Problems with Cadman

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on Windows.

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gforrest
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Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:33 am

Problems with Cadman

Post by gforrest »

Hello all!

I have an older Cadman controller. We just got Cimatron E7.1 software, which in my 25+years in the trade is the best software available for the design and production of plastic injection molds, bar none. My problem is my Cadman pans and zooms correctly, but the rotations are backwards and make me sea sick. I spoke to another Cimatron user and he has the same problem. Is there a fix for this? I posted this in the General forum also, I hope this causes no confusion.

Thank You!
jwick
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Post by jwick »

You can switch the direction of any axis by editing the config file used by the application.

See which config file is being used by hovering over the 3Dx icon in the system try while the app is running. It will show the filename (e.g., user01.scg). Find this file either under the 3DxWare directory or in your APPDATA directory. Edit it with a Unicode-capable editor (wordpad works fine).

Find the AXIS_MAP_HRZ_USER = line in the [SPACEMOUSE] section. The case (upper/lower) controls the direction of the axis. RUV are the rotation axes (X,Y & Z). To change the direction of the Rotation about X (tilt) axis, change the R to r. To change all of them, change RUV to ruv.

Experiment with it and you'll get the hang of it. Save the config file, switch to a different config in the 3DxWare GUI, then back to your config file to get the driver to reread it.
gforrest
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Still having problems

Post by gforrest »

What do you do if two axis's are switched. After further observation, I noticed that the Z axis moves when Y motion is applied.
agoenczi
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Still having problems

Post by agoenczi »

Hi gforrest,

please refer to the following post:

viewtopic.php?p=832#832

This post explains how you can switch axes and change the direction of shifts and/or rotations.
jwick
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Post by jwick »

Hi gforrest,

It is nearly impossible for your hand to move one axis without generating crosstalk along another axis. To eliminate crosstalk you have to use a filter of some sort. The driver provides a single-axis-at-a-time filter called "Dominant" in the App Configuration tab of the GUI. It eliminates all axes except the one with the largest magnitude. There are other filters you can enable by editing the config file.

Jim
3Dx Software Development
gforrest
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Post by gforrest »

Hello,

I am familiar with the dominant axis filter in the GUI. I read the post referenced above, and it is a little confusing. What is the difference between axis_map_"HRZ" and axis_map_"VRT"? And please explain what is meant by "order" in the post?

Thank You!
gforrest
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:33 am

Post by gforrest »

Also,

I forgot to ask in previous post, but for a CADMAN, which section of the config file do I edit? The Spacemouse section?

Thank you!
jwick
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Post by jwick »

Hi gforrest,

HRZ and VRT refer to a setting at the top of the config file called ORIENTATION. This can be set to either HORIZONTAL (HRZ) or VERTICAL (VRT). When it is switched from one to the other the driver uses the HRZ or VRT mapping. It is switched in the GUI when you choose the "Zoom Direction" (Device Configuration tab).

The only "order" I could find was in the link that agoenczi posted. This refers to which axis is controlled by each element in the "XYZRUV" axis mapping string. I thought that was pretty clearly explained :(
The first letter in the string controls the first axis, in the case ("XYZRUV"), the first letter (X) means that the first axis sent to the application is the X (Pan left/right) axis. Let me know if I need to explain that better.

Disclaimer: It is not our intention for you or anyone to be editing the config files by hand. Having said that, since there are capabilities in there that you want, that are not exposed via the GUI, we'll help you to edit them. In the future, we may add some of this capability to the GUI and may change the way the config files work--therefore changes you make now, may not work in the future.

Jim
3Dx Software Development
jwick
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Post by jwick »

Yup, [SPACEMOUSE] section.
gforrest
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Post by gforrest »

Well, I feel a little space happy, but I found a configuration that works!
For all you guys with a CADMAN and Cimatron E, this works. Go into the appropriate user#.scg file, (mine were under documents and settings), and edit the following lines under "SPACE MOUSE".

AXIS_MAP_HRZ_USER = XYZRUv
AXIS_MAP_VRT_USER = XZyurv

It works great!

Thank all you Moderators for the help!

Greg
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