AUTOMATIC SLUG MANAGEMENT FOR AC CUT 2

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1 Table of Contents
2 Document history ..................................................................................................................... 3
3 Manual operations ................................................................................................................... 4
3.1 MDI .................................................................................................................................... 4
3.2 Toggle buttons ................................................................................................................... 4
4 ISO programming ..................................................................................................................... 5
4.1 General configuration ........................................................................................................ 5
4.2 Slug extraction positions ................................................................................................... 6
4.3 WPH as the reference height ............................................................................................ 7
4.4 Activation of slug falling detection .................................................................................... 7
5 Functional behavior.................................................................................................................. 8
5.1 Behavior on ASM completion ............................................................................................ 8
5.2 Protection in case of interruption of ASM cycle ............................................................... 8
5.3 G205 without ASM option ................................................................................................. 8

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2 Document history
Date Description Author
21 August 2017 Draft version for V2.8.0 Thibaut Gelez
21 February 2017 Draft version for V2.7.0 Thibaut Gelez

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3 Manual operations
Slug extraction can be achieved manually. In this case only low-level functions are available. All
movements must also be handled manually.

3.1 MDI
The available codes for this function are:

Code Description
M200 Lower slug extractor
M201 Raise slug extractor
M202 Activate slug extractor
M203 Deactivate slug extractor
Note that:
• no configuration is needed, except to declare the option (see General Configuration)
• lowering the slug extractor arm can cause a collision if no previous movement in Z is
executed
• no action is done on the wire, i.e. it is necessary to cut the wire before lowering the slug
extractor

3.2 Toggle buttons

ASM arm and air flow can now be toggled with two buttons on the MAN screen and the bottom
screen, temporarily in User buttons.

Toggle buttons

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4 ISO programming
The main objective of Automatic Slug Extraction is to handle the slug automatically during
machining. This can be done in three steps:
1. configure the slug extractor device
2. configure the slug extraction positions within a job
3. activate the slug detection within a geometry

4.1 General configuration

In the global parameters on screen Services/Configuration:

Parameter Values
Slug extractor option True/False
Distance from workpiece to check slug presence Positive value in mm/inches
Distance from workpiece to lower slug extractor Positive value in mm/inches
Distance from workpiece to activate slug extractor Positive value in mm/inches
Distance from workpiece to move to drop position Positive value in mm/inches
Device height Positive value in mm/inches
Drop-out position X/Y/U/V/Z positions in mm/inches

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ASM option

ASM configuration

4.2 Slug extraction positions

Slug extraction positions depend on the geometry (cavity) that is being cut. It means that they
cannot be defined globally, as it would not allow to manage ASM within job lists or within jobs
that have multiple geometries.
The definition of the slug extraction positions is done using job points. These points can be
defined manually via HMI or in a programatic way with SEP/G910 command with the following
parameters:
• Source: Wire
• Referential: Cut-Out
• Positions:
– X/Y positions relative to the beginning of the geometry (G92) in the reference plane
– U/V/Z positions relative to the beginning of the geometry (G92) in the secondary
plane

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ASM positions
Important: some points are created automatically in the job, therefore it is recommended to
not use the first points of the table to create ASM points, or to use the SEP/G910 command.

4.3 WPH as the reference height

The pick-up height is relative to the WPH, which is considered to be the height where to
workpiece is located.
Attention: it is mandatory to specify the WPH in the job to prevent wrong movements. If WPH is
too low there can be potential collision of the ASM arm, if it is too high the slug might not be
picked-up properly.

4.4 Activation of slug falling detection

The detection of the slug to be retrieved is activated in ISO with G205 code. It has to be placed
at the beginning of the block where the slug is supposed to fall. In this block, a short-circuit will
be considered as the fall of the slug.
The syntax of the ISO command is
G205 Pyyy Lzzz

where P parameter refers to the ID of the point to be used (mandatory) and L is the detection
length in mm from the end of the block (optional, default value: 1mm).
When slug detection is triggered, the characteristics of point P will be retrieved and used for the
slug extraction.

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5 Functional behavior
5.1 Behavior on ASM completion
At the end of the ASM cycle, in case of success, the wire will not be rethreaded. The execution
will switch to "search next hole" mode with the following message:

Search next hole

At the next threading point or geometry, the execution will switch to normal mode and wire will
be rethreaded.

5.2 Protection in case of interruption of ASM cycle

If ASM cycle is interrupted for any reason (power failure, manual stop), a protection of the
device has been implemented. At next start, if ASM arm is down or ASM device is active,
execution will stop with an error message.

ASM not safe

In this case, use toggle buttons to put the ASM in safe conditions. Attention, there is an order to
follow:
1. Deactivate device (air flow)
2. Raise arm

5.3 G205 without ASM option

If ASM is not declared but G205 code is present in the code, the slug fall will be detected and
erosion will stop with a message asking to remove the slug.

Remove the slug

On the next start, execution will go in Dry-Run to the next geometry or threading hole (ATH,2
behavior).

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