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Section Section 8 8 GlossaryGlossary
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outside of it. The machine tool envelope can be disabled by clicking on the Clear
Machine Zero button in Home mode.
Machine Zero - The origin (X,Y,Z = 0,0,0) of useful space within the machine tool
envelope. Can either be defined manually or by using home switches.
Maximum Feedrate - The maximum rate at which a motor (or an axis) can reliably start and
stop (with ramping).
Maximum Unramped Feedrate - The maximum rate at which a motor (or an axis) can
reliably start and stop without ramping.
Modal - Modal commands stay in effect until another command in the same mode group is
encountered.
Motor Polarity - The association between the actual direction an axis moves and the
direction LC thinks it’s moving. If they are different, this value should be changed from
positive to negative or vice-versa.
Motor Resolution - The number of full motor steps for one revolution of the motor. For
example, a 1.8° Stepper motor will have 200 full steps per revolution, a 0.9° Stepper
Motor will have 400 full steps per revolution, and so on.
Motor Step - The amount of movement associated with one electric pulse to the stepper
motor. This will vary depending on the step mode and the steps per motor revolution.
Offline - Mode in which LC does not communicate with the Controller. (also called
animation mode.) All G-Code, Jog, and Point moves appear on the screen, but the
machine tool will not move.
Online - Mode in which LC directly communicates with the Controller. In this mode, all G-
Code, Jog and Point moves are executed by the machine tool.
Open Loop - A control system in which a device receives a command and executes the
command without communicating back that the command was completed successfully.
Most stepper motor systems are open loop due to there high reliability in performing step
commands when used within their torque limits for a given RPM.
Part Program - Program used to control the movement of the machine tool. G-Code is a
part programming language.
Program Coordinates - The XYZ position of the tool on the CNC machine relative to
Program Zero.
Program Listing Box - The area of the main screen that shows a listing of the part program
currently loaded in LC.
Program Zero - The zero point, or origin, to which all absolute coordinates in the G-Code
file are referenced. It is depicted as a green dot in the Tool Path View Port.
Pull-Down Menu - A standard Windows control that lets you select a single item from a list.
Quarter-Step - Step mode where four steps from the controller correspond to one full step of
the motor.
Radio Buttons - A group of options requiring a single selection, like the channel buttons on
your car radio.
Ramping - Method of accelerating a motor at increasingly faster step rates in order to reach
high feedrates. Ramp rates are measured in full steps/sec/sec. When ramping is used a
motor will accelerate and decelerate at the same ramping rate.