Ultra 3000i & Ultraware noob needs advice

Software: Ultraware 1.64
Hardware: AB Ultra 3000i

This will be my first go at tinkering with a servo and ultraware so I thought I should get some advice first and where else can ya get better advice than plctalk.net???

I successfully connected to the drive today to get a bit familiarized with Ultraware. I have a customer that wants to add a reverse jog button to their machine. I noticed in Ultraware that one of the DI's (#6) is unassigned and a drop-down menu with other selections are available to choose from. I saved the file from the 3000i and would like to edit it offline this weekend and test it in the field this monday morning.

Can anyone explain to me:

1:What do I select from the drop down options to assign that digital contact to command the servo to reverse?

2: after the D.I. is assigned properly what further settings need to be tweaked

3: once DI #6 is assigned, what digital contact on the 3000i needs terminated?


4: After the above has been completed, how is the edited offline file "downloaded" and saved to the 3000i? I didnt see a transfer file or "download" to drive icon. I can probably figure this part out in the 3000i pdf but question 1,2 & 3 is where I am really lost.

thanks for any advice.

Unfortunately I think this might be a little more involved than you're hoping for. There is no "reverse jog" command that can simply be accessed with a digital input. Jogging is part of the indexing functionality, so you will need to set up a motion index for it. Open the Indexing pane and you will see all 64 motion tasks; you'll have to find one that is not being used. Set the task type to Jog and put a negative value in the distance field (negative specifies reverse, and the number itself specifies how far a single jog move can go). Of course you have to set velocity and accel/decel also.

If you look at your digital inputs you'll probably see some "Preset Select x" commands--the binary combination of these bits determines which motion task will be executed by the Start Index command. In order to initiate the jog, you'll have to manipulate these bits to select the motion task you configured, then hold on the Start Index input to trigger the jogging.

I could be overcomplicating things, especially since I don't have Ultraware in front of me at the moment. Is this drive controlled from a PLC? If you post a list of all of the digital input assignments in the drive (0-7) I could probably narrow down your options.

let me put this out there since you hit a keyword. The machine is a channel cutter, it has a cog that grabs holes in 10ft sitcks of L-channel and feeds them towards a cutter. The customer got a bad batch from their supplier of L-channel as some sticks have a "twist" that is not easily to eyeball by the operator. They must make the most of the inventory they have because a new shipment is 4 weeks out. Problem is that the sticks run through a jig near the cutter to steady the cut and when a twist starts to enter the jig it gets stuck and cant go forward. then they have no way to reverse the feed and remove the bad L-channel.

THIS is where it gets interesting, they claim that pressing the "START INDEX" button use to reverse the feed but "out of the blue" quit reversing the feed and now forwards the feed... which makes the channel jam more. I dont know if this is true or even possible for the servo to change directions "out of the blue". My original work order was to make that start index button "act" like it use to and reverse the feed. Being confused on how or "did it really do that before" , I suggested not tinkering with what that button did now, but creating a new button (on the hmi) and programming it to do the function they want. WHAT would happen if I went back to the original request and just added a " - " to make the start index value negative ??? would that only effect the direction when the "start index" hmi button was pressed?

and yes the controls are on a micro panelview 300 connected to a micrologix 1100

Do you want it to go back a specific distance or to go backwards whilst the button is pressed.
If you want it to go backwards whilst the button is pressed you could use the DI to select 2 functions, 1; put into override mode and set the override mode to velocity instead of index, and select a preset speed (set to a negative direction)

Alan

YES while the button is pressed only. ok sounds simple enough for me to start tinkering with the settings and start learning something new!

Had a little play with an offline file.

In the Drive Panel
I set operation mode to INDEXING
I set override mode to PRESET VELOCITY

In the Digital Inputs Panel
I set the digital input to,
1; OPERATION OVERRIDE MODE
2; PRESET SELECT 0
3; REVERSE ENABLE

In the Preset Panel
I set the PRESET SPEED 0 to the speed value that I wanted

This should be all you need to set up, but it may depend on how you are doing your indexing.

What are the other digital inputs doing?

Alan