife 6 Plastic Crease 76
Prec Flat Kn 7 Black Pen 92
Micrometer Kn 8 2nd Ball Pt Pen (i.e. Red Pen) 93
Vinyl Spring Kn 9 3rd Ball Pt Pen (i.e. Green Pen) 94
Bevel 2-Pass (Windows only) 16 Felt Tip Pen 97
Bevel 3-Pass (Windows only) 26 Router 131
Recip 0.030 52 Lt Duty Router (non-tang. holder) 146
Foam Knife 53 Lt Duty Router (tangential holder) 149
Recip 0.090 56 Drill 151
Rubber Knife 57 Sensor 183
Elec Knife 0.250 58 Pointer (Controller only) 191
Elec Knife 0.090 59

You must then do three things:

1. Add the tool to the list of available tools in the Controller:
In the Controller, edit TOOLS.INI. First look for a tool with “id=UID”. If you find one
uncommented, this file is all set. If the tool is commented, just uncomment it (by removing the semi-
colon at the start of each line). If the tool is not there at all, copy and paste the entire tool section from
another tool that is most similar. Then edit the tool name to [TOOL NAME]. Change the id so that
“id=UID”. Change the calibration number using the value from the sticker on the tool, so that
“calibration=CALIBRATION NUMBER” (entered in mm, so if inches multiply by 25.4). Change the
remainder of the settings to match to tool, referring to TOOLS.INI defaults on page 18.
2. Add the tool’s scanning configuration in the Controller:
In the Controller, edit M_TASK.INI. Under [UID MAP], look for “PHYS ID =UID”. If you don’t
find the new tool’s numbers listed, add them. Refer to Universal ID’s on page 14.
3. Add the tool to the list of available tools in the Windows Frontend:
In the Windows Frontend, edit JOBTICKT.INI. Under [UID], make sure the tool is listed as
“UID=TOOL NAME”, adding the tool if necessary.
Print Registration
There is an optional contrast sensor that can be used in place of the LED pointer. If this sensor is fitted you
will have to set it up specifically (See page 23, entitled Contrast Sensor for Print Registration, for details).

Page 16 of 60
 How tool air is controlled – M-series

Issue
The reciprocating knife and the router have an air source that must be activated when the tool is in use.
These tools are usually in the left most location on the tool head. If they must be used in another location
then the software must know this.
Procedure
The information to activate a tools’ so called activation solenoid is determined by the information
contained in TOOLS.INI. Each tool has an “activate pd” entry that is a bitmap defining characteristics of
the tool when in use. If bit one is set then the tools activate solenoid is used during operation. The universal
ID is #18 through #33 corresponding to holder #1 through #16.
What this means is that the universal id must be mapped in the file called M_TASK.INI. The default from
the factory is to have #18 mapped to I/O address 0x280, 0x10. This means that when holder 1 is activated
and a reciprocating knife is in it, I/O address 0x280, 0x10 will be activated which is connected to the
solenoid valve that delivers the air to the knife.
If you must operate the knife in holder two for some reason then you have to edit M_TASK.INI to set up a
mapping for universal id #19. Under the section called [OUTPUT MAP] you would add an entry called “19
= 0x280,0x10” which will map the same solenoid valve to the activation universal id for holder #2. Now
the reciprocating knife can work in holder 1 and holder 2.

Page 17 of 60
 inline side entry tang activate trigg ang magazine head id [name]
offset offset ang corr pd holder holder

installation.
0 0 0 0 2 30 0 1 56 Recip 0.090

0 0 0 0 2 30 0 1 52 Recip 0.030

0 0 0 0 0 30 0 2 72 Crease Wheel

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 92 Black Pen
TOOLS.INI defaults

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 93 2nd Ball Pt Pen

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 94 3rd Ball Pt Pen

0 0 0 0 0 15 0 1 2 Corr Drag

0 0 0 0 0 45 0 2 9 Vinyl Spring Kn

0 0 0 0 3 15 0 1 53 Foam knife

0 0 0 0 0 15 0 1 3 Prec Knife

0 0 0 0 0 15 0 2 4 Sword 60 Deg

0 0 0 0 0 30 0 1 7 Prec Flat Kn

0 0 0 0 0 15 0 1 8 Micrometer Kn

0 0 0 0 0 20 0 2 74 2” Crease
Default Tool Settings

0 0 0 0 0 20 0 2 73 F.C. Crease

0 0 0 0 0 20 0 2 75 1/2” Crease

-23.931 0 0 0 0 5 0 1 5 Super Slit

-18.762 -17.78 -45 0 0 5 0 2 6 Bevel Knife

0 0 0 0 4 30 0 2 76 Plastic Crease

0 4.9022 5 0 2 5 0 1 57 Rubber Knife

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 97 Felt Tip Pen

Please note that these are factory defaults only. Due to various reasons they may be different in any one

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 191 Pointer

0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 146 Lt Duty Router

Page 18 of 60
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 183 Sensor

0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 151 Drill
 blade cal calibration clearance blade x / y x / y motion activate down [name]
ext acc vel dwells dwells dwells

10.16 200 5 0 - - 0,0 75,0 0,0 Recip 0.090

10.16 200 5 0 - - 0,0 75,0 0,0 Recip 0.030

9.525 200 3 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Crease Wheel

10.16 200 4 0 5000 - 50,120 0,0 0,0 Black Pen

10.16 200 4 0 5000 - 50,120 0,0 0,0 2nd Ball Pt Pen

10.16 200 4 0 5000 - 50,120 0,0 0,0 3rd Ball Pt Pen

10.16 200 4 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Corr Drag

13.72 200 2.54 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Vinyl Spring Kn

76.2 200 6 0 - - 0,0 250,0 0,250 Foam knife

12.7 200 4 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Prec Knife

12.7 200 24 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Sword 60 Deg

12.7 200 2.5 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Prec Flat Kn

12.7 200 4 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Micrometer Kn

20.193 200 2 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 2” Crease

4.572 200 2 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 F.C. Crease

4.572 200 2 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 1/2” Crease

20.6756 200 4 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Super Slit

17.907 200 8 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Bevel Knife

9.525 200 3 0 - - 0,0 0,0 50,0 Plastic Crease

12.7 200 8 0 - - 0,0 75,0 0,0 Rubber Knife

10.16 200 4 0 5000 - 50,120 0,0 0,0 Felt Tip Pen

0 200 0 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Pointer

25.4 200 2 0 - - 0,0 0,0 30,0 Lt Duty Router

Page 19 of 60
25.4 200 0 0 - - 0,0 0,0 0,0 Sensor

40.005 200 2.5 0 - - 200,200 100,0 75,0 Drill

 Bevel Knife

Bevel Knife Calibration

The settings for the bevel blade holder are contained in TOOLS.INI. You must edit this file to setup a bevel
knife.
First make sure the blade is in correctly and securely. You can chase calibrations for quite some time only
to realize that the blade is not in right, and then have to start all over again. One thing to look for is that the
back edge of the blade should be perpendicular to the surface of the material, parallel to the side of the
blade holder. And, obviously, the pins should seat perfectly into the recesses on the blade.
First be aware that the lines should line up on the bottom of the material, not the top. The deeper you go,
the more the blade will over-cut on the top. Also, if you go deeper than the material, the V cuts will meet
inside the cutting mat and will leave a gap between the lines on the bottom. The best way to adjust either
offset is to barely cut the material.
If the starts and ends of the parallel lines do not line up, the number affecting that is the "in line offset".
The "in line offset" should be a negative number because the tip is behind the center of the tool. If the cut
is too far forward of where it should be, that means the tool is shifting too much and so the offset value is
too much and should be decreased (a smaller negative number). Likewise, if the cut is behind where it
should be, make the value more negative.
If the width between the parallel lines is wrong, that is the "side offset". The "side offset" should also be
negative because the tip is to the left of the center of the tool. If the lines do not meet, the tool is stepping
over too much and so the offset value should be made less negative. Likewise, if the cuts overlap, make the
value more negative.
The last calibrated values were (in mm):
side offset = -17.78
inline offset = -18.762

Page 20 of 60
 Surface Mapping

Theory of Operation
After the surface is machined it is only flat within 0.020 to 0.040 inches. After disassembly, shipping and
installation it may be even less flat. Tool holder one and three each have a tracking encoder on the presser
foot which can be used to quantify the surface flatness. Readings are taken at every square inch and stored
in a table. During machine operation, this table is used to find a correction value to be applied to the z-axis
to compensate for this non-flat condition.
Procedure
1) You must upgrade to controller version 1.72 or above. If you need to upgrade, install the new
NEXTGEN.OMF file and the new UI.INI file. Do not overwrite any other .INI file.
2) Remove the sheet metal tops and be sure the foam surface and back of the sheet metal are
extremely clean. Any debris will affect the surface flatness.
3) When you replace the sheet metal tops be sure the joints do not overlap and there is a slight
clearance between them.
4) Verify the operation of the tracking encoders using CHECKMOT.OMF. Adjust as required to
remove backlash and be sure the count goes negative when moving the shoe up.
5) Edit MACHINE.INI and find section [HOLDERS]. Add or edit the following entries:
0 tracking counts per mm = 114.577236872
0 tracking axis number = 2
2 tracking counts per mm = 114.577236872
2 tracking axis number = 0
6) Edit M_TASK.INI and find section [MACHINE]. Add or edit the following entry:
z track vel = 254.0
z track acc = 5000.0
X in position = 10
Y in position = 10
Z in position = 10
7) Set up a tool to use for mapping. The crease holder, pen, or drag knife is OK. In all cases remove
the blade or wheel or pen barrel. Place this tool into holder 1 or holder 3 and install a presser foot.
Be sure to use the 320152-03 plastic foot on the presser foot as this has a 0.75” diameter that
touches the surface. This is best as the sensing grid is 1” by 1” and the contact area should be less
than the grid. It is important that the bottom of the tool not touch the inside of the presser foot.
8) Using the hand control, select the tool. Then set a depth of 0.35 inch in x and y directions. Se the
pressure to at least 40 PSI. Then set the material to 0.001” and the sacrificial mat to 0.001” using
the setup menu.
9) Install a keyboard and monitor on the controller. Change to the controller working directory and
backup the old software and .INI files.
10) Cheat out the safety beams or guard the machine like a hawk as you can not let the mapping
process be interrupted. This means both the relay contact on the 3 beam scanner board and the
signal line to the I/O card.
11) Remove the front and left material guides / stops as they interfere with the presser foot.
12) Type NEXTGEN DEMO=2 to run the controller.
13) Reference the machine as usual.
14) Turn on the vacuum and open the zone control valves.
15) Press <CTRL>+<Enter> to bring up a testing menu. First select item read tool ID’s so the tools
spin and indicate the tools present. If the tools do not turn then you have not effectively disabled
the safety beam.

Page 21 of 60
16) Select the menu item to MAP SURFACE. Follow the instructions and press <Enter>. The table
should begin scanning along and you can watch the encoder counts while running. Verify the
encoder is tracking correctly by watching the count while scanning. If you feel it is not working
correctly then press a key on the hand control and then abort the plot. A dialog will pop up
prompting you to save the surface map. Select cancel. Then fix the problem.
17) Common problems are the presser foot is not touching the surface or the tool holder is bottoming
out inside the shoe. In either case you can change the depth setting of the tool and then start the
map again.
18) A less common problem is the encoder gains or loses counts due to electrical noise. Watch the
minimum and maximum values while running. They should not get too extreme. The units are
10160 counts per inch. This means that 10 counts equates to 0.001”. A relatively flat surface will
have an absolute variance of between 200 and 400 counts. A surface that is out 0.09 inches will be
as high as 914 counts.
19) Upon completion, a dialog will pop up prompting you to save the surface map. Accept the default
name of SURFACE.MAP.
20) Exit out of the controller program and restart it by typing NEXTGEN (this time with no DEMO).
21) Reference the table. Then in the setup menu find the entry Table Map and set it to Yes. From now
on the machine will use the surface map for real-time correction.

Page 22 of 60
 Contrast Sensor for Print Registration

Theory of Operation
The contrast sensor replaces the normal laser pointer and is mounted close to the same position. It functions
best when between 0.75” and 1.25” from the material to be scanned. There is a sensitivity adjustment on
the front of it that is used to set it for the contrast of marks you want to detect.
The controller scans a dot looking for its edges in both X and Y directions. After the scan, a center point is
determined. The controller uses the scanned center points for aligning the data image in its buffer memory.
The following procedure explains how to align the sensor with the tools.
Installing the Sensor
Remove the old LED pointer and install the contrast sensor in its place. Replace the tool head ribbon cable
with the new one. Install a keyboard and monitor to the control computer.
To add the Sensor tool (ID 183) in software, refer to Adding a New Tool – M-series on page 16.
A new holder must also be added, because the sensing location is different than the center of the visible
LED. Even though there is only one device, the software uses settings for two different tools in two
different holders. The Pointer, in holder number 16, is used by the operator to visually set origin on the
machine. The Sensor, in holder number 5, is used by the software to find the dot centers and adjust the data.
Edit the Controller’s MACHINE.INI file and add under section [HOLDERS] the following (if it does not
exist):
; holder index 4 is the contrast sensor
4 holder number = 5
4 tracking shoe = 0
4 center position = X32.2000,Y-0.8000
4 holder up position = X0.0,Y0.0
4 in holder position = X0.0,Y0.0
4 calibration = 0.0
4 air stroke = 0.0
4 activate pressure = 0.0
4 activate time = 0.0
4 shoe height = 0.0
4 tang select = 0,0,0,0
4 tang correction = 0.0000
4 toolhead = 1
4 activate settle = 0

A new Operation must also be added for the Job Ticket, to use with the Sensor. Edit the Windows
Frontend’s JOBTICKT.INI file, and under section [OPERATION] add (if it does not exist):
?=Register (where ? is the next available number)

Aligning the Sensor

After installing the sensor, be sure it is centered between the presser feet on tool 1 and tool 2. You will need
a test file and its corresponding printed graphics before starting. Start the control software by typing
NEXTGEN at the command prompt. Reference the machine as usual.
1) Open a file with printed registration dots in the Front-End. Using the select tool select the lower
left registration dot. Right click and select set origin. Now create a job for the printed material.
Select Register using the Sensor tool for the first operation. Use a velocity of 0.75 inch per second.
Select the drag knife as the second operation. Set the depth to 0.015” and the velocity to 1 inch per
second. Map the registration dot color to both operations. Save the job and send it.

Page 23 of 60
 2) Install a new blade into the knife holder. Place the printed sheet on the surface and turn on the
vacuum.
3) Set an origin over the lower left dot. Run the file.
4) Inspect the first cut mark using a 5X magnifier. If the cut is not centered with the registration dot
adjust as follows.
5) On the hand control, go to Setup \ Machine Settings \ Adjust to Sensor. Enter the X and Y values
that will move the cut data toward the registration dot. If the cut circle is say 0.008” high and
0.002” to the left of the dot, then enter -0.008 X and 0.002 Y to move the cuts down and right.
6) Place another sheet on the table or select another image on a multiple image sheet. Go to step 3.

Aligning the Visual Dot

When the tool head is fully up the contrast sensor dot turns into a rectangle. The middle of this rectangle,
which is what the operator uses to visually set origin, does not correspond with the center of the sensor
when lowered. Use the following procedure to adjust the visual position of the sensor.
1) Create a simple file with a 0.125” diameter circle in it by using the test cut menu.
2) Select it and right click and set origin.
3) Create a job to draw the circle using the pen. Set the velocity to 0.5 inch per second. Send it.
4) Using an ink pen place a dot on a material. Using the hand control place the pointer over the dot
and set an origin there.
5) Run the job and inspect the circle. If the circle is not centered over the dot then adjust as follows.
6) On the hand control, go to Setup \ Machine Settings \ Adjust to Pointer. Enter the X and Y values
that will move the plotted data toward the marked dot. If the plotted circle is say 0.008” high and
0.002” to the left of the marked dot, then enter -0.008 X and 0.002 Y to move it down and right.
7) Place another sheet on the table or select another image on a multiple image sheet. Go to step 4.

Page 24 of 60
 Understanding Machine Calibrations

Theory of Operation
How does the machine ‘know’ where to put the tool during operation? This section attempts to explain the
various hard-coded numbers and user adjustable settings in an M-Series machine. Besides the numbers you
can enter on the hand control, there are some factory tuned numbers in the file called MACHINE.INI. Here
are the variables of interest from this file. Remember that all INI file units are in MM.
[MACHINE]
table height = 274.69
[HOLDERS]
1 calibration = -0.220
1 air stroke = 31.85
Refer to Figure 1 when following along with the explanation.
Variables
After reference, the Z-Axis is at position 0.0. A height gage is used to measure the distance to the bottom of
the tool locating pin in holder number one from the surface of the machine. This number is recorded in
[MACHINE] under table height.
Because each holder is not perfect, there is a slight variance between the bottoms of the locating slots in the
holders. The difference between any holder and the slot in holder 0 is called the holder calibration.
Therefore holder zero always has a calibration of zero. If the slot is higher in relation to the surface than
holder 0 the calibration will be negative, otherwise it will be positive. This number is recorded in
[HOLDERS] under X calibration.
Each holder has a pneumatic cylinder that actuates it. Again the parts are not perfect, so each cylinder is
actuated and the stroke is measured and recorded in [HOLDERS] under X air stroke.
Each tool has a measurement from the bottom of its locating pit to the bottom of the tool body. This is
called the tool calibration. This number is entered using the hand control for each tool in use.
Each tool has a blade, or wheel, or pen that sticks out of the tool body. This is measured using calipers or
set using a gage, and the number is recorded using the hand control. (Both of these numbers are stored in
TOOLS.INI).
In the software we add the holder calibration + air stroke + tool calibration + blade calibration to arrive at
an internal variable called Total Calibration.
When the operator fills out a Job Ticket and sends it to the machine, there is enough information to figure
out where to command the Z-Axis. The ticket includes the sacrificial mat thickness and the material
thickness. It also specifies how deep to cut with the tool. The control software calculates this by the
following: Top of Material = Table Height – Mat – Material. Z-Axis position = Top of Material – Total
Calibration + Depth of Cut.
That is how the control software calculates depths based on the various variables stored in the INI files.

Page 25 of 60
 HolderCalib

AirStroke

TotalCalib
ToolCalib

TableHeight

BladeCalib

Day Light
Material
Mat

Machine Surface

Notes:
1) HolderCalib of holder one is always zero as this holder is the reference holder for TableHeight.
2) TableHeight is the absolute distance measured to the slot in holder one after reference of Z.
3) Air stroke is the measured amount of stroke for each holder.
4) ToolCalib is always measured from bottom of pin to end of tool bode.
5) Blade Calib is always the amount the blade, wheel, or pen protrudes past the body.
6) Daylight controls the tool clearance over the material / mat during toolup moves.
7) TotalCalib is not a user defineable variable. (Shown for illustration only).
8) HolderCalib is always the difference of a holder's slot to holder one. (Reference Holder).

Figure 1
M Laser Calibrations
The M Laser is a little different in that there is no air stroke or holder calibration to worry about. These
variables still exist in the INI file but they are set to zero so they have no effect. The ticket sets the
sacrificial mat to zero as this variable is not used either. The laser includes a tracking shoe to keep the focus
height constant while running. This shoe has a calibration value. Refer to Figure 2 when following along
for the laser calculations.
A new variable is introduced in MACHINE.INI. It is in section [HOLDERS] under X tracking shoe
calibration where X is the holder number. When running in non-tracking mode, the distance is calculated as
above except that the Job Ticket sends a height above the material rather than a depth into the material.
Nevertheless the math is the same.

Page 26 of 60
The tool calibration is a measurement from the bottom of the Z-Axis mounting plate to the tip of the gas jet
nozzle. The Shoe calibration is the measurement from the same plate to the bottom of the tracking shoe.
The table height is the distance from the “bed of nails” to the Z-Axis plate bottom. The focus calibration is
arrived at experimentally by doing test cuts at various heights until the focus spot is determined. The
distance from this to the tip of the gas jet nozzle is the focus calibration.
Tracking
When in tracking mode, the controller is constantly monitoring the tracking encoder and setting the Z-Axis
position to maintain a fixed count on the tracking encoder. This count is calculated by Shoe Calibration –
Total Calibration – Focus Height = count to maintain.

Bottom of Z-Axis plate

Calib
TotalCalib
ShoeCalib

TableHeight

FocusCal

Clearance
Board

Exhaust Tub

Notes:
1) TableHeight is distance between bottom of Z-Axis plate and "bed of nails" at reference of Z.
2) ShoeCalib is distance to fully extended shoe from bottom of Z-Axis plate.
3) TotalCalib is not a user defineable variable. (Shown for illustration only).
4) Calib is distance from bottom of Z-Axis plate to the tip of the gas jet nozzle.
5) FocusCal is the distance between the gas jet tip and the focus spot of the laser beam.
6) Clearance controls the distance over the material during tool up moves.

Figure 2

Page 27 of 60
Legacy Rotary Calibrations
The legacy rotary uses collars of different diameters which means the table height is always varying. Due
to the calculations indicated above, there must be some absolute TableHeight value. The method employed
is to pick the smallest diameter cylinder that can be mounted on the machine and use it for the table height
calculation.
When a job is sent to the controller, it takes the cylinder diameter of the job just sent and subtracts off the
smallest diameter cylinder and divides the result by two. This value is then loaded into the sacrificial mat
thickness. Looking at Figure 1 you can see how this has the desired effect on the calculation of where the
top of the material is.
The controller gets the minimum diameter cylinder from MACHINE.INI. The section is named
[COLLARS]. There are three entries with the first entry the largest cylinder, the second is the current
cylinder in use, and the third is the smallest cylinder allowed. The comments section of the file explains the
format of each entry.
The table height is also stored in this file under the section [MACHINE]. When the z-axis is at its reference
location, the distance between the bottom of the drill air cylinder mounting block and the top of the
smallest cylinder is the table height.
The rest of the calculations are identical to the Calibrations section above.
Alphabet Calibrations
Calibrations for alphabet are very similar to the M-series described at the start of this chapter. What is new
is a vacuum distribution mat that can be field machined as required, and a tool calibration probe.
Because the vacuum mat can be machined a new variable is introduced called Surface Height. It is exposed
in the hand control under “Machine Settings”. After you machine the surface you change the value of
Surface Height in the hand control and all other settings remain constant. Note that the range of this value
is +/- 0.50 inches.
The new way the control software calculates is by the following: Top of Material = Table Height - Surface
Height - Mat - Material. Z-Axis position = Top of Material – Total Calibration + Depth of Cut.
Figure 3 below shows the tool calibration probe and its corresponding calibration value: ProbeCalib. When
the controller automatically determines the BladeCalib value it lowers the z axis until the blade tip moves
the probe down. The probe is connected to an encoder so the amount the probe moves can be determined.
BladeCalib = TableHeight – ProbeCalib + Probe Count – Z-axis Position – HolderCalib – AirStroke –
ToolCalib.

Page 28 of 60
 HolderCalib

AirStroke

TotalCalib
ToolCalib

TableHeight

BladeCalib

Surface Height
Vacuum Surface
Day Light
Material ProbeCalib
Mat

Machine Surface

Notes:
1) See previous figure for more information.

Figure 3

Page 29 of 60
 M Laser Tracking

Introduction
The M Laser uses the tracking shoe to keep the focus spot at the correct height above the wood. This height
is what controls the width of the slot in the top of the wood. The shoe has a calibration value associated
with it that affects the location of the focus spot. It is important to understand that the focus spot has a
length associated with it. Due to this fact it is important how we define the location of the focus spot. It is
also important to understand how the Windows Front-end expects the focus spot to be properly defined as
well.
Theory of Operation
The Windows Front-end allows the operator to define the slot width directly. Slot width is a function of the
board density, laser power, laser-beam diameter, focal length of lens, gas assist pressure, linear velocity,
and position of the focal point above the board. The intent of the Front-end is to minimize the need to
understand the relationships between these factors.
The Windows Front-end uses the relationships between the above factors to calculate the proper velocity
and focus height to produce a slot of a given width in the board. The Front-end knows the divergence of the
laser beam below the focus spot and uses this information to command the z-axis to a position. Tracking is
then used to control the height of the focus spot above the wood.
In order for this scheme to work, the controller must be set up to know where the bottom of the focus spot
is and where the bottom of the tracking shoe is.
Focus Spot
The laser beam starts at some diameter as it enters the focusing lens. After exiting the lens the beam
converges until it is at some minimum diameter. It then travels a small amount of distance and then begins
to diverge. See Figure 4 below. The important thing to
notice from the illustration is that the focus diameter has
a length. Also note that the divergence does not begin
until you are at the bottom of the focus spot. The
Windows Front-end expects the Focus Calibration value
to be to the bottom of focus. You must find this spot
experimentally by doing a series of short lines at low
power using an incremental height change between each
line. Using a magnifier you can compare each line until
you find the top of focus and the bottom of focus. The
procedure follows this section.

Figure 4

Page 30 of 60
Finding the Focus Spot
If this is a new install, be sure the tracking encoder counts positive as the shoe is pushed up. Also verify the
correct line count encoder is on the tracking shoe, (1500 lines), and that it returns to zero +/- a few counts
when released.
This will explain the experimental method for arriving at the bottom of the focus spot. Before you attempt
to do this you must have set your nozzle correctly, entered the nozzle calibration, delivered the beam and
centered the beam in the nozzle. For the typical low power laser, start with setting the nozzle adjustment at
0.300”. This is the maximum value allowed on the standard assembly. After doing this, you must measure
the distance from the nozzle tip to the bottom of the z-axis plate. See Figure 2 for reference. Enter this
value into the Calibration field for the wood laser using the hand control. (It should be around 1.57”). Enter
the shoe calibration value as per Figure 2 as well. Measure from the same spot on the z-axis plate to the
bottom of the fully extended shoe, and enter this value into the Wood Shoe field using the hand control. (It
should be around 2.27”). Pick an initial Focus Calibration of 0.28” and enter it using the hand control.
Place a 0.625” board on the bed of nails and clamp it. Set up a job in the Windows Front-end using one
row. Set the velocity to 200 inch/minute and the power to 150 watts. Set the height to 0.000” and the
caliper to 0.625”. Now we need to force the focus spot closer to the wood than what the Job Ticket
indicates. We do this by going to the Shoe Calibration we entered above and add 0.05” to it and saving the
modified value using the hand control
Open a file that is a 1” horizontal line. Set an origin on the board and run the file. Now send the machine to
the origin point using the hand control and then move up about 0.5” and set a new origin. Change the focus
height in the Front-end by adding 0.010” to it and repeat the test. Remember to write next to each line the
focus height number. You should do this test as many times as required until you can verify the beam is
getting fatter with each new test.
At this point you should have an array of lines that get narrower as you progress, then stabilize in width,
and then get wider in width. If they never get narrower as you progress then we started the test too far away
from the wood. In this case go to the Focus Calibration value in the hand control and reduce it by 0.050”
and begin the test all over.
When you finally have the proper progression, find the first line of the progression that is getting wider.
You will need to use a 10X to 25X magnifier with a scale on it to make this determination. This line
represents the bottom of the focus spot. Take note of the number written next to it. Let’s say it is 0.070. We
now need to adjust the Focus Calibration to make this line correspond to a height of 0”. Remember that we
added 0.050” to the shoe to bring the focus closer to the wood. So subtract 0.05 from 0.07 to arrive at
0.02”. This is how much we must add to the Focus Calibration. Now modify the Focus Calibration by
+0.020 and then modify the Shoe Calibration by subtracting off 0.050”.
If the number was say 0.040 then 0.040 - 0.050 = -0.010. So you would subtract 0.01 from the Focus
Calibration. That is it. At this point we have the correct shoe calibration and the correct focus calibration.

Page 31 of 60
 M Laser Beam Compensation

Introduction
If an M Laser has a flying optical axis it may require compensation for the laser beam divergence or
convergence. Depending on the location of the beam waist in relation to the moving axis the correction
may include both divergence and convergence. On the normal PRC systems, the beam waist is at 3 meters
from the output coupler. Between the laser and the waist the beam is converging and past the waist the
beam is diverging.
Theory of Operation
The motion controller makes real time adjustments to the z axis position based on the location of the flying
optics axis. By adjusting the position of the z axis, the width of the slot being cut is changed. Raising the z
axis produces a wider cut and lowering it produces a narrower cut.
As the optical axis moves, the diameter of the laser beam is changing on the top of the focusing lens. As the
beam gets larger, the slot width will increase if the height of the lens stays constant. So, the motion
controller will compensate by lowering the lens to decrease the slot width. The way this is accomplished is
via a lookup table of values in POWER.INI.
The table is of the form d = h where d is a distance from absolute zero and h is a change in height from the
first height at the distance of absolute zero.
Creating the Beam Compensation Table
To create a table of values for compensation you must edit the file called POWER.INI. Scroll to the section
called [BEAM COMPENSATION]. First, set the background handler to 0. Then set the optics axis to 0 for
a rotary laser or 1 for a fast track laser. Save the file and restart the controller.
1) Create a test cut file of a 2 inch long line in the Front-end. Then step and repeat it in the direction
of the axis you want to test. Use a step dimension of 11.811 inches, (300 mm) for a fast track or
15.748, (400 mm) for a rotary. Create enough lines to go the full travel of the axis.
2) Set up a job for 2 point cuts and run the test cut job.
3) Carefully measure each slot and write the width next to each slot as well as its position from
absolute zero for the axis. (In mm units).
4) Edit POWER.INI and set background handler to 1. This will turn on the compensation routine.
5) Now enter in the corrections starting with 0 = 0.0. This first point must always be at zero. Note
that positive corrections lower the z-axis, (reduce the slot width), and negative corrections will
raise the z-axis, (increase the slot width). Here is an example: Location 600mm measures .001”
wider then the width at location 0 and location 1200 is .002” wider than the width at location 0.
Remember that it takes approximately 0.008”, (0.203 mm), of z axis travel to change the slot
width by 0.001”. The section for a fast track will look like the following:

[BEAM COMPENSATION]
Background handler = 1
optics axis = 1
0 = 0.0
600 = 0.203
1200 = 0.406

Page 32 of 60
6) Here is a rotary example: Location 800 measures .001” wider than location 0, location 1600
measures .000 wider than location 0, and location 2900 measures .002” narrower than location 0.
The section will look like this:

[BEAM COMPENSATION]
Background handler = 1
optics axis = 0
0 = 0.0
800 = 0.203
1600 = 0.0
2900 = -0.406
7) After making the edits save POWER.INI and restart the program. Run the file again and measure
the slots. If they are still not correct then adjust your corrections accordingly and keep repeating
until they measure within 0.001”

Page 33 of 60
 Windows INI Files

Introduction
The following information will describe some settings in the Windows Front End INI files that relate to the
motion controller operation.
Rotary Laser Settings
One concept of the rotary lasers is that when the shell size goes below a certain diameter the laser power
must be reduced as well as the velocity. The Windows Front End tries to enforce this using some settings in
FRONTEND.INI. The section of interest is [TICKET LIMITS]. Here are the entries of interest:
1) “Min Diameter”. This value should be set to the smallest shell diameter for the machine.
2) “Max Diameter”. This should be set to the largest shell diameter for the machine.
3) “Min Power”. Set to the minimum power that can be reliably output by the laser in use.
4) “Max Power”. Set to the maximum power that can be reliably output by the laser in use.
5) “Velocity”. Set to the maximum velocity allowed for the machine, (inches per minute).
The above items are only used to limit what the operator can enter into the respective fields in the Job
Ticket. The following items control the power and velocity scaling below a certain size.
6) “Max Power Min Dia”. This is the maximum power allowed at “Min Diameter”. This is usually
the safest power allowed at that distance from the support shaft.
7) “Min Diameter Max Pwr”. This is the smallest shell diameter that can be run at “Max Power”.
Any diameter less than this will have the power scaled between “Max Power” and “Min Diameter
Max Pwr”.
8) “Min Diameter Max Vel”. This is the smallest shell diameter that can be run at “Velocity”. Any
diameter less than this will have its velocity scaled by the ratio of the current diameter divided by
“Min Diameter Max Vel”.
One drawback to this scheme is when the operator creates jobs for smaller diameter shells, they will require
saving the task under a new name. The desired method is to keep the same task name and add the cylinder
diameter.
Rotary Laser Cylinders
Another concept of the rotary laser is the wood shells must mount on a cylinder. These cylinders have
different diameters corresponding to the different presses on the market. Depending on which type of rotary
system is in use, (M-Rotary or Legacy Rotary), the cylinder diameter must be accounted for.
The M-Rotary is the simpler of the two and is described first. The data file for this machine contains the
cylinder diameter and data circumference within the file. That information is passed into the controller. The
controller moves the Z’ axis based on the cylinder diameter and sets the Y axis scale based on the data
circumference. There is no hard tooling on the machine so the operator can slew to a location, set an index
and run the file.
The Legacy Rotary has more requirements. It uses fixed tooling that must always line up with the drill. The
data files do not contain any information as to the cylinder diameter or the data circumference. A new
section called [CYLINDER] has been added to the file JOBTICKT.INI to address these issues. Here you
can specify a descriptive name for a cylinder and its diameter and data circumference. You also can specify
the location of the first bolt hole which addresses the fixed tooling issue. Before explaining the
[CYLINDER] section, some background information may be helpful.
The Legacy CIMEX files always use absolute coordinates to the drill locations. This is necessary or the
drill would be destroyed eventually by drilling into the metal shell supports. This fact leads to an interesting
problem. If the operator needs some of the shell to be forward of the distance from zero to the first bolt hole
there will be some negative coordinates in the file. This is normally not a problem on any of our machines
because you can just slew the machine forward enough and set an index so the negative coordinates can be

Page 34 of 60
reached before hitting the physical machine limits. But on the rotary you can not move the index location or
the bolt holes will not align!
The solution is as follows. We physically reference the Y axis 90 degrees past the lead edge, (zero
location), of the shell. This gives us one quarter of a shell length of negative travel distance. This is more
than enough to be practical. We then use a combination of the data circumference and the bolt hole spacing
to calculate an index and set one automatically each time a file is run. The formula is to take the data
circumference / 4 and subtract from it ½ the distance between the bolt hole rows. With that background we
can explain the [CYLINDER] section. The entries are in the format of “Name = cylinder diameter, data
circumference, X offset, Y spacing”.
Before running a file, the operator selects the cylinder from a drop down list. This list is populated by the
information contained in the [CYLINDER] section in JOBTICKT.INI.
From the above description it can be seen that once you have built up a number of these cylinder entries,
the spot where the machine references must be exact. The reference script in M_PP.INI reflects this need
by creeping out of the home switches very slowly while looking for the electrical transition. Then the axis’s
are moved to the reference location and zeroed. If you change or replace the home switch or the striker you
may need to adjust this value. It can be done using the hand control under the setup menu. You can run the
file called head_ali.hpg and then check the alignment using the alignment pin supplied with the machine.
This file is intended to work with the standard 19.1875 inch diameter tooling.
Messages
CIMEX files contain a number of different messages to the operator of the machine. Each message in the
data file forces the machine to stop and prompt the operator to continue. Most of them are needed on the
Legacy Rotary but most are not required on the M Rotary. There is a section called [MESSAGES] in
FRONTEND.INI that allows the system to ignore certain messages. They are of the form “Message text=n”
where n is zero to allow the message or one to ignore the message. You do not need the whole message in
the file but rather as many words necessary so that it only matches one message.
This feature is handy to strip out the file completion messages so that when the file is complete the alarm
will be cycled to indicate the job is finished.
On the Legacy Rotary this section has another purpose. You can categorize the message as one of a certain
type. The types are 2 to define the message as a setup message, 3 to indicate it is a drill message, and 4 to
indicate it is an end message. This is useful because the controller for the Legacy Rotary has a skip
message function and a skip all of a type function. By classifying the messages the controller can skip to
the end of the current type. This greatly speeds up the process of skipping if you are trying to get to the trim
operation.
We must use the FRONTEND.INI file to do this because you can not determine the message type solely
from the context of the HPGL file. Following is a typical section.
[MESSAGES]
Cleaning up from the drilling=1
Please add a collar=2
Please add a spoke=2
Please add in shell piece=2
Please check the light=2
Please prepare for the collar bolt=3
Please bolt=3
The boltholes=3
Please clean up=3
Please unbolt=4
Thankyou, the plot=4

Page 35 of 60
 Legacy Rotary Upgrades

Introduction
The following information will describe some configuration settings specific to the legacy rotary.
LED Pointer
The early PRC lasers did not have a HeNe laser built-in so there is a LED pointer mounted next to the ink
pen or in some cases in the ink pen location. In order to support this, a new UID was created for the LED.
Below are the INI files that are modified.
In MACHINE.INI under the section [HOLDERS]:
; holder index 1 is the LED
1 holder number = 2
1 tracking shoe = 0
1 center position = X60.325,Y0
1 holder up position = X0.0,Y0.0
1 in holder position = X0.0,Y0.0
1 calibration = 0
1 air stroke = 0
1 activate pressure = 10
1 activate time = 0
1 activate settle = 0
1 shoe height = 0
1 tang select = 0,0,0,0
1 tang correction = 0.0000
1 toolhead = 1
1 tracking counts per mm = 80.1968503937
1 tracking axis number = 3
1 tracking shoe calibration = 0.0

In TOOLS.INI add the LED tool:

[LED]
id = 192
trigger angle = 30
activate pd = 2
tang correction = 0.0
entry angle = 0.0
side offset = 0.0
inline offset = 0.0
decrease lower left = X0.0,Y0.0
decrease upper right = X0.0,Y0.0
down dwells = N0,F0
activate dwells = N0,F0
motion dwells = X0,Y0
blade extension = 0.0
clearance = 0.0
calibration = 0.0
blade calibration = 0.0
magazine holder = 0
head holder = 2

Page 36 of 60
In M_TASK.INI be sure the LED output is mapped. In section { OUTPUT MAP} add
; 19 is LED activate
19 = 0x281,0x20,NOABORT

Note that output 19 is the activation output for holder 2. If you map the LED to a different holder then
change 19 to the correct holder. See the notes section in the INI file itself for the assignments.

Page 37 of 60
 Service Bulletin – Double Pass Cutting

Issue
Some combinations of settings in the Windows front-end using double pass can defeat the beam
compensation of the controller.
Symptoms
The mechanism is as follows:
1) If you desire a measured slot width of say 0.052" and you set the double pass width to 0.034" and
a focus height of 0.015" giving a beam diameter of 0.018", you will cut a 0.052" wide slot.
2) Suppose further, that as the flying optic moves away from where that measurement is taken, the
slot width increases. Assume it increased to 0.055".
3) Now, as the flying optic moves away, the software begins to lower the Z-axis in an effort to
compensate. By the time the optic is at the furthest point, the Z-axis will have lowered by about
0.030".
The problem is that the original focus was so close to the waist of the focus spot that the Z-axis motion only
put the beam within the depth of focus area of the beam waist. So, the slot did not decrease as it was
supposed to.
Solution
1) Change the double pass width to 0.029" and set the focus height to 0.090" giving a beam diameter
of 0.0215" resulting in the same slot size of 0.052".
2) Now as the flying optic moves away and the software lowers the Z-axis, the beam will get smaller,
resulting in the desired effect.
Different Materials
One other issue is that maple will have a wider double pass width compared to birch for the same focus
height of around 0.090”. The way to deal with these different densities is to create (2) 4 point operations in
the Job Ticket. Call one 4 pt birch with a width of 0.038 and the other 4 pt maple with a width of say 0.044.
(Use whatever values really work for the system).

Page 38 of 60
 Service Bulletin – Shoebox Power Supply

Issue
Some power supplies in the shoebox computer have a weak 12 volt line. This problem may take very little
time to materialize and may happen soon after installation. Some three year old machines have had no
problem at all with the 12 volt line. It is difficult to say what makes a power supply susceptible to this
problem.
Theory of Operation
In an effort to tie the computer power supply health into the overall safety plan, all Data Technology
controllers use the 12 Volt supply in the computer to pilot the Start/Stop relay. The Start/Stop relay then
pilots the high voltage D.C. power relay that energizes the servo amplifiers.
The M-series has a difference from the other machines where this is done, and that is the addition of a 2000
microfarad capacitor across the coil. This capacitor is required for the controller to stop the machine under
servo control when the safety beam is broken by delaying the high voltage shutoff for 300 milliseconds.
The negative to this is every time the green start button is pushed to energize the relay, the capacitor
presents a momentary short that the computer power supply must cope with. This added stress only serves
to exacerbate the weakening of the power supply.
Symptoms
If the 12 volt line drops below a certain voltage for an instant, the motion control card will lose its internal
information. This includes the encoder positions and the gains. The computer itself is not harmed by this so
the motion control software is unaware anything is wrong.
If the operator tries to initiate motion in any way the machine will behave unpredictably. One or more axis
may jump, or move in the opposite direction to what was commanded. The motors may hum or vibrate
badly. The only way to get the machine operational is to power off the controller and restart.
The common thing is the failure is random. It may occur once every few days, or happen 4 times a day.
When it does occur, it always happens on the first motion after the green start button is pressed.
Solution
Replace the power supply in the shoebox with a new AT style power supply of at least 200 watts.
New Machines
On new machines manufactured starting in March 2006, the 12 volts from the computer will now be
directly connected to a small pilot relay. This relay will turn on once at power up and remain on while the
controller is powered up. The Start/Stop relay will now be powered by the 24V power supply. The 24 volts
will go thru the small pilot relay and then thru a resistor to activate the Start/Stop relay. The resistor is
required to drop the voltage from 24 volts to 12 volts and serves to buffer the momentary short due to the
2000 microfarad capacitor across the coil.
See the next page for the added relay, (k4).

Page 39 of 60
Page 40 of 60
 Service Bulletin – Activating A Tool

Issue
Some tools need to be activated and run for a period of time to make adjustments. One example is the
Reciprocating Knife, where the frequency of the lubricator is calibrated while the tool is running. It is
cumbersome to exit the Controller software and run CheckIO to make a quick adjustment.
Solution
Starting with Controller version 1.76, a new hand control feature allows you to activate a tool and let it run
until you stop it. The menu item is Activate, and is available under Setup \ Tool Settings (if the currently
selected tool supports activation).

Service Bulletin – Machinable Surface Thickness

Issue
When a machine has a top surface that can be milled, the thickness needs to be entered into the Controller
whenever it changes. This surface thickness is different from the Table Height, which calibrates the height
to the fixed surface underneath.
Solution
Starting with Controller version 1.76, a new hand control feature makes the thickness of the top surface
more accessible. The menu item is Surface, and is available under Setup \ Machine Settings. If the
machine has a top surface, this number will be greater than zero, and the number needs to be reduced each
time an amount is milled off. If the machine has no top surface, this value stays at zero.

Service Bulletin – LED Pointer Positioning

Issue
If the position of the LED Pointer needs correction, because the rest of the tools do not match where the
origin is set with the Pointer, it is cumbersome to access the holder position via the Controller screen.
Solution
Starting with Controller version 1.76, a new hand control feature makes the holder position more
accessible. On the hand control, go to Setup \ Machine Settings \ Adjust to Pointer. Enter the X and Y
values that will move the cut data toward the origin. If the cut circle is say 0.008” high and 0.002” to the
left of the origin, then enter -0.008 X and 0.002 Y to move it down and right towards the origin.

Page 41 of 60
 Service Bulletin – Positional Errors on Lasers

Issue
When a Laser machine does not go to exactly the right X/Y positions, you will see errors in distances
between lines. You will also see inconsistent widths using double-pass, because of the distance between
the two directions of cut. Sometimes positional errors can be motor settings that need adjustment.
Theory of Operation
The M-Series Controller uses “in position” settings to determine when a move is complete. These values
tell the program when a position is “close enough”. Once the move is within that many encoder counts of
its destination, it can continue to do the next move. Large values (loose tolerances) allow it to function
despite small mechanical issues. Smaller values (tight tolerances) demand that the machine be tuned well,
and can reduce throughput if it is not.
Motor tuning is done through PID values which control how the amplifier should respond to the encoder
feedback. The Proportional (a.k.a. Gain) value is basically the gas pedal. Too much Proportional and a
motor will overdrive. Not enough Proportional and a motor will undershoot. The Derivative value is
essentially the brake. The right amount of Derivative allows the motor to stop on-target without taking
away overall responsiveness. The Integral value comes into play when the motor is close to the target, and
gives it an extra kick if it is close but not dead-on. Another value, Integral Limit, controls how much the
Integral is allowed to escalate if the motor is having difficulty, for some reason, moving tiny distances.
Solution
Before making any software changes, qualify the machine mechanically and electrically.
Also backup any .INI files before making changes.
Some Lasers were initially setup with the wrong “in position” settings. They need to be set based on the
gearing and encoder resolution. The correct values (in M_TASK.INI, under [MACHINE]) are:
M1800L and M2400L:
X in position = 5
Y in position = 5
Z in position = 7
M3000RL (Quick-Mount Rotary Laser):
X in position = 3
Y in position = 3
Z in position = 7
MRL86RL (Legacy Rotary Laser):
X in position = 9
Y in position = 3
Z in position = 55
Also, increasing the Integral and Integral Limit may improve positioning. In MACHINE.INI under
[AXES], try setting the x and y Integral Limit to 200, and increasing the Integral by 0.001. Read AXES
NOTES above [AXES] to find exactly where to change those numbers.
After changes, you may start to see that axis pause at the end of each move. That would mean the axis is
having difficulty achieving the tighter tolerance. It may never even get there, and move on after a 1 second
timeout. To resolve this, try increasing both the Proportional and Derivative by 10-20% of their values.
If any PID changes are made, listen to the machine for 4-8 hours during operation for any humming or
instability in the drives. If that happens, then the changes need to be scaled back. If any changes remain on
the machine, send the changes back to the main office to be recorded with the customer notes.

Page 42 of 60
 Service Bulletin – Adding an Electric Reciprocating Knife

Issue
Adding an Electric Reciprocating Knife to an existing M-Series machine requires hardware, electrical, and
software upgrades.
Solution
Hardware:
The Electric Reciprocating Knife is either part number 320600-00 (for 0.090” stroke) or 320600-01 (for
0.250” stroke).
Electrical:
Adding the Electric Reciprocating Knife requires cables, a relay, a modified cover, and field work. Refer
to Retrofit Kit part number 320633-00 (for 0.090” stroke) or 320633-01 (for 0.250” stroke). Refer to the
Retrofit Kit drawing, part number 320633-XX (for either knife).
Software:
The Electric Reciprocating Knife requires Controller version 1.78 or higher. It also requires the following
.INI file additions and changes:
m_task.ini (Controller)
[OUTPUT MAP]
; 162, /* uid of output for activation if tool is special, if can't use standard holder output (#18 - #34) */
162 = 0x280,0x40
[UID MAP]
; 96 = electric reciprocating knife (0.250" stroke)
96 = 58
; 104 = electric reciprocating knife (0.090" stroke)
104 = 59
(does not hurt to add both mappings, even if you’re only adding one of the knives)

tools.ini (Controller)
; activate uid:
; uid of output for activation if special - if standard holder output (#18 - #34), this is zero
(copy the entire section [Recip 0.090], paste below it, and change the name to [Electric 0.09])
(or copy the entire section [Foam Knife], paste below it, and change the name to [Foam Kn. Elec.])
[Electric 0.09] (or) [Foam Kn. Elec.]
id = 59 (change) (or) id = 58 (change)
activate dwells = N0,F0 (change) activate dwells = N0,F0 (change)
activate uid = 162 (add) activate uid = 162 (add)

machine.ini (Controller)
[AXES]
; 0.75G = 297 inches/sec/sec ~= 7500 mm/sec/sec (change)
z acc = 7500.0 (change)
(this setting may be 7500, or it may be whatever reduced z acceleration stops the toolhead from bouncing)

jobtickt.ini (Windows Frontend)

[UID]
58 = Foam Kn. Elec.
(or)
59 = Electric 0.09

Page 43 of 60
 Service Bulletin – RQL Y Axis Scale Factor

Issue
The bolt holes in the shell do not line up with the cylinder holes and are off by a linear amount.
Theory of Operation
The Y-axis is driven via a precision servo worm gear reducer. The driven gear inside the reducer is around
4 inch diameter. While the pitch diameter is controlled as best as possible by the manufacturer it is not
perfect. We only use ½ of the revolution of it and small pitch errors over that distance get amplified by the
large diameter shells we process. As an example if 30 turns of the input results in 179.8 degrees of rotation
then we would have an error of .033” on the surface of a 19.1875” shell. (0.2 degrees is only 12 minutes of
arc).
Solution
Before making any calibration changes, you must insure the gearbox is adjusted correctly for backlash. If
there is error only within 6-10 inches of the front, (Y position = 0), of the shell then the reducer should be
adjusted to remove this problem first. The most accurate test is to use a strip of Mylar taped directly to the
Aluminum shell support and draw a series of tick marks at ½” intervals. Then compare the spacing at the
front edge and middle under high magnification. Adjust to get the spacing within ½% of each other.
Create a burn file with a series of holes at the cylinder spacing along the Y axis. Put as many as will fit on
the ½ shell and mount on the ruling cylinder. Take note of the total error at the last bolt hole. Let’s assume
the last bolt hole is 0.050” short of the mark and the distance between the first and last hole is 27.821” on
the circumference of the ruling cylinder. The scale factor will be .05 / 27.812 = .0018.
The Y-axis has a nominal 120,000 encoder counts per revolution of the shaft. It is this encoder count value
that must be changed in the machine configuration file. If the holes in the wood are short then add 1 to the
scale and then multiply by 120,000 to get the new value: 120,000 X 1.0018 = 120216. If the holes in the
wood were too long by .05 then subtract the scale from 1 and then multiply by 120,000: 120,000 X .9982 =
119784.
This assumes the current value was 120,000. If it was different when you did the test then substitute the
actual number for 120,000 in the equations above.
The File name is MACHINE.INI and the section is called [AXES] and the entry to change is:
y counts per rev = 120000.0

Page 44 of 60
IO Assignments

Page 45 of 60
Page 46 of 60
Page 47 of 60
Page 48 of 60
 Jumper Settings


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Page 50 of 60
 Motor Settings

Sample Makers: M1200, M1600SW, M2200, M3000, M3000W, M4000W,

M4900SW

All X Axis Y Axis Z Axis T Axis

Proportional 0.36 0.35 0.22 0.07
Integral 0.008 0.008 0.01 0.001
Derivative .014 .014 0.025 0.1
Integral Limit 5.0 5.0 10.0 20.0
Sample Rate 1.0 1.0 0.25 1.0
20.0 mm 20.0 mm 3.0 mm 500.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.79 inches) (0.79 inches) (0.12 inches) (20 inches)
686 mm/sec 686 mm/sec 457 mm/sec 3600 degrees/sec
Velocity
(27 inches/sec) (27 inches/sec) (18 inches/sec) (10 revolutions/sec)
5000 mm/sec/sec 5000 mm/sec/sec 8550 mm/sec/sec 72000 deg/sec/sec
Acceleration
(197 inches/sec/sec) (197 inches/sec/sec) (337 inches/sec/sec) (200 rev/sec/sec)
Acceleration
7550 mm/sec/sec
(M1600SW,
(297 inches/sec/sec)
M4900SW)
94.978498956 cts/mm 94.978498956 cts/mm 125.98425197 cts/mm
Encoder Scaling 4000 counts/rev
(2412.4538735 cts/in) (2412.4538735 cts/in) (3200 counts/inch)

Lasers: M1800L, M2400L, M7248AL, M7260FL, M9660FL, M3000RL, MRL86L

M-Laser
M1800L & X Axis Y Axis Z Axis
M2400L
Proportional 0.25 0.25 0.15
Integral 0.004 0.004 0.004
Derivative 0.8 0.8 0.4
Integral Limit 15.0 15.0 15.0
Sample Rate 0.5 0.5 0.5
20.0 mm 20.0 mm 3.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.79 inches) (0.79 inches) (0.12 inches)
323.85 mm/sec 323.85 mm/sec 100 mm/sec
Velocity
(12.75 inches/sec) (12.75 inches/sec) (4 inches/sec)
600 mm/sec/sec 600 mm/sec/sec 4902 mm/sec/sec
Acceleration
(23.6 inches/sec/sec) (23.6 inches/sec/sec) (193 inches/sec/sec)
237.446247464 counts/mm 237.446247464 counts/mm 314.96029921 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling
(6031.134685586 counts/inch) (6031.134685586 counts/inch) (8000 counts/inch)

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Fast-Trak Laser
M9660FL X Axis Y Axis Z Axis
Proportional 0.3 0.25 0.1
Integral 0.008 .0002 0.001
Derivative 0.6 0.4 0.4
Integral Limit 10.0 10.0 1000.0
Sample Rate 1.0 1.0 1.0
20.0 mm 20.0 mm 5.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.79 inches) (0.79 inches) (0.2 inches)
280.6 mm/sec 280.6 mm/sec 51 mm/sec
Velocity
(11 inches/sec) (11 inches/sec) (2 inches/sec)
1397 mm/sec/sec 1397 mm/sec/sec 508 mm/sec/sec
Acceleration
(55 inches/sec/sec) (55 inches/sec/sec) (20 inches/sec/sec)
301.810526316 counts/mm 322.51968503937 counts/mm 806.299212598 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling
(7665.987368426 counts/inch) (8192 counts/inch) (20480 counts/inch)

Fast-Trak Laser
M7260FL X Axis Y Axis Z Axis
Proportional 0.3 0.25 0.04
Integral 0.008 .0002 0.002
Derivative 0.6 0.4 0.2
Integral Limit 10.0 10.0 10.0
Sample Rate 1.0 1.0 1.0
20.0 mm 20.0 mm 5.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.79 inches) (0.79 inches) (0.2 inches)
406.4 mm/sec 406.4 mm/sec 51 mm/sec
Velocity
(16 inches/sec) (16 inches/sec) (2 inches/sec)
1397 mm/sec/sec 1397 mm/sec/sec 508 mm/sec/sec
Acceleration
(55 inches/sec/sec) (55 inches/sec/sec) (20 inches/sec/sec)
301.810526316 counts/mm 322.51968503937 counts/mm 806.299212598 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling
(7665.987368426 counts/inch) (8192 counts/inch) (20480 counts/inch)

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Flat Laser (Ambrit Table)
M7248AL X Axis Y Axis Z Axis
Proportional 0.08 0.07 0.006
Integral 0.001 0.001 0.005
Derivative 0.16 0.14 0.012
Integral Limit 5.0 5.0 20.0
Sample Rate 1.0 1.0 1.0
2.0 mm 2.0 mm 5.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.08 inches) (0.08 inches) (0.2 inches)
304.8 mm/sec 304.8 mm/sec 76.2 mm/sec
Velocity
(12 inches/sec) (12 inches/sec) (3 inches/sec)
740 mm/sec/sec 740 mm/sec/sec 762 mm/sec/sec
Acceleration
(29 inches/sec/sec) (29 inches/sec/sec) (30 inches/sec/sec)
322.51968503937 counts/mm 322.51968503937 counts/mm 1209.4488 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling
(8192 counts/inch) (8192 counts/inch) (30720 counts/inch)

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Quick-Mount Rotary Laser
M3000RL X Axis Y Axis Z Axis
Proportional 0.3 0.55 0.15
Integral 0.002 0.003 0.001
Derivative 0.5 1.1 0.3
Integral Limit 200.0 200.0 200.0
Sample Rate 1.0 1.0 1.0
20.0 mm 35.0 mm 5.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.79 inches) (1.38 inches) (0.2 inches)
330.2 mm/sec 330.2 mm/sec 127 mm/sec
Velocity
(13 inches/sec) (13 inches/sec) (5 inches/sec)
980 mm/sec/sec 980 mm/sec/sec 2540 mm/sec/sec
Acceleration
(38.6 inches/sec/sec) (38.6 inches/sec/sec) (100 inches/sec/sec)
120000 counts/revolution
150.382623394 counts/mm 314.96029921 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling (50.55 cts/mm @ 679 mm D)
(3819.718634208 counts/in) (8000 counts/inch)
(1283.94 cts/in @ 26.75 in D)

M3000RL H Axis
Proportional 0.02
Integral 0.001
Derivative 0.25
Integral Limit 50.0
Sample Rate 1.0
25.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.98 inches)
4.572 mm/sec
Velocity
(0.18 inches/sec)
50.8 mm/sec/sec
Acceleration
(2 inches/sec/sec)
17007.8740157 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling
(432000 counts/inch)

Legacy Rotary Laser

MRL86L X Axis Y Axis Z Axis
Proportional 0.05 0.15 0.15
Integral 0.002 0.005 0.002
Derivative 0.12 0.2 0.3
Integral Limit 20.0 20.0 20.0
Sample Rate 1.0 3.0 1.0
10.0 mm 5.0 mm 1.0 mm
Error Limit
(0.39 inches) (0.2 inches) (0.04 inches)
356 mm/sec 356 mm/sec
Velocity 102 mm/sec
(14 inches/sec) (14 inches/sec)
1200 mm/sec 1200 mm/sec
Acceleration 1270 mm/sec/sec
(47 inches/sec/sec) (47 inches/sec/sec)
144000 counts/revolution
438.021138077 counts/mm 2257.63779528 counts/mm
Encoder Scaling (60.66 cts/mm @ 679 mm D)
(11125.736907156 counts/in) (57344 counts/inch)
(1540.73 cts/in @ 26.75 in D)

Page 54 of 60
 AMD Geode 333 MHz SBC

Following are BIOS screen shots for the AMD Geode single board computer. It went into service in August of 2009. This
computer requires the operating system to be at least V 1.36 and the NEXTGEN.OMF must be at least V1.83.
CHECKMOT.OMF must be at least V1.82.
The V1.36 O.S. boot disk will have a file called UPDATEOS.BAT on it that can be used to update an existing solid state
disk module. This will allow field service to replace a broken SBC with the newer SBC and reuse the DOM.
Updating NEXTGEN.OMF is a matter of replacing the old OMF with the newer one. Updating CHECKMOT.OMF is a
matter of replacing the old .OMF with the new one.
As always, it is a good idea to backup everything before overwriting any files or upgrading the system.
Attempting to use this SBC with older versions of NEXTGEN or CHECKMOT will result in lockups, hangs, and motion
failures.

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