X-Y Seems to hesitate

[elvisrabbit]

My shop bot will run fine for a few seconds and then the x or y will slow way down to almost nothing for a few seconds and then speed up to full speed, then slows to almost nothing again. at First i hardly noticed it until i realized my run times where double what they were superposed to be. I haven't really trouble shooted it yet, so i'd like ideas where to start.

[Brady Watson]

Running a computer with Atom processor? What version of SB3 are you running? (Help->About will tell version)

-B

[elvisrabbit]

It is an intel Atom, and i am running version 3.5.10. do you know the problem?

[twelchPTM]

I have experienced similar issues wit the SB3 3.8 no atom though

[elvisrabbit]

I updated my control software and that seemed to fix it. thanks guys.

[Brady Watson]

FYI - Latest software has update specifically for Atom processors. Glad you got it resolved.

-B

[elvisrabbit]

Ok, so i updated the newest Control software and it worked fine for a while but now its doing it again. Now what??

[Brady Watson]

What are the specs of you computer?

How much RAM installed?

CPU Processor speed?

What software is loaded on it? (No virus scan/Norton etc I hope)

How fast were you cutting when this happened?

Are you getting communication breaks/errors etc?

Your computer might not have enough cookies to run your tool. Keep in mind it takes WAY more resources than say running a printer or something like that. The PC is part of the controller.

-B

[elvisrabbit]

My system is runnig an intell atom with two gigs of ram.

My system is 100% clean. it runs only the control software and nothing else.

now that you say it, it does seem to do this more when my x-y speeds are higher.

and i have not gotten communication errors more recently.

I am well aware of what this machine needs to run efficiently as far as computer power goes. the reason i'm at such a lose with this problem is because i have used this machine as it is with the computer as is for 6 years and have never had this problem.

[shilala]

Sammy, even though you've used the computer before with no problems, it doesn't mean it couldn't have become a problem now. When troubleshooting, the guys helping need the info regardless, just to rule things out.
I'm guessing you have this computer connected to the internet? A simple Windows update could create a problem. Some new software could have set up a discovery/update utility that's drawing priority from the usb port your shopbot is running on.
If the machine does happen to be connected to the internet, I'd suggest doing a system restore back to a point where you didn't have problems. Then disable Windows update. Then visit blackviper.com and use the info there to strip your machine down to brass tacks, making it a dedicated machine for your shopbot and useless for anything else.
Another thing you can do is use SB3's comm testing utility to see where your efficiency is. Run it multiple times and see if there is any deviation in the numbers it returns. If it tosses a low comm rate during one of these tests, you'll know that something is causing a problem across the usb bus that your machine is tied to.
At any rate, I wish you the best of luck. You'll have this ironed out shortly.

[Brady Watson]

The important thing to think about is what you changed that made the Bot change its behavior. Did you arbitrarily upgrade SB3 one day and the issues started or something else?

Tell me about your USB hardware from control box to USB port on computer. What's there? How long is the USB cable? Are you running a USB to Serial converter @ the control board? Are you running a USB hub? If yes, where in the line is it installed?

-B