# Counter Display Setup

The Counter Display Setup screen allows the user to define what is displayed on the relevant NC Gage screens for counters.

The NC Gage counter controls usually shows two sets of numbers. The user can use the Counter Display Setup screen to define what is displayed on the left side of the control and/or on the right side. Different choices can be defined on different screens as well.

NC Gage provides three different “levels” where the user may want to setup counters:

1. When learning individual commands the user may want to define what is seen as the “Feature View”

2. When the user navigates to the main screen or is executing a program, because this is a higher level within the NC Gage application, the user may want to see the “Program View”.

3. The “Calibration View” is what the user wants to see during the calibration procedure.

To access this screen:

1. Press the Setup soft key from the Main screen.

2. Press the Counter Display Setup soft key from the first second page of the Setup screen to display the Counter Display Setup screen.

3. Press the Confirm soft key to save any changes made. Press the Return soft key to return to the previous screen without saving.

In most NC Gage screens, a counter box is displayed. The counter box has room for two sets of counters. In previous versions of NC Gage, the left side was usually defined as machine coordinates and the right side was usually defined as work offset coordinates. Version 2.0 of NC Gage provides two new alignment systems that can be used and are made available where it makes sense.

The two new alignment systems are Part Coordinates and Feature Frame Coordinates. Version 2.0 of NC Gage allows the user more flexibility on how to display the current probe position.

Counter Display Setup Dialog Screen

There are five Coordinate systems available for the Counter Display selection. The first two options are always available, the last three options are available only when NC Gage is controlling more than three axes.

XYZ Reported - The XYZ value that is reported for each type of coordinate can be configured as to how to apply the tool length.

There are now five coordinate systems available described below.

- Machine - The counters will show the current position of the probe in Machine coordinates.

- Workoffset - The counters will show the current position of the probe in the current Work Offset coordinates.

- Part - The counters will show the current position of the probe in Part coordinates. Part coordinates are defined below.

- Frame - The counters will show the current position of the probe in Feature Frame coordinates. Feature Frame Coordinates are defined below.

- Rotated Workoffset - The counters will show the current position of the probe in Rotated Work Offset coordinates. Rotated Work Offset Coordinates are defined below.

There are three choices for the point that will shown for each of the coordinate systems. The user can configure each coordinate system separately. The options available are:

- No Tool Length - The counters will show the current position of the gage (connection) point.

- Tool Length - The counters will show where the end of the tool is by applying the tool length found in the tool table of the control and add it to the gage point position.

- Probe Tip Center - The counters will show the location of the center of the probe tip. The offset from the gage point to the ball tip is determined when the probe is calibrated.

Counter Layout - The counters are usually defined as a pair of coordinate sets, but on some screens only one set of counters is visible. NC Gage allows the user to define what he wants to see in each coordinate set by defining the left side and the right side of the counters. There are three different areas in the software that the user can configure and are described below.

- Feature View - This setting defines what counters can be viewed when feature commands are being learned. Any of the five coordinate systems defined above can be selected.

- Program View - This setting defines what counters can be viewed when NC Gage displays a screen that applies to an entire program. Any of the coordinate systems defined above can be selected except Feature Frame.

- Calibration View - This setting defines what counters can be viewed during a calibration. Only the Machine and Workoffset coordinate systems can be selected.

Part Coordinate System (PCS) Defined

The Part Coordinate System (PCS) is the reference system for the part. There is only one for each part and is defined by the drawing. The origin of the PCS is related to the MCS via a work offset (i.e. G54). The PCS is equivalent to the coordinate system defined by a work offset with all rotary axes in their zero positions.

Part Coordinates are the coordinate system that is in effect when the initial work offset is selected and all rotary axes are at zero. Note that with this definition, all programs in NC Gage v1.2 use Part Coordinates. With the addition of support for 5 axes, Part Coordinates become important as a meaningful common coordinate system in which all measurements can be related.

Feature Frame System (FFS) Defined

Features in NC Gage are typically 2.5D and are aligned with the machine axes. The Feature Frame System (FFS) is used to set the position of the rotary axes and to define an origin. When running NC Gage on a 5 axis system, the user will be required to create a FFS before any measurements are made. This avoids cases where programming occurs at undefined rotary axis positions. To start programming using the initial work offset, the user only need create an FFS with the rotary axes set to zero and using the zero point of (0,0,0).

FFS Coordinates are used to describe the location of measurements in a coordinate system that is square to the linear machine axes of the machine when the rotary axes are spun to their required measurement positions. The X, Y and Z directions are uniquely defined by the rotary axes positions as these directions will be the same as the machine directions. The origin of the FFS will be defined by the user. The origin is defined by the 3D offset from the ROTATED zero point of the original work offset (this is the origin of the part coordinate system) to the FFS zero point.

Note that this offset must be computed from the ROTATED part origin and removes any dependency on the position of the part in the machine volume. The zero point of the work offset should not play a role in the definition of the FFS. NC Gage will keep track of the work offset zero point and the rotary table centers in machine coordinates and will know how to perform all the required transformations.

Sometimes it will be simpler to define the FFS zero point in part coordinates. NC Gage will have the option to define the zero point as defined above or by defining its location in part coordinates. In part coordinates, the zero point in the example shown above would be (65.0, 60.0, -25.0).