My new Fanuc - impressions

We have built our shop around cinci equipment, and for the first time we bought a new machine that is not. (cinci)

It has a brand new fanuc oi control on it, and I would like to say that it is extremely fast and accurate however cinci had this control beat 15 years ago.

First, What's with the "O" program prefix ?? I want to load program names, not "O XXXXXX" . My next beef is with the program loading. While there is a pcmcia card for loading programs, when you program off line, and need to change things you will wear a path from the office to the machine. I know, you can get an ethernet connection, but for 4K, forget it. We decided to network to a host pc and use the rs232 port. Even this is primitive. On our old 850sx control, we can at least do "terminal emulation" and access the PC's hard drive right on the coltrol screen. With the fanuc, you need to jump back and forth between the PC and the control to load programs.

Last, a real nice feature on the cinci was the ease of moving the axis while in cycle. you can move the xyz away and clean off chips, look at your part etc., then start where you left off by holding in the cycle start button and return everything to the original position. ( both the 850sx and 2100's could do this ) Can't do that with the fanuc. Got to start all over.

I know this will take some getting used to, but I thought I was buying a 21st century control. They are behind the times with the user interface. Ever hear of a GUI ?? Am I missing something ? Are there add-on's for this control ??

Even the manual had a picture of a punch tape in it. What the heck is that about ??

JMHO

Reply to
jimz
Loading thread data ...

Be thankful you're not stuck in Fanuc Manual Guide i mode. It's complete crap and I've said so many times in this newsgroup. Don't even get me started on how badly written the Fanuc manuals are.

Jon Banquer San Diego, CA

formatting link

Reply to
jon_banquer

You have only scratched the surface of the transition from A2100 to Fanuc.....

I too used almost nothing but A2100's and got a shiny new Fanuc 31i

YIKES !!! What a painfull, agonizing, transition backwards 40 years. Or more.

Welcome to the future....

Reply to
Half-nutz

Comparing Fanuc to other controls won't do a thing for you since you have a Fanuc, it's a done deal.

Here is one option for remote down/up loading programs RS232 (your case), Ethernet or Wireless Ethernet:

formatting link

Believe this is a Machine Tool Builder issue more than Fanuc. MTB could add this function and tie it to a restart button located on the control panel.

You don't "have" to start over.

You can do everything on a Fanuc that you just described. It can be done, it's just that in some cases it is easier, safer & faster to just start the cycle over.

However if you are running a long cycle time on a tool and tool breaks, wears too much or you need to stop to pull chips etc. you can stop and restart.

Email me a sample program that represents your work. I need to see how you format your programs. I will look it over and if it will help, I will write up and send you a procedure for restart.

Yes, it will.

Tom

Reply to
brewertr

And how exactly does your input help the OP?

Tom

Reply to
brewertr

"jimz" wrote in news:XFt3k.9638$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com:

Yup,

30 years behind any other control on the market.
Reply to
Anthony

And you must be a microsoft DOS user. I noticed your command line language.

Reply to
Jim Z

Haas appears to again be on the forefront of making their controls easier to learn.

formatting link
Jon Banquer San Diego, CA
formatting link

Reply to
jon_banquer

"jimz" wrote in news:XFt3k.9638$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com:

Not much of a surprise considering the "O" control platform is 21 years old.

The "O" is the lowest cost Fanuc. It can be equipped with everything you want but that's up too the builder and you. I haven't seen one on anything new except for Chinese and the occasional Taiwanese machine. So I'm guessing it's on a low buck machine anyway.

You bought a 1986/1987 vintage control. It's been updated some but it's not cutting edge nor is it even state of the art for Fanuc. They keep building them because low buck builders and retrofitters keep buying them.

Welcome to 1987.

LOL.

Reply to
D Murphy

I don't care about "easy to learn" Any control can be learned in a month or two. My complaint is that it is DOS like technology. It makes you jump through too many hoops to get things done.

Yes, it is a lower buck machine, however the control should be the least costly and the most powerful component with today's technology.

Good greif, I think a laptop with a 64 bit micro platform running windows xp could be hooked up to the servo drives and do way more than this thing without straining 10% of it's resources.

Most of these machine builders would be better off dumping dedicated controls and using PC's as platforms.

I know cinci did this with the a2100, but even that is not a true PC inteface. It is a dedicated factory PC that still locks you out of the general PC parts market.

Just ranting

Jim

Reply to
jimz

I agree that it's DOS like technology, Jim. What's really sad is how much easier it to use than Fanuc's new Manual Guide i which is Windows like technology. Haas has a far better understanding of how to lay out a control for ease of use and to deal with real world machining conditions than Fanuc does. The rest of the Haas is nothing great but the control is.... even with DOS like technology. I wouldn't doubt that the Fanuc control also does better at high speed machining than the Haas control does. Using Fanuc Manual Guide i is absolutely horrible compared to using a Haas control.

Agree, again.

I think Mazak has the right idea using Windows for just the user interface.

Your complaints are certainly very valid.

Jon Banquer San Diego, CA

Reply to
jon_banquer

Thanks for the reply. More obeservations than complaints. I am sure I can be productive with it. The machine is a KIA, which is very fast and extremely accurate. It is a good buy for the price. I am really impressed with the heavy duty build. Close to a good Jap machine.

The other issue outside the control that is taking me a bit to get used to is the side turrent and double arm tool changer.

While the speed is far superior to my cinci's it was far easier to change and revise tools with the umbrella changer.

Kinda liked that. But the speed may make up for that.

Jim

Reply to
jimz

The problem with a PC running Windows is that it is not a real-time operating system. You might notice that sometimes your PC doesn't respond immediately to mouse movements. That's fine (or not depending on your level of patience) when you are working on a document or part, but any lack of attention driving a machine servo would cause serious problems out on the shop floor.

Mazak and Siemens do have PC based controls, but these sit in front of a real time controller that reads the NC code and drvies the machine.

Brian.

Reply to
Brian Francis

That is how the A2100 control works. There is a Workstation CPU that runs the interface and pretty screen, and a Real Time CPU that is not running windows, but is dedicated to the machine. And a Basic Bridge Board in between the two of them.

Reply to
Half-nutz

What kind of PC are you running ? I never see a slow down on anything even while I am multitasking several programs ie virtual gibbs, ms word, internet, etc. I think you need a new PC

JMHO

Jim

The problem with a PC running Windows is that it is not a real-time operating system. You might notice that sometimes your PC doesn't respond immediately to mouse movements. That's fine (or not depending on your level of patience) when you are working on a document or part, but any lack of attention driving a machine servo would cause serious problems out on the shop floor.

Mazak and Siemens do have PC based controls, but these sit in front of a real time controller that reads the NC code and drvies the machine.

Brian.

Reply to
jimz

There are real time extensions that can be used with Windows NT, 2000 and XP.

formatting link
Suggest anyone interested in this subject check this website out. Rick use to post here.

formatting link
Jon Banquer San Diego, CA
formatting link

Reply to
jon_banquer

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.