Working documentation

This page is generated from the project's working notes. It records a real retrofit in progress, corrections included. Anything marked 🔴 or ⚠️ is unresolved or carries a caveat - read those before acting.

The Panasonic carousel indexer — console, data, and a way to settle `OF.42`¶

5 September 2026. From MINAS-XPseries-console_manual_e.pdf (Matsushita doc SR-DSV7896), read directly. Grant found and filed both XP-series manuals on Drive.

The unit is MSS083A1XPM01, 200 V, 750 W, cabinet tag U560. Panasonic call it a position driver, not a servo amplifier — it holds its own point table and executes moves on command.

✅ There is no console — and the front panel is better for our purposes¶

Confirmed 5 Sep: the handheld console did not come with this machine. Everything has to be done from the drive's own bezel. That turns out to be safer, not worse — see §"The front panel" below, which is read from MINAS-XPseries_manual_e.pdf §13.

The console section that follows is kept for reference only.

The console (not available here) — a separate handheld¶

This matters before anything else. The drive's own bezel has MODE, SET and arrow keys. The console the manual describes is a different device entirely — a plug-in handheld with [F1]-[F5], [AUTO], [EDIT], [TEST], [POS], [SPD], [PARA], jog keys, a ten-key pad, and its own emergency-stop mushroom switch.

It plugs into SER1 — one of the two round mini-DIN sockets visible on the drive.

⚠️ So everything below needs that handheld. If it did not come with the machine, none of it is reachable, and the front-panel buttons are a different and much more limited interface that this manual does not cover.

Four rules from the manual, and they are unforgiving¶


🔴 Connect before power-on	"Even if the console is connected after turning the power supply on, the console will not be recognized." Power down, plug in, power up
🔴 Never unplug it while live	"If the console is removed after turning the power supply on, Emergency stop error (53) will be generated, and the motor will be stopped"
Release its mushroom switch	The console carries its own E-stop. If it is latched in, nothing works
`SER2` is not usable	"As connector SER2 cannot be used, do not connect a console to the connector SER2."

⚠️ Leaving an edit screen writes to EEPROM¶

"the data will be written into EEPROM when moving from the … edit display to the edit menu by [CLR]"

Every edit screen commits on exit. Changing nothing writes the same values back, so it is not destructive in itself — but it means there is no "browse without consequence" mode inside [EDIT]. Prefer [AUTO] for looking.

⚠️ `[EDIT]` inhibits I/O control¶

The manual's mode map is explicit: [AUTO] — "Control by I/O is available"; [EDIT] — "Control by I/O is inhibited."

So entering [EDIT] takes the carousel away from the controller. Not something to do with the Tecnos mid-cycle.

🔴 The opportunity: this may settle `OF.42` / `OF.43` without a meter¶

The open question since the beginning has been whether OF.42 is the go command with five position bits on OF.43-OF.47 (what the PLC does), or SVON with the strobe on OF.43 (what the drawing reads).

The console has a live I/O monitor, at [AUTO] → [F3], and it names the signals:

-MON (IN)--ACTIVE          -MON (OUT)--ACTIVE
 *CWL  STB   PI: 00         *ALM         PO: 00
 *CCWL *SVON                *COIN
  ORGL                      *BUSY

STB and SVON appear as separate named inputs — exactly the two signals in dispute
PI: shows "the value inputted with the point assign input signal (5-bit) in decimal"
PO: shows the 5-bit present-position output in decimal

✅ And [AUTO] mode leaves I/O control enabled. So the test is: connect the console, power up, sit in [AUTO] → [F3], and let the Tecnos run a tool change. You watch STB, SVON and the PI number change in real time as the controller drives them.

That is better than ringing out with a meter — it shows the signals in use, in order, with the pocket number decoded for you. It confirms the bit map and the handshake in one observation.

⚠️ Whether it is worth powering down to fit the console is Grant's call, and it needs the handheld to exist.

What is stored in the drive¶

Five groups, all reachable from [EDIT]:

Group	Reached by	Contents
🔴 Step data	`[POS]`	Up to 28 positioning points. Each has a speed selection no., ABS/INC mode, and a coordinate in pulses
Speed data	`[SPD]`	13 entries: origin return speed, step speeds 1-10, jog low, jog high. Range 5-500 kpps
NC data	`[PARA]` `[F1]`	10 entries: step/jog/origin accel times, jog direction, origin return direction, pulse direction, teaching step pulse, S-curve rate, input logic, option
Servo parameters	`[PARA]` `[F2]`	9: `KP`, `KV`, `KVI`, `Kff`, `Kffi`, `Vi`, `Til`, `P-ON delay`, `Coin range`
Offset data	`[PARA]` `[F3]`	3: origin offset, soft limit +, soft limit −

🔴 The step data is the carousel's pocket table¶

Twenty-eight points, each a coordinate in pulses. That is where the carousel's tool positions live. Nothing else on the machine knows them — the Tecnos only ever sends a pocket number.

Lose the step data and the carousel does not know where its pockets are. That single table is the disaster-recovery case for this drive, and it is the one thing genuinely worth the trouble of fitting the console to capture.

The origin offset matters for the same reason: it defines where pocket 1 sits relative to the ORGL home sensor.

What corroborates the existing I/O map¶

The console's own labels match what io-map.md derived from the PLC and the drawing:

Console name	Our mapping
`PI` — 5-bit point assign input	`OF.43`-`OF.47`, the pocket number the controller sends
`PO` — 5-bit position output	`IF.36`-`IF.40`, the echo the controller checks
`COIN`	`IF.35`, position reached
`ORGL`	the home input from `-SQ560` via `-KA560`
`ALM`	the drive alarm in the `IF.8` summary chain
`SVON`, `STB`, `CWL`, `CCWL`, `BUSY`	the handshake and travel limits

✅ Five bits, decimal-displayed, confirming a 32-position addressing scheme — consistent with POS_RESET = 31 in the PLC and with EN_CU_6 = 8 meaning no bit inversion.

Alarm 53¶

"Emergency stop error (53)" — raised by pulling the console while powered. Worth knowing before it happens, and worth adding to the fault vocabulary alongside the Tecnos codes in plc-fault-codes.md.

Still to read¶

MINAS-XPseries_manual_e.pdf (3.0 MB, also on Drive) is the main manual. It should cover the drive's own front panel — the MODE/SET/arrow keys actually fitted — plus the parameter tables the console manual only cross-references, the interface timing in section 12-6, and the full alarm list.

servo-drive-interface.md — the carousel I/O mapped point by point
atc-operation.md — the tool-change cycle that drives these signals
io-map.md — every one of these signals to its terminal and wire

🔴 The front panel — what we actually have¶

From MINAS-XPseries_manual_e.pdf §13, "Key Operation on the Front Panel".

"When a special console is connected to the position driver, the front panel cannot be used."

They are mutually exclusive. With no console, the front panel is the whole interface.

The keys¶

Key	Function, in the manual's words
MODE	"Switches the mode."
SET	"Switches between selection display state and execution display state."
CURSOR	"Changes the data and selects the parameter." When inputting step data, performs teaching
SHIFT	When the decimal point is flashing, "moves a digit for the data change to the upper digit." When inputting step data, cancels. In test mode, executes the test operation

✅ Confirmed at the drive, 5 Sep: the CURSOR keys are UP and DOWN; SHIFT is the LEFT arrow. The manual's single "CURSOR key" row is the up/down pair.

🔴 Data can only be changed when the decimal point is flashing. The manual is explicit: "the digit displaying the flashing decimal point is possible for the data change, and these keys are inactive if it is not displayed." No flashing dot means you cannot change anything. That is the single best safety signal on this drive.

The nine modes, cycled by MODE¶

Mode	Display prefix
Monitor	`dP_…`
Step data edit	`PO_`
Speed data edit	`SP_`
NC data edit	`nC_`
Offset data edit	`OF.`
Servo parameter edit	`PA_`
🔴 EEPROM writing	`EE`
Automatic gain tuning	`AL`
Test operation	`tESt`

✅ Three reasons the front panel is safer than the console¶

🔴 EEPROM writing is its own separate mode. Unlike the console — where leaving an edit screen commits — nothing on the front panel persists unless you deliberately enter EE and execute it. Stay out of EE and nothing you do survives a power cycle.
🔴 Step coordinates cannot be typed in. "For positioning coordinate input, only teaching can be used. In case of inputting value directly, use a special console (option) or personal computer software (option)." The pocket table cannot be corrupted by a mis-keyed number.
✅ Reading step data does not need homing. "In case of referring to the step data, the origin return has not to be done."

⚠️ Only Monitor mode leaves I/O control available. Every other mode inhibits it, so the Tecnos loses the carousel while you are in one. Do not go wandering during a cycle.

⚠️ Avoid Automatic gain tuning (AL) and Test operation (tESt) entirely — both move the motor.

The eight monitors¶

In Monitor mode, CURSOR steps between them and SET switches to the reading:

Selection	Shows
`dP_EPS`	Position deviation, pulses
`dP_SPd`	Speed, kpps
`dP_trq`	Torque — displayed value × 0.2 = %
`dP_id`	ID number set in the driver
`dP_nPS`	Present position, pulses. Shows `P....` if origin return unfinished
🔴 `dP_IO`	Input/output signal monitor
🔴 `dP_Err`	Error history — the present error plus the last 8
`dP_no`	Manufacturer's parameter

🔴 The I/O monitor, with the drive's own pin numbers¶

dP_IO → SET → CURSOR selects the signal. This is the table the manual gives:

No.	Signal	Symbol	CN I/F pin
`IN-0`	CW drive inhibit	`CWL`	29
`IN-1`	CCW drive inhibit	`CCWL`	30
`IN-2`	Origin vicinity	`ORGL`	13
`IN-3`	Servo-on	`SVON`	12
`IN-4`	Strobe	`STB`	10
`IN-5`	Emergency stop	`EMG`	9
`IN-6`	Console emergency stop	—	—
`IN-7`	🔴 Point assign input	`P-IN`	35 · 34 · 33 · 32 · 31
`OT-0`	Servo alarm	`ALM`	26
`OT-1`	Positioning finish / decelerating	`COIN`/`DCLON`	25
`OT-2`	Motor operation state	`BUSY`	27
`OT-3`	🔴 Present position output	`P-OUT`	24 · 23 · 17 · 15 · 14

A signal showing R is closed (input) or conducting (output). IN-7 and OT-3 display their 5-bit value as a decimal number.

🔴 This settles `OF.42` / `OF.43` — by observation, on the panel we have¶

The conflict has stood since the beginning: the PLC uses OF.42 as the go command with five position bits on OF.43-OF.47; the drawing transcription reads OF.42 as SVON and OF.43 as the strobe.

Two things now bear on it.

The drive's signal set matches the PLC's naming exactly. The PLC calls OF.41 enable, OF.42 position command, OF.43-OF.47 bits 1-5. The drive offers an EMG that must be held for the drive to run, a STB strobe, and a 5-bit P-IN. That is enable / go / five bits — the PLC's three roles, exactly. The drawing's reading needs OF.44-OF.47 to supply only four bits with the fifth coming from relay -KA560, which is possible but leaves P-IN split across two sources for no obvious reason.

⚠️ Suggestive, not conclusive. But the panel can now settle it outright:

Monitor mode  →  dP_IO  →  SET  →  CURSOR to IN-4 (STB) and IN-7 (P-IN)

Monitor mode leaves I/O control enabled, so the Tecnos can drive a tool change while you watch. IN-7 shows the pocket number in decimal as the controller sends it, and IN-4 shows the strobe arriving. If the pocket number that appears matches the tool requested, the bit map is confirmed and the strobe is identified in the same observation.

✅ This replaces the "ring out OF.42 and OF.43 with a meter" item in the pre-strip survey. Watching the signals in use is better evidence than continuity, and it needs no meter and nothing unplugged.

`dP_Err` — the error history is free¶

The present error plus eight past records, selected with the cursor. Err.53 is the console emergency-stop error. Worth capturing before anything else is disturbed — it is a free history of what this carousel has been unhappy about, and it costs one mode change.

The capture procedure¶

Key mapping confirmed at the drive: ▲ ▼ = CURSOR, ◀ = SHIFT, plus MODE and SET.

🔴 The one hazard that matters¶

"On the positioning coordinate input display … If [▲] and [▼] are pressed, the motor will be operated with the speed set with the high jog speed."

🔴 On the step-data coordinate display, the cursor keys JOG THE CAROUSEL. They are the teaching control. They do not scroll.

That display is the one you most want to read, and it is the one where the obvious key press turns the machine. Read the number, then leave with ◀ SHIFT. Never press ▲ or ▼ there.

The safe pattern everywhere else¶

For speed data, NC data, offset data and servo parameters the manual is consistent:

"By pressing [SET], the … No. selection display and the … display/change display will be switched."

SET toggles in and out. So:

▲ ▼ on the SELECTION display   →  picks which item        (safe)
SET                            →  shows its VALUE
       ... read it ...
SET                            →  back to selection       (safe)

⚠️ Never press ▲ or ▼ while a value is displayed — that is the edit action. On a value display the only keys you need are SET to go back and MODE to leave.

Three layers of protection, worth knowing¶

No flashing decimal point = nothing can change. The manual: "the digit displaying the flashing decimal point is possible for the data change, and these keys are inactive if it is not displayed."
Nothing persists without EEPROM writing mode. Stay out of EE and any accidental change dies at the next power cycle.
A power cycle restores everything you have not deliberately written.

⚠️ Avoid AL (automatic gain tuning) and tESt (test operation) entirely — both move the motor.

🔴 If you land in `EE_SEt` — how to get out¶

It happened on the first attempt, 5 Sep. It is not an emergency. EE_SEt is the EEPROM writing mode's name display, not the execution display. From §13-3-7:

"By pressing [SET], EEPROM writing mode display and writing execution display are switched." "On the writing execution display, writing will be started when 'StArt' is displayed by pressing [▲] continuously."

Writing takes two further deliberate acts — SET, then a held ▲. Simply arriving at EE_SEt has written nothing.

Get out with three presses of MODE:

EE_SEt  →MODE→  AL     (gain tuning)
        →MODE→  tESt   (test operation)
        →MODE→  dP_…   (monitor)

The manual confirms the wrap: "On the test operation display, it will move to the monitor mode if [MODE] is pressed."

⚠️ You pass through the two motor-moving modes. That is safe — both also need SET plus a held ▲ — but do not press SET on either.

✅ The net underneath everything: "Without writing into EEPROM, it will be returned to the parameter at the time of previous power supply input when resetting the power supply." A power cycle discards anything not deliberately written.

⚠️ The one real rule while in EE: "Do not cut the power supply during writing into EEPROM." That applies only once writing has actually started — which, again, needs SET and a held ▲.

The mode order, so you always know where you are¶

dP_ monitor → PO_ step → SP_ speed → nC_ NC → OF. offset
   → PA_ servo → EE EEPROM → AL gain tune → tESt test → back to dP_

MODE always goes forward and always wraps. If you are lost, press MODE until dP_ comes round.

What to capture, in priority order¶

🔴 Tier 1 — the irreplaceable data (~35 readings)¶

This is the only part that genuinely must be done.

Offset data — 3 values. MODE to OF. → ▲▼ to item → SET to read → SET back.

No.	Item
1	Origin Offset — where pocket 1 sits relative to the `ORGL` home sensor
2	Soft Limit (PLUS)
3	Soft Limit (MINUS)

Step data — the pocket table. MODE to PO_ → ▲▼ to step No. → SET shows the coordinate → ◀ SHIFT to back out.

Walk step numbers 1 to 28. Unused steps display blank — note which are populated and stop caring about the rest. Record the coordinate for each populated one.

🔴 Do not press ▲▼ on the coordinate display. See the hazard above.

⚠️ To also see a step's speed selection no. and ABS/INC mode you must press SET through all three fields, and the manual says the data is set on the final SET. With values unchanged that just rewrites the same numbers, and it still cannot persist without EE — but if you want to avoid it entirely, take the coordinates only. The coordinates are the part that matters.

Tier 2 — behaviour, if you have the patience (23 readings)¶

NC data — 10 values. MODE to nC_. Item 5 (origin return direction) and items 1-3 (accel times) are the useful ones; 9 (input logic) and 10 (option) decide how the interface behaves.

Speed data — 13 values. MODE to SP_. No. 1 is origin return speed, 2-11 are step speeds 1-10, 12 and 13 are jog low and high.

Tier 3 — restoration only (9 readings)¶

Servo parameters — MODE to PA_. KP, KV, KVI, Kff, Kffi, Vi, Til, P-ON delay, Coin range. Record so a working drive can be rebuilt; nothing in the retrofit consumes them.

✅ Free while you are there¶

dP_Err — the error history. MODE to monitor → ▲▼ to dP_Err → SET → ▲▼ steps through the present error then records E-0 to E-7. Nine readings, no risk, and a free history of what this carousel has complained about.

dP_id — the drive's ID number. One reading.

🔴 And the one that is worth doing first¶

The OF.42 / OF.43 observation. Minutes, not an afternoon, and it settles a question that has been open since the beginning:

MODE to monitor  →  ▲▼ to dP_IO  →  SET  →  ▲▼ to IN-4 (STB), then IN-7 (P-IN)

Monitor mode leaves I/O control enabled, so have the Tecnos run a tool change while you watch. IN-7 shows the pocket number in decimal as the controller sends it; IN-4 shows the strobe.

If the number on IN-7 matches the tool requested, the bit map is confirmed and the strobe identified in the same observation. Do this one before the tedious tier-1 walk.

Readings taken 5 September 2026¶

First session on the front panel. Drive powered, machine idle, no program running.

Error history — `dP_Err`¶

Oldest to newest. Codes decoded from the main manual §7-5-2.

Slot	Code	Meaning
`E_7`	53	Emergency Stop Input Error
`E_6`	53	Emergency Stop Input Error
`E_5`	53	Emergency Stop Input Error
`E_4`	16	Overload Protection
`E_3`	22	🔴 Encoder Communication Error
`E_2`	22	🔴 Encoder Communication Error
`E_1`	22	🔴 Encoder Communication Error
`E_0`	16	Overload Protection — most recent

The manual's wording:

Code	Contents	Solution
53	"Trip is made if the emergency stop input is turned off"	Check the emergency stop input, wiring, supply
16	"The position driver was used continuously with load over the rated current value"	Decrease gain; lengthen accel/decel; reduce load
22	"Trip is made if the encoder connection error was found … such as breaking of the wire"	"Check the connection between the position driver and the encoder … and the connection state of the connector SIG. Check the power supply voltage (5V ±5%) on the encoder side"

🔴 Code 22 is one of the faults the manual says CANNOT be cleared by a reset command — power cycle only. Three consecutive occurrences point at a marginal CN SIG connection, a chafed encoder cable, or a sagging 5 V on the encoder side. On a rotating carousel, cable flex is the obvious candidate.

⚠️ There are no timestamps. E_0 means most recent, not recent — these could predate Redgate's ownership entirely. Do not build a story on the ordering.

⚠️ But this drive is KEPT through the retrofit. An intermittent encoder connection survives the conversion and will present later as unexplained tool-change failures. It is worth a physical look regardless of when the errors happened.

I/O monitor — `dP_IO`, at rest¶

R on the display = input closed / output transistor conducting.

Row	Manual's signal	Reading
`in-0`	`CWL`	R	not at a travel limit
`in-1`	`CCWL`	R	not at a travel limit
`in-2`	`ORGL`	R	physically at home
`in-3`	`SVON`	—	servo off, idle
`in-4`	`STB`	not read	🔴 outstanding
`in-5`	`EMG`	R	no emergency
`in-6`	console E-stop	R	no console fitted
`in-7`	unidentified	—	see below
`in-8`	`P-IN`	`00`	pocket number commanded
`ot-0`	`ALM`	R	conducting = no active alarm ✅
`ot-1`	`COIN`/`DCLON`	R
`ot-2`	`BUSY`	R
`ot-3`	`P-OUT`	`00`	pocket number reported

✅ in-8 and ot-3 agree at 00 — commanded and reported position match, which is the echo check the PLC performs.

✅ ot-0 conducting means no live alarm. The 16s and 22s are history, not a current condition.

⚠️ The manual's I/O table lists eight inputs (IN-0-IN-7); the drive displays nine (0-8). Rows 0-6 map cleanly and every value is consistent with an idle, un-faulted drive sitting at home, so the manual's order holds that far. Row 7 is an input the manual's table does not list, reads inactive, and nothing depends on it. The point-assign has shifted to row 8 as a result.

⚠️ The output labels may be shifted too — ot-1 (COIN, in position) and ot-2 (BUSY, moving) both read active, which cannot both be true. Not chased, because nothing depends on it.

Present position — `dP_nPS`¶

Reads P-----.

"If the state is that the origin return is not finished, the present position will be displayed as P...."

The carousel has not homed since power-up. Expected rather than faulty — the Tecnos commands the carousel home as part of its reset cycle, and no tool change or carousel reset has been run.

Two consequences:

✅ Step data can still be read — "In case of referring to the step data, the origin return has not to be done." ✅ Teaching is disabled while un-homed — "Possible only when finishing the origin return" — so the jog-on-the-coordinate-display hazard should currently be inert. ⚠️ Do not rely on it; keep to SET-to-read, SHIFT-to-leave.

Manufacturer's parameter — `dP_no`¶

Reads G-3 .20.

⚠️ Not decodable. The manual's entry says only "Displays the parameter values used by the manufacturer." No table, no meaning given. Recorded verbatim in case it ever turns out to be a firmware or variant identifier.

The Panasonic carousel indexer — console, data, and a way to settle OF.42¶