ATC Alarms and Remedial Actions

In Expert Deployment v01.01.17 (PLC version 05.04.19), additional alarms were introduced to monitor the tool change process. While the alarms do not follow a strict numerical sequence, they trigger in the following order (from bottom to top in the image):

700940 – Tool Change Active Banner

• This banner is displayed to the user during the tool change process.
• While active, all inputs are blocked except for E-stop.

700938 – M81: Pot Down

700934 – M82: Arm Moves from Home to Spindle

700948 – M85: Tool Unclamp

700935 – M83: Arm Swaps Tools

700949 – M86: Tool Clamp

700936 – M84: Arm Moves from Spindle to Home

700937 – M80: Pot Up Active

All alarms are automatically cleared at the end of a successful tool change operation. If the ATC faults during the tool change, the last displayed alarm indicates where the fault occurred. This can help troubleshoot the cause of the fault.

In Update v01.01.23 (PLC version 05.04.36), alarm context help was implemented to provide troubleshooting guidance for some alarms.

Alarm 700938 – M81 Pot Down Failure

This alarm automatically clears when M81 is successfully executed.

Alarm 700948 – Tool Unclamp Input Issue

If this alarm is not clearing:

Check input I33.7 (Tool Unclamp).

I33.7 should be high when the tool is released and low when the tool is clamped. If I33.7 is not behaving correctly, inspect the tool unclamp switch mounted on the Z-head assembly.

Alarm 700949 – Tool Clamp Input Issue

If this alarm is not clearing:

Check input I33.6 (Tool Clamp).

I33.6 should be high when the tool is clamped and low when the tool is unclamped. If I33.6 is not behaving correctly, inspect the tool clamp switch mounted on the Z-head assembly.

Alarm 700937 – M80 Pot Up Failure

This alarm automatically clears when M80 is successfully executed.

If you navigate to [Diagnostics] → [Trak Diagnostics]. At the top, you’ll see the following inputs:

• toolAtClamp-I33.6
• toolAtRelease-I33.7

These inputs correspond to the two sensors monitoring the tool clamp and release states.

When the green unclamp button is pressed (or when the ATC performs a tool change), the pin drops down and engages the bottom sensor. At this point:

I33.6 (Clamp) should transition from True to False.

I33.7 (Release) should transition from False to True.

Alarms 700948 and 700949 indicate tool unclamp and clamp errors. These typically occur when the arm is directly beneath the spindle.

Alarms 700934, 700935, and 700936 indicate that the arm is in transit and has faulted mid-move.