AXBB-E Quick Start Guide
Introduction
The AXBB-E is a class-leading motion controller and breakout board combination with ethernet interface.
This motion controller can communicate with a connection to the control computer’s network card. The connection can be built with a direct connection or via router/switch devices in a local area network (LAN).
The AXBB-E can be used to control CNC machines with stepper or servo motor controllers with step and direction signal interfaces.
The AXBB-E can control systems up to 6-axes, up to 8 isolated and non-isolated outputs to drive relays, solid state relays, laser controllers to name a few.
There are also 6 isolated inputs to input signals of sensors, switches and pushbuttons making this controller an industry leader in CNC control.
Please Note: The power supply is supplied with a cover only for our Australian customers. Customers outside Australia, can download the STL file of the cover by clicking on the button below and print their own covers.
Safety Notes
The author of this document is not liable or responsible for any accidents, injuries, equipment damage, property damage, loss of money or loss of time resulting from improper use of electrical or mechanical or software products.
Assembling electrical and mechanical CNC machine components like power supplies, motors, drivers or other electrical and mechanical components involves dealing with high voltage AC (alternating current) or DC (direct current) and other hazardous items which can be extremely dangerous and needs high attention to detail, experience, knowledge of software, electricity, electro-mechanics and mechanics.
BEFORE MAKING ANY CONNECTIONS OR DISCONNECTIONS POWER MUST BE REMOVED FROM THE DEVICE AND THE CONTROLLER. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL VOID ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES.
Before starting please read through all the instructions.
Moving objects like CNC Machines and automation equipment can be dangerous. Please take care to keep out of the way of the machine while under operation.
Note: Any Mains power connections must be installed by a Licensed Electrician or suitability qualified person.
Errors and omissions excepted
System Requirements
- Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1,10 operating systems (32 and 64 bit)
- A computer with at least one LAN connection/Ethernet port
- Stepper motor drivers with standard Step/Dir signal interface
- Crossover cable (For direct PC connection)
Motors and Motor Driver wiring
Closed Loop Motors:
If using our closed loop motors and drivers, follow our closed loop motor wiring guide here.
Motor Driver to AXBB-E (Open-loop and Closed-loop):
Below is the pinout table for each axis and and the respective AXBB-E pins
| Axis | Step+ | Step- | Dir+ | Dir- |
| X | 9 | 5V0 | 10 | 5V0 |
| Y | 11 | 5V0 | 12 | 5V0 |
| A | 15 | 5V0 | 16 | 5V0 |
| Z | 13 | 5V0 | 14 | 5V0 |
An example shows how the X-Axis motor driver is connected to the AXBB-E controller. Note how Step- and Dir- are looped together and connected to 5V0.
Motor driver to Power Supply connection:
Our AXBB-E controller bundles use a 36V Meanwell Power Supply. The connection guide below shows a connection to a single driver.
Replicate this connection for all drivers, connecting them in parallel (Do not daisy chain the connections) to the power supply. The full motor driver power and signal connection is shown below:
Inductive Proximity Sensor and Touch Probe Wiring
Inductive Proximity Sensor and Touch Probe Wiring
Limit Switches.
Limit switches are used to home your maxchine and stop your machine from crashing, if your machine overtravels due to a larger than working area work piece or jogging past the maximum working area.
We recommend using Inductive proximity sensors with the AXBB-E.
When wiring the proximity sensors, take note of the polarity and wire color of the switch to avoid damaging it.
The below table shows the the associated wire colours and pinouts per axis
| Axis | Switch Wire Colour | Description | AXBB-E |
| X | Brown | 24V Power | Ix1+ |
| Black | Signal | Ix1- | |
| Blue | GND | 24V0 | |
| Y | Brown | 24V Power | Ix2+ |
| Black | Signal | Ix2- | |
| Blue | GND | 24V0 | |
| Z | Brown | 24V Power | Ix3+ |
| Black | Signal | Ix3- | |
| Blue | GND | 24V0 |
Touch Probe.
The probe is used to set the X0,Y0,Z0 (XYZ type) or just the Z0 (Z type) work coordinates on your machine depending on the type of probe used. As shown below, the probe connects to pin Ix5+
VFD and AXBB-E Wiring and Programming
All mains connections such as the spindle wiring/terminating and mains voltage wiring need to be completed by a licensed electrician/qualified individual.
The instructions on wiring the VFD can be found here.
The AXBB-E can output a 5 or 10V output signal and by default, it is configured for 10V signal output.
For the BD600 VFD, a 10V signal is required and as the 10V signal is already set by default, no extra calibration is required.
To control the Spindle and VFD Via the AXBB-E, please follow the guide below. Note that this guide is for the BD600 VFD with 0-10V input.
Wire the system as shown below:
| AXBB-E Controller | BD600 VFD Terminal |
| AO1 | AI1 |
| 24V0 | DCM+ACM |
| 01 | S1 |
| 02 | S2 |
After wiring the VFD as above, the final step involves using a piece of wire to bridge ACM and DCM pins together, on the terminal strip pins shown by the red arrow.
VFD Programming Parameters
The VFD will need to be programmed using the following commands.
Initially Reset the VFD to factory default setting settings by setting F00.28 = 1
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Frequency Reference Resolution
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F00.11 = 1
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Speed Control Mode
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F00.00 = 2
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Command Source Selection
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F00.01 = 1
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Max Output Frequency
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F00.03 = 400.00
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Run Frequency – Upper Limit
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F00.04 = 400.00
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Run Frequency – Lower Limit
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F00.05 = 133.00
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Frequency A command selection
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F00.06 = 2
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Keypad Setting Frequency
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F00.10 = 400
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Acceleration time 1
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F00.12 = 5
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Decceleration time 1
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F00.13 = 5
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Motor Rated Power: (Ensure that you choose the correct motor power rating for your spindle)
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1.5kW: F02.01 = 1.5
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2.2kW: F02.01 = 2.2
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Motor Rated Frequency
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F02.02 = 400
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Motor Rated Speed
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F02.03 = 24,000
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Motor Rated Voltage
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F02.04 = 220
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Motor Rated Current: (Ensure that you choose the correct motor current for your spindle)
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1.5KW: F02.05 = 7
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2.2kW: F2.05 = 9
- Forward/Reverse: 2 Wire Control:
- F05.13 = 0
- F05.13 = 0
- VFD Display RPM
- F07.03=0011
- F07.03=0011
- Decimal Points for Speed Display
- F07.12=0
Network Setup
The Network will need to be set up on both the computer and AXBB-E side.
Direct PC Connection: (Recommended)
The recommended method is to connect your AXBB-E directly to your computer. To do this, you will require a crossover cable 
Please follow the steps below:
- Connect your AXBB-E to the 5V power supply and switch it on.
- Connect one end of the crossover cable to the AXBB-E and the other to the ethernet port of your computer.
- On your computer, type “Control Panel” in the search bar and click on the Control Panel menu.
- Inside the Control Panel menu open the Network and Sharing Centre.
- An unidentified connection will show. Click on the “Change adapter settings”.
- Click on the unidentified connection and a toolbar will appear. Click “Rename this connection” and change the name to AXBBE-network.
Network renamed to AXBBE_Nework
- Navigate back to the Network and Sharing Centre and click on the AXBB-E network. A small window will show. We can change the parameters.
- Click on “Properties” and locate the “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)“.
- Clicking on the properties will show the current IP address and DNS server address settings. Change these to the following as shown below: IP address: 10.10.10.10, Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 and tick the “Validate settings upon exit” tick box.
Network Settings on the AXBB-E:
To configure the AXBB-E and UCCNC software ethernet, please follow the guide below:
Firstly, ensure that the AXBB-E is powered on via the 5V power supply and is connected to your computer via ethernet.
The UCxxx Utility will be used to write the settings to the AXBB-E. This utility can be found in the UCCNC installation folder. For most computers, it is the C:\UCCNC\Util folder. In the folder, open the UCxxx_utility.exe program.
Upon opening, the program will be blank and have the Network settings greyed out.
- Press Scan and your AXBB-E will be shown in the list. If the AXBB-E does not show, please check your ethernet cable and AXBB-E power supply.
- Click on the AXBB-E and the IP address, Subnet mask and Gateway will be listed. “Click Save Network Settings” to save the settings to the AXBB-E. Leave “DHCP Enable” unticked.
- You can click on the test connection to test the communication between the computer and AXBB-E. It should report a successful test as shown below:
UCCNC Setup Guide
Installing the license and initial setup
Machine Profile Setup
Machine profiles containing the recommended settings for our machines can be downloaded here.
To install these machine profiles, follow the below steps:
- Unzip the machine profile zip folder. There will be a macro folder and a machine profile file for each machine.
- Copy the machine profile with the macros folder to your UCCNC installation folder. The macros folder can be used to add custom macros. Navigate to the profiles folder and paste it there.
- Open the UCCNC software and navigate to settings. Click on the Profiles menu highlighted by the green square.
- Click load profile and the settings will save on your controller.
Homing Setup and Configuration
Homing in UCCNC requires limit switches to be installed and set up via the appropriate ports. The whole machine can be homed or a singular axis can be homed. In our machine profiles, homing has been preconfigured for you, but sometimes you may need to tweak a few settings depending on how the limit switches are set up.
Our homing setup has the machine home in the Front-Left-Top position.
XYZ homing
To home XYZ, click the home button highlighted below.
Single Axis Homing
To home, a single axis, click on the homing icon on the axis you wish to home highlighted by the green square.
Homing Direction Configuration
The machine must home towards the limit switches. If a machine axis is moving away from the limit switches, abort the homing sequence by pressing the emergency stop switch and take note of the axis that is homing incorrectly. In the axis settings, tick the Dir. positive check box, save the setting and apply settings. Test this axis by homing it separately.
Spindle and VFD Configuration
As the AXBB-E is preconfigured for 0-10V output, the VFD and spindle control through the AXBB-E can be checked. In the UCCNC console, enter M3S24000. The spindle should turn on, and ramp the speed until it reaches 24,000RPM.
To test, click the Spindle CW, the spindle shaft should rotate clockwise and SPINDLE CCW should see the spindle shaft rotate anti-clockwise. If the direction is reversed, the U and V wires on the VFD terminals will need to be swapped.
Probing
Probing in UCCNC allows you to accurately set your machine’s work position. XYZ axis probing can be done, albeit separately. The Z axis is probed separately from the X and Y axis.
To probe at least 2 conditions must be met:
- The probe must be set up to the correct port in hardware and software. (Our machine profiles have probes pre-set)
- The machine must be homed first.
In the setup, set the probe diameter (tool diameter) to the required diameter and tick the override probe diameter checkbox.
Z-axis Probing
To probe the Z, navigate to page 1 of the probe menu and enter the probe parameters as shown below:
Settings to take note of:
- Click on the simple probe option.
- Axis 1 P1 set to -25 (Probing 25mm downwards). You may adjust this depending on your stock size.
- The Z axis is selected.
- Gauge height (probe height) is selected. For our XYZ probe, it is 5mm and for the standard Z probe, it is 19mm.
Once all the parameters are set, do a “dry run” to ensure that the probing works, and probing in the correct direction. Press the “Start Probing” button and when the Z axis starts to move, touch the clip on the touch plate manually. A successful probe will state “Probed OK”.
X and Y-axis Probing
For the X and Y axis probing, go to page 2 of the probe menu and enter the following parameters:
Settings to take note of:
- Select the corner touch probe.
- Set X and Y as P1 and P2 respectively with a value of 20.
- Gauge height (probe height). For the X and Y axis, the probe is 10mm thick.
Once these parameters have been set, do a dry run similar to the Z axis dry run, touching the touch plate with the clip to simulate a probe. Once successful, you may try the real probe with an end mill.
Frquently Asked Questions
- Why is my machine going into error mode after making contact with the limit switches or inductive switches during the homing operation?
- This happens when the Homebackoff distance is set to 0. The Homebackoff setting dictates the distance the machine moves away from the limit/proximity switch after contact has been made. We recommend setting it to 10mm when using mechanical switches and 5mm when using inductive proximity sensors. In our machine profiles. This setting can be adjusted in the Axes setting in each axis menu.
- This happens when the Homebackoff distance is set to 0. The Homebackoff setting dictates the distance the machine moves away from the limit/proximity switch after contact has been made. We recommend setting it to 10mm when using mechanical switches and 5mm when using inductive proximity sensors. In our machine profiles. This setting can be adjusted in the Axes setting in each axis menu.
- Why is my AXBB-E controller not recognized in the UCxxx utility program?
- Check that the cable that is being used is well seated in both the AXBB-E and the computer
- Check that the 5V power supply is in good working order and is supplying the AXBB-E with 5V power. Check that the power failure light is off.
- Check the Network settings initially set.
- Why is my UCCNC software launching in Demo Mode?
- Ensure that the AXBB-E license file has been inserted in the UCCNC installation folder.
- Check that the AXBB-E controller is receiving power and connected to your computer via the appropriate cable.