### Selecting or Creating a Machine for Display

Using the Load Virtual Machine dialog box, you can select or create a virtual machine to use in PC-DMIS's Graphics Display window.

To Select an Existing Machine

The list of machines in the Load Virtual Machine dialog box is created using the files "machine.dat" and "usermachine.dat" located in the directory where you installed PC-DMIS.

- The file "machine.dat" contains machine descriptions supplied by PC-DMIS's developers.

- The file "usermachine.dat" contains the machine descriptions of any machines the user has created and saved.

If you select an entry from the Name list that was in the "machine.dat" file then the selection is displayed in the preview area of the dialog box and the dialog's title changes, displaying the selected machine's name.

Machine dialog box with GLOBALMACHINE selected

If there is no "machine.dat" file, the Name list will only display the No Machine item.

To Create a New Machine:

1. Type a name for the machine in the Name list.

2. Select the type of machine from a Machine Type list.

3. Determine the dimensions of the machine by specifying the length, width, and height of the axes :

- Specify the 1st axis by selecting X, Y, or Z from the 1st axis list. Type the length of the machine's base in the 1st axis box.

- Specify the 2nd axis by selecting X, Y, or Z from the 2nd axis list. Type the width of the machine's base second axis in the 2nd axis box.

- Specify the 3rd axis by selecting X, Y, or Z from the 3rd axis list. Type the height of the machine in the 3rd axis box.

4. Specify the machine's home position by typing values in the Home Position area. You can only edit this area for user-defined machines; you cannot use it for machines supplied by PC-DMIS.

5. Click the Save button. PC-DMIS includes the newly created machine in the Machine Name list.

Note: The "usermachine.dat" file is not actually modified until you click Apply or OK. If you click Cancel all changes are ignored.

Modifying a Machine's Limits

In order to provide greater flexibility in working with existing machines, in PC-DMIS 2009 MR1 and later you can change machine limits on the fly for any machines that ship with PC-DMIS or with any custom-created machines. You can do this by modifying the values for the 1st axis, 2nd axis, and 3rd axis. In earlier versions you could only change this information on custom-created machines. You can now set these values to anything you desire.

For example, if you have a machine that's similar to a standard machine that shipped with PC-DMIS only it is slightly smaller. Rather than creating an entirely new machine, you could simply modify the axis values to reflect this smaller machine. The limits would then be updated for that LOADMACHINE command in that part program and reflected in the animated machine in the Graphics Display window.

A Chameleon machine with a modified, smaller volume

This type of change does not modify the DAT file where the machine's information is stored in any way. It applies the change to the current LOADMACHINE command. To reset a machine to what it was, simply delete the modified LOADMACHINE command and reinsert it.

More:

Additional Information on the Machine's Axes

Additional Information on the Machine's Home Position area

Additional Information for Creating Multiple Arm Machines