Assistance with PR Accessory problem

After 13 years of use, I am finally attempting to add an accessory axis to my PR. I have received a bit of help from shopbot on this, but there seems to be some difficulty in recollecting things and finding the drawings. For reference, this is the what those controllers looked like.
http://donek.smugmug.com/Other/rando...DSC3804-XL.jpg

I have received two drawings from shopbot indicating how to connect a driver board to the controller board. Both appear to be different. The first looks like this:
http://donek.smugmug.com/Other/rando...-113709-XL.jpg

The second is far more difficult to read:
http://donek.smugmug.com/Other/rando...-114222-XL.jpg
As you can see the second shows some wiring that appears to be different from the first. The wire going from driver board to the main controller is the only one that can be easily ascertained.

I'm not certain if the second image reflects a different version of the accessory control or not.

I do seem to have an accessory ribbon cable that is functional although some wires appear to have some fraying. I have mapped the connections created by this ribbon cable. None of the drawings shopbot has provided indicate which pin on the two boards connect to which pin. The cable I have appears to be connected in the manner indicated by the first image as you can see in these photos.
http://donek.smugmug.com/Other/rando.../DSC3808-L.jpg
http://donek.smugmug.com/Other/rando.../DSC3811-L.jpg

I have mapped the connections resulting from this connector as follows.
G<----->gnd
G<----->gnd
+5<----->+9
B_<----->Driver a2
B<----->Driver a3
A<----->Driver a4
A_<----->+5

The +5 to +9 bothers me a bit. I'm not sure if this is correct or I simply am getting it all wrong when looking at my connections. IF there is anyone out there who can confirm the layout of this cable, that would be really appreciated.

I have confirmed that the driver board I am using functions by connecting it to my z-axis and running the z. I have confirmed that the ribbon cable appears the same as the shopbot drawings, but do not know if it is actually correct. I am unable to verify if the accessory controller board is functioning. When I connect my z-axis as an accessory and attempt to control the accessory from the computer, nothing happens. I am inclined to blame the control board as I have confirmed continuity on all the wires in the ribbon cable and confirmed the driver board functions. Shopbot no longer produces the accessory controller board and have indicated it was not a device they were in the habit of repairing. I have repaired driver boards numerous times and would be up for trying to repair the control board if necessary. Is there anyone out there who has done so and has a feel for what typically went wrong with them? Is there anyone out there who can guide me or provide insight into the difficulty? Perhaps there's something that needs to be done in the software.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

The controller is all the way to the left in your picture. The other board with all the terminal connections is just a universal breakout board...which just to happens to label 5 volts positive as 9v+...I wouldn't worry about it. This was made before the days of SB proprietary electronics. Looks like Blue earth sold them the controller and the breakout.

I see a gray wire coming out of the 2-pin terminal block at the top of your photo. It appears that the other drivers show 2 yellow wires present, but the accessory drive has a gray wire going out somewhere in left field...Where is it going? Looks like it goes to the power supply for the steppers?

If you emulated the same wiring scheme as the other axes, and you plug it in & get nothing (from say the Z axis) then I would take a careful look at the driver card for the Acc and make sure that there aren't any burnt traces, 'domed' or leaky capacitors or fried diodes. Test what you can comparing the good driver boards to the Acc one.

Dumb question...but is the rainbow connector fully & correctly seated on the Acc driver? It isn't hard to set it with one pin off on one side.

I don't have a PR controller here to look at right now...

-B

The grey/white wire you mention is going to the additional driver board I have. If you've worked in one of these boxes, you're likely aware it takes about 1 hour to get the 4 screws in place. At least it takes that long for my big hands to make it all work. I've attached a temporary heat sink to a driver board and used long wires to connect the power to that board for testing purposes. Wanted to ensure it functioned before I installed it for good. As described, the driver board works when connected as the z-axis, so there's nothing wrong with it. When hooked up as the accessory, it does nothing. I was very careful to ensure the ribbon cable was installed correctly.

Are you saying that I should be able to get all these components from a company called blue earth?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bradywatson

The controller is all the way to the left in your picture. The other board with all the terminal connections is just a universal breakout board...which just to happens to label 5 volts positive as 9v+...I wouldn't worry about it. This was made before the days of SB proprietary electronics. Looks like Blue earth sold them the controller and the breakout.

I see a gray wire coming out of the 2-pin terminal block at the top of your photo. It appears that the other drivers show 2 yellow wires present, but the accessory drive has a gray wire going out somewhere in left field...Where is it going? Looks like it goes to the power supply for the steppers?

If you emulated the same wiring scheme as the other axes, and you plug it in & get nothing (from say the Z axis) then I would take a careful look at the driver card for the Acc and make sure that there aren't any burnt traces, 'domed' or leaky capacitors or fried diodes. Test what you can comparing the good driver boards to the Acc one.

Dumb question...but is the rainbow connector fully & correctly seated on the Acc driver? It isn't hard to set it with one pin off on one side.

I don't have a PR controller here to look at right now...

-B

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by donek

Are you saying that I should be able to get all these components from a company called blue earth?

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No not really. I just pointed out that the breakout board was probably labelled wrong (5v vs 9v). If you did get your hands on a generic BE controller, don't plan on it working plug & play. The controllers were reworked to SB specs and some special herbs and spices added to them before they were suited for SB duty.

What you should do at the very least is upgrade to a PRT control box and ditch the PR stuff. Unless of course you like fooling around with obscure and obsolete limited production electronics...then, ok...good for you.

-B

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bradywatson

No not really. I just pointed out that the breakout board was probably labelled wrong (5v vs 9v). If you did get your hands on a generic BE controller, don't plan on it working plug & play. The controllers were reworked to SB specs and some special herbs and spices added to them before they were suited for SB duty.

What you should do at the very least is upgrade to a PRT control box and ditch the PR stuff. Unless of course you like fooling around with obscure and obsolete limited production electronics...then, ok...good for you.

-B

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I have, what I believe is a PRT controller on my shelf. I have been a little unhappy with the windows based system on my PRS. It is so sensitive to other programs taking over and deciding to download updates and thus loosing contact with the machine. It's a real pain to be disconnecting the network cable whenever I need to run the machine. The DOS machine never fails to work. Does the PRT require windows or can it be run under dos/windows 98? I suppose I have not spent enough time playing with it, but I wish I could set up the windows system such that it is incapable of multi tasking. When the shopbot is running, the software should take complete control of the machine so no other tasks can run.

I started out running DOS on my PRT. I was thrilled to switch to the Windows version because it offers a lot more in terms of machine control like VR. Your SB computer should be wiped of all the nonsense programs - and all updates turned off. The real way to do this is to wipe it, install Windows 'vanilla' and use discretion on how you interact with the internet. I've had no problems with my home-built PC that is networked...although it is few and far between that I get on the net with it. With PCs being dirt cheap (think Craigslist), it makes no sense NOT to have a dedicated machine to run a robotic tool.

Question: Is that all of the documentation you have on the PR electronics? I'm pretty sure there are more diagrams than that if my memory serves me correctly. I'll have to dig through my personal archives for a PR manual. It's around here somewhere...

-B

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bradywatson

I started out running DOS on my PRT. I was thrilled to switch to the Windows version because it offers a lot more in terms of machine control like VR. Your SB computer should be wiped of all the nonsense programs - and all updates turned off. The real way to do this is to wipe it, install Windows 'vanilla' and use discretion on how you interact with the internet. I've had no problems with my home-built PC that is networked...although it is few and far between that I get on the net with it. With PCs being dirt cheap (think Craigslist), it makes no sense NOT to have a dedicated machine to run a robotic tool.

Question: Is that all of the documentation you have on the PR electronics? I'm pretty sure there are more diagrams than that if my memory serves me correctly. I'll have to dig through my personal archives for a PR manual. It's around here somewhere...

-B

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I would greatly appreciate any documentation you can provide. I do use the PC driving the shopbot for a few minor tasks, such as tracking employee's time, looking up data on builds, some code manipulation, and occaisional web purchases. It is a matter of convenience. The machine is running during the day and turning on another for such minor tasks should really be unnecessary. There must be a way to get the windows machine to shut all other tasks down when the shopbot is in motion. Any ideas?

Sean - Check your email...

-B

I have a complete PR manual if you need any info from it.