1. Fanuc 6m Programming

May 13, 2013 - I've attached a couple of pages from the 6M manual relating to tape loading and. Can you post procedure to work with PC (Fanuc 6M and PC). Throughout this programming guide, descriptions refer to positive tool- offset applications. Range suits all listed controllers except the Fanuc 6M and Haas. The Operation and Maintenance Handbook is for persons who are familiar. PMC C Language PROGRAMMING MANUAL B–61863E–1 FANUC LADDER–III OPERATOR’S MANUAL B.

Hi, I'm trying to run a program from TAPE on my Vertical 3 Axis CNC with a Fanuc 6M controller. Yes, as in the dark paper tape I load in with my physical two hands. I know it seems like ancient technology, but I am working on having a better understanding of the Fanuc system. I now have two CNC machines with identical 6M controls and tape readers.

I've never used either one of their tape readers and one of them came with a few paper tapes. I converted the first bits of information by hand to see what they were.

I've determined they are in EIA format and one of them is an original parameter list. The second seems to be a short example program. I'd like to execute the short sample program by running the tape. I'm running into a problem when attempting this though. The tape runs through the reader when I hit Cycle Start, yet nothing changes on the screen or in the physical state of the machine.

The screen is however 'locked up' until I press RESET. I've determined that I am loading the tape correctly, and that the tape is at the start. Is it likely the tape reader itself isn't working correctly, or am I missing some basic logic to how a Tape Reader is used with this machine? I followed the manual I have for it and as far as I can tell it appears everything is working correctly except the part where the NC receives the data from the tape reader.

When I hit cycle start, the tape starts being fed through the reader head and keeps running through until I hit Reset. The machine never moves or outputs anything to the screen. I actually found a paper tape in my other 6M machine that I never knew was in there.

I tried loading that one and I think a motor for one of the Reels of that machine is not working correctly. I can't get it to move through the reader head though Shouldn't running a program from tape be an easy process?

Fanuc 6m Programming

Doesn't sound like I am overlooking anything major here. The 6M tape reader is generally used to read in a tape to the CNC memory. The program is then run from memory. If you want to directly read the tape you must put the machine into tape mode first and the parameters must be set up correctly so the machine runs from the tape reader instead of CNC memory. It's far better to read the program into memory and the best way is to just use a PC wired with a transfer cable.

Parameters must be set up correctly. I've attached a couple of pages from the 6M manual relating to tape loading and operation. As I have verified now, it should just 'work' when in TAPE mode.

It is very easy and not much configuring is needed. Remember the Fanuc 6M CANNOT drip feed over the serial port which is why I was wondering about using the TAPE. Trane xl90 service manual.

I may be jumping into a more advanced area for this specific thread, BUT I wanted to follow up and finish the thread from my original question and let you see a preview of a new thread I will be starting. I did some voltage measuring and found out that half of the optical head wasn't working on my tape drive.

I tore into my tape drive and figured out how the voltages need to be sent to the Fanuc Tape Drive board. We setup an ARDUINO Due to emulate the tape reading head and output the correct voltages to the Fanuc Board. It works great. We will be finalizing this project by using a BeagleBone Black instead of an Arduino type board so that we can utilize the on board memory and have network capability to setup a webserver to see what the BeagleBone is sending in real time. This essentially frees up the requirement of a dedicated drip feed computer to your CNC.