There are a number of posts on the forum outlining issues with hitting the EStop.
Out of habit, I guess I always reach for my mouse and hit the black square stop button rather than estop. I’ve not timed myself, but I can’t imagine there is much difference in time. This may be because I start each cut with my mouse hovering over the stop button in case I’ve done something daft (usually origin set up in the gcode or a duff home).
Estop issues raised in the forum aside, are there any benefits of Estop vs Black Square stop?
EDIT: The following sentence applies only to Original Buildbotics Controller. As Onefinity stated here, their Hardware Emergency Stop button is not wired to “estop” of the mainboard!
I assume the Estop button on the screen triggers the same piece of code. Buildbotics calls this the “estopped” state. None of these Estops are real Emergency Stop Buttons. That’s why it says in the Buildbotics Manual:
The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA 79) requires that the class of emergency stop button be determined through a risk assessment. The soft “emergency stop” button on these web pages and the estop pin (pin 23 on the DB25 I/O connector) are both software controlled, and cannot be used for safety . If your risk assessment requires an emergency stop button to be installed for safety purposes or mission critical applications, then Buildbotics LLC recommends installing a “listed“ hardware Emergency Stop button in line with system power.
Even if we purchased the Onefinity CNC for using it with another Controller, I ordered a Onefinity Controller with it because I’m fascinated by the Buildbotics project and want to have a look at Onefinity’s implementation of it. Yet I didn’t have the time to do that, so I asked myself the other day, what indeed does the “estopped” state in detail?
Back to your question, I’d ask you back, does the Black Square Stop Button do what you expect it to do when you hit it? Does it stop the spindle?
The big red estop on top of the controller box kills ALL power to the box (will not turn of spindle). It’s connected directly to the power supply.
The digital estop on the upper right of the screen is a ‘digital’ estop and will turn everything off and reset all zeros without killing all power.
The stop button will just stop the program. You’ll retain zeros, position, etc when using the stop button.
Good practice is to push the ‘start’ button and watch as the machine starts it’s process. Usually within the first 30 seconds - 1 minute, you’ll know if the cut will be go. We like to keep our finger hovering over the ‘start’ button as it changes to a pause button. If something is wrong, we’ll hit pause. If it’s something we’ll need to restart, we’ll then hit stop. If it’s something we can adjust (clamps, material, dust, etc), we’ll adjust it while it’s paused, then hit the pause button again to resume the cut.
If all &@^( breaks loose, slam that big red button!
yes you have. I know. But I can only shake my head in disbelief on what safety issue wiring the Emergency Stop Switch this way that is. Cutting the power from Z stepper motor while at same time having no control over stopping the milling motor, that is simply crazy.
Well, it’s a 90% solution. It will stop all movement except for the rotating bit. Unless there’s some serious inertia at play in terms of the X or Y continuing to move without power, the bit won’t even slam something.
To get full kill, we’ll need to wire an estop button into the main power line going to our machine. For me I could do it between the extension cord inlet & the outlets and power strip I have everything plugged into.
Or I can just pull the extension cord because all my table power ultimately comes from there.
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
10
Hey Jim,
Jim, this is not a solution. Just because you are only used to hobbyist machines where steppers who are suddenly powerless in fact in most cases don’t move freely you shouldn’t think that Safety Standards dealing with this generally assume that of rotating power machines.
What do you think why buildbotics created the “estop” input functionality on its mainboard?
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
11
He stood around staring at his stopped machine. More than enough time to hit the power on the router and not let it keep drilling away. He gets my vote for an ID-10-T badge
I’d bet that’s the case with most scenarios causing the operator to hit the estop.
A case where someone had clothing or something tangled in the router’s spindle would be one where the power needs killing for everything. That’s where the 1F solution doesn’t work. But I’d be willing to bet that’s not the bulk of the times it’s used.
As long as the spindle is not powered by something connected to the controller you’re going to have this issue. In the standard supported 1F configuration of a Makita router, they would need to have the router plugged into an outlet on the controller.
This would provide that solution - plug the power strip the controller & router are plugged into in this with the main power extension cord.
110V Single Phase On/Off Switch, Ortis Router Table Switch with Large Stop Sign Paddle Easy Contact for Quick Power Off for Table Saws and Other Electrical Equipment
Sorry to dig this up but have a question along the safety line…
If you have your router plugged into an IoT switch in one of the Normally Off outlets - which requires a + signal to the IoT pins from the controller breakout board to turn on, will that guarantee the router is shut off if the hardware eStop button is hit?
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
14
Hey Michael,
if you touch or click the red/yellow “Emergency Stop” button that is displayed on upper right of the display, then yes, it is programmed to stop it. The controller enters “estopped mode” then.
If you hit the big red hardware button that is on top of the Onefinity Controller, it will not enter the “estopped mode” (at least not if the manufacturer did not change its wiring), because then it just cuts power only to the controller, as explained here. However in this case it may be that if ‘tool-enable’ is set to ‘lo-hi’, the positive signal on pin 15 of the 25-pin I/O port breaks down immediately which would lead to the IoT relay having no trigger signal anymore and therefore may shut the router off.
You can eliminate this deficiency by connecting a big red button to pin 23 “estop” of the 25-pin I/O port, as explained here. If you press it then, it will put the controller into “estopped” mode, which will take care to stop the router by disabling ‘tool-enable’ or the spindle via ModBus.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to do this? I’m not finding one.
I broke my monitor the first day due to the flimsy mount. I brushed against it and it crashed to the floor and no AppleCare to replace it So I switched to a regular monitor with keyboard and mouse and really prefer this over the touchscreen.
The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA 79) requires that the class of emergency stop button be determined through a risk assessment. The soft “emergency stop” button on these web pages and the estop pin (pin 23 on the DB25 I/O connector) are both software controlled, and cannot be used for safety . If your risk assessment requires an emergency stop button to be installed for safety purposes or mission critical applications, then Buildbotics LLC recommends installing a “listed“ hardware Emergency Stop button in line with system power.
So I switched to a regular monitor with keyboard and mouse and really prefer this over the touchscreen.