Using Soft Limits in PUMOTIX

It becomes possible to enable the function Soft Limits after setting the upper and lower limits and searching for absolute zeros (home) of the CNC machine.

The soft limits of the axes allow you to programmatically limit the movement of the machine portal in the given coordinates (between the upper and lower limits). The function is activated automatically when the homing and soft limits is completed. The soft limits of the axes are highlighted on the screen with dashed lines.

Planes are highlighted with a red dashed line if the dimensions of the model go beyond the established limits of the axes. The picture shows that the loaded model extends beyond two planes.

Thanks to the visualization of the axis limits, you can determine whether or not the desired model is placed in the working area of ​​the CNC machine. The dimension constraint function is disabled for axes which the Upper limit parameter is equal to the Lower limit parameter.

The soft limits of the axes are taken into account both during manual movements and when performing control program. It is impossible to go beyond the established limits with manual movements of the portal. In this case, manual movements at maximum speed are completely safe, since there is no possibility of hitting the axis home sensor or mechanical shock in the limit areas of the machine axes. If the G-code goes beyond the soft limits of the axes, the system will issue a warning before starting the execution of control program. If the axis goes beyond the soft limits during the execution of the control program, the processing automatically stops without losing coordinates. For timely braking at the axis boundary, the system automatically calculates the necessary distance for the beginning of axis speed reduction according to the set speed and acceleration parameters. The movement will be carried out before the collision with the extreme position sensor if the “Soft Limits” function is disabled. The operation of the sensor will cause an emergency stop of the system. It entails the removal of the Enable control signal from the drivers.