Micro Manual Pulse Generator Read Me

By R.G. Sparber    9/18/2022


This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

The behavior of the Micro MPG continues to evolve.

User Guide

This Micro Manual Pulse Generator (MMPG) is compatible with Centroid's CNC12 software. Plug it into any USB port on the CNC PC.

The default for Centroid is INCR, x1, slow, 100% Feedrate Override. If this is not the case, make it so. After Centroid is stable, if keyboard shortcuts is not enabled, push X on the MMPG. If it is enabled, push Y. This only works for the first push of these buttons after power up of the MMPG.

Set the desired movement behavior. Holding down Y and pushing and releasing X repeatedly will increase the movement: INCR x1, x10, x100, CONT slow, CONT fast. Holding down X and pushing and releasing Y repeatedly will decrease the movement. Trying to increase beyond CONT fast has no effect. Decreases below INCR x1 also has no effect. x1 is 0.1 thou, x1 is 1 thou, and x100 is 10 thou.
 
Select the axis you want to move by holding down the X, Y, or both buttons for Z. 

Turn the knob to set the direction and speed of the movement. In INCR mode, turning the knob CW moves the spindle in a positive direction along the selected axis in steps of 0.1 thou (x1), 1 thou (x10), or 10 thou (x100). The speed is determined by how fast you turn the knob. The LED flashes each time we jog. If you run out of range on the knob, deselect the axis, turn the knob back, and select the axis again. In CONT mode, turning the knob CW move the spindle along the selected axis in a positive direction at a speed proportional to how much the dial is turned from the zero point. The zero point is where the dial was sitting before an axis was selected.

The movement will stop when the dial is at the zero point or when no axis is selected.

When in CONT slow mode, turning the knob CW when an axis has been selected causes positive movement at a speed proportional to the amount the knob has been turned. While the speed is changing, the LED will be on. Turn back to zero or deselect the axis to stop. Note that when you reselect that axis, you will have defined a new zero and feedrate override will return to the initial value. If we were initially at 100% feedrate override, we will move from 100% to 200% as you move the know fully clockwise or fully counterclockwise. If we were initially at 1% feedrate override, we will move from 1% to 100% as you move the know fully clockwise or fully counterclockwise. 

In CONT fast starting at a feedrate override of 100%, the feedrate override will rise the same way as in slow but the speed will stay at the preset speed since it can't go above this value. If you wish to adjust the feedrate override from 1% to 100% while in CONT fast, use the control panel to first set the the feedrate override to 1%.

I welcome new feature suggestions. Contact me at rgsparber.ha@gmail.com.

To access a copy of the software, go to rick.sparber.org/mpgSourceCode