Apr 05, 2015  Anti-lock brakes are designed to prevent skidding and help drivers maintain steering control during an emergency stopping situation  Difference between ABS & Traction Control  ABS manage the grip of the tires for braking maneuver  Traction Control manage the grip of the tires for accelerating maneuver 8.

1. The footwell module (FRM) is an electrical nodal point in the footwell on the drivers side. The footwell module picks up the signals from the doors and controls the lighting. The footwell module also controls the adaptive headlights. The footwell module is also the interface to the dashboard.
2. The Control Knob should be mounted within easy reach of the driver. Also, make sure the wiring harness reaches the Timing Control. Clean the surface where the Knob will be mounted, peel the tape and press the Knob firmly onto the dash. Find an area to pass the wiring harness through the vehicle cowling into the engine compartment.

The CNC Controller or CNC Control is the package of electronics and software that take input either from g-code or the cnc control panel and converts it to the signals the CNC machine’s motors need to move the CNC axes.

The controller with its CNC Control Software and electronics are the most complex part of a CNC Machine. In this article, we’ll break it down along several dimensions each of which you can then drill down on further:

• Types of CNC Controllers
• CNC Controller Electronics
• CNC Controller Software
• Choosing the Best CNC Controller for Your CNC Machine

Types of CNC Controllers

Industrial OEM CNC Controllers

Industrial OEM CNC Controllers are the ones used on Industrial CNC Machines like Haas. They’re the very hind end of the market.

These are not very common for DIY projects due to their expense. Not only is the controller itself expensive and fairly hard to come by (though one does see them from time to time on eBay), but Industrial OEM Controllers expect premium sub-components too. Industrial Quality Servo Drives, Home / Limit Switches, and all the rest really run up a hefty price tag in a hurry.

While these controls are expensive, lately I’ve seen controls such as the low-end of the Siemens line coming down in price in places like eBay. It looks like they’re testing the low-end market. If they keep coming down, these controls may make more sense on a DIY CNC Project than it seems.

I’m not going to talk further about these controls as they’re a pretty advanced topic. You might find the article I did that analyzes what features Hobby CNC Controllers are missing compared to industrial controls intersesting.

CNC Retrofit Controllers

Just a small step down from Industrial OEM Controllers are CNC Retrofit Controllers like Centroid.

These controllers are marketed for converting manual machines to CNC, for example, a Bridgeport manual milling machine. They’re also sold as a way to update obsolete controls on industrial CNC Machines to bring the more up-to-date features and performance.

They’re still not cheap, but they’re starting to fall into the range of what a DIY CNC’er might afford.

PC Based CNC Controllers

There are three main players in this market:

• Mach 3 & Mach 4
• LinuxCNC
• FlashCut

All three have good reputations with varying trade-offs of features, functionality, price, and ease of use.

Mach 3

Art Fenerty founded ArtSoft in 2001 and launched Mach 3, which was based on an offshoot of the original EMC (which is now LinuxCNC) code base. Art wanted a CNC Controller that runs on Microsoft Windows PC’s rather than Linux, so it took a major rewrite and the two don’t share much in common any more.

According to our 2017 Survey, Mach 3 is the most popular CNC Controller at the low-end, with 47% market share. The next closest was LinuxCNC.

LinuxCNC (My personal favorite!)

LinuxCNC has its origins in NIST’s “Enhanced Machine Controller” project, hence its original name “EMC” and “EMC 2”. Since the EMC corporation owns the trademark, the name was changed to LinuxCNC in

LinuxCNC is Open Source software, which means you can actually obtain the latest source code should you wish to understand or modify it. It also means that a much larger audience, including companies like Tormach, can contribute to LinuxCNC.

While it’s extremely cool that LinuxCNC is Open Source, it’s the contributions of Tormach, and the PathPilot “flavor” of LinuxCNC that made it my favorite choice. Having used Mach 3 for years, I can tell you that Tormach made a good decision when they moved from Mach 3 to LinuxCNC.

PathPilot is simply more stable, more powerful, and more user friendly than Mach 3, and there’s not much more you could ask for.

Now, getting your own PathPilot CNC Controller up and running for your own DIY CNC may not be quite as straightforward. You’ll have to assemble a controller that matches Tormach’s and get a copy of PathPilot up and running on it. There are various articles out there that purport to help. I haven’t verified any of them yet, but if it can be done, you’ll have a sweet setup.

FlashCut

FlashCut is a very nifty plug-and-play CNC Controller. The company was started back in 1993, so it’s been around a long time and the design is very mature.

While its Market Share isn’t as big as Mach3 or LinuxCNC, I’ve heard nothing but good about FlashCut. Here’s a great video by Dave DeCaussin (one of the original founders of FADAL) showing how easy it is to set up a FlashCut system:

I’ve heard some folks say they think the FlashCut is too expensive compared to other solutions. I put pencil to paper one time comparing it to a Mach3 system and I found that if you configure a system with all the capabilities of FlashCut (like a USB pulser for Mach3) that the premium isn’t as high as you may think.

Having a completely engineered turnkey system that’s plug-and-play is worth a bit of premium if you ask me.

Mach 4

Mach 4 is the newest solution in this category, and has by far the smallest market share. It’s almost a start over from scratch rewrite of Mach 3. The developers claim it shares less than 1% of Mach 3’s code.

It’s quite a bit more expensive, but in theory, should be better. From my perspective, the jury is still out–not enough market share or experience to bet on it when the competition is well entrenched and has far larger installed bases.

Microcontrollers: USB, Arduino, Rasperry Pi, TinyG, & More

Microcontrollers allow CNC Controllers to be built that are cheap and fit into a small space.

CNC Microcontrollers are a relatively new development made possible by continued advances in miniaturization and software. The idea is to put everything you need on one small circuit board, or perhaps a microcontroller board with a daughterboard commonly called a “Shield”.

Here’s a quick list of all the most popular CNC Microcontrollers:

Grbl

Grbl (pronounced gerbil) runs on an Arduino microcontroller. It’s open source, and in use by a lot of different firms including:

That’s pretty much an all-star cast, so you can be sure GRBL has a vibrant ecosystem of products and people who can help and also that it has a bright future. The Shapeoko people told me they evaluated a bunch of these and felt GRBL was head and shoulders the winner for their needs.

TinyG / TinyG2

TinyG is another microcontroller-based system. It’s related to grbl, but it’s not the same. The TinyG codebase was forked from grbl in 2010 and has been going its own way ever since. TinyG claims to do some things better or differently:

• While grbl is 3-axis (XYZ), TinyG is 6-axis so can support additional rotary axes. By default, TinyG controllers have 4 stepper motor drivers while gShield (used with grbl) has 3.
• TinyG claims some fancy motion control algorithms, specifically “jerk” acceleration profiles for smoother motion.
• TinyG claims its implemented on a higher performance microcontroller that has more memory.

PlanetCNC

PlanetCNC is a single-board CNC Controller that hails from Slovenia, Europe. Like TinyG, it’s also a 4-axis solution. In our 2017 CNC Controller Survey, GRBL had #1 market share, PlanetCNC #2, and TinyG #3 among the microcontrollers.

CNC Controller Electronics

Here’s the sort of electronics you’ll find inside most CNC Controller cabinets:

Let’s go over the function of each.

Breakout Board

CNC Breakout Board for Parallel Port…

The role of the Breakout Board is to take a connection from your PC and generate the appropriate signals needed to operate the Motor Drives, VFD, and Contactors. Download android usb driver for pc.

For a deeper dive on Breakout Boards, see our article:

[ CNC Breakout Boards ]

The most common breakout boards, such as the one pictured above, are connected to your PC’s parallel port. This can be a problem, since parallel ports are obsolete and most new computers don’t have them. In addition, there are a lot of performance and reliability issues associated with breakout boards.

Newer and more sophisticated models are actually motion control boards, though some may still refer to them as breakout boards. These boards can connect via USB or Ethernet cable.

It’s impossible to control a USB connection finely enough to directly generate the precise pulses needed by Axis Motor Drives, so the role of a Motion Controller is to accept higher level commands and generate the pulses. The result is much higher performance a at a slightly higher cost.

We also have a great article on Motion Control Boards:

[ Motion Control Boards ]

Motor Drives / Drivers

Leadshine Easy Servo Drives…

Given a breakout or motion control board, your PC’s signals are converted to 2 signals:

• Step: Each pulse on the step line tells the motor drive to move the motor 1 step.
• Direction: If the polarity of direction is one way, it commands the motion to be clockwise. Switching polarity reverses direction to counter-clockwise. In fact, polarity is perhaps not the best term as it may simply be signal for one direction and no signal for the other.

In addition to step/dir signals, the motor drive accepts DC power, and, in the case of servos, it accepts the encoder signal as well. In exchange, it pumps out power to the motor in such a way as to control its motion.

DC Power Supply (Not Shown)

The photo above did not show a DC power supply because the motor drives used are capable of accepting AC. That’s very convenient, but not always the case. You may need to purchase or build a DC power supply to provide power to your motor drives.

One of the first CNC Controllers I built used this DC Power Supply:

Contactors

Contactoris a fancy name for a relay capable of being used for higher voltages. In this case, most contactors are used to switch AC, for example to control a coolant pump. Your breakout board typically supplies a 5V DC signal. The Contactor’s job is to turn on (or off if normally closed) AC power when the 5V signal is on and turn it back off when the 5V signal goes away.

VFD: Variable Frequency Drive

Powering and controlling a CNC Spindle is a job for a Variable Frequency Drive, abbreviated VFD.

Choosing and programming a VFD is a complex process that we can’t go into here. For starters, you’ll want to make sure your VFD has enough power to run your spindle motor. There are a number of different kinds of VFD, but the best bang for the buck comes from something called a “Sensorless Vector Drive.”

Choosing the Best CNC Controller for Your CNC Machine

Choosing the Best CNC Controller for your CNC Machine is a matter of balancing some important trade-offs:

Trade-Offs when choosing the best CNC Controller…

The trade-offs boil down to all-out performance versus ease-of-success. A simple turnkey kit that has everything you need is pretty easy to get running. But, it may sacrifice some all-out performance relative to carefully cherry-picking the very best of each component for your application.

Ask yourself where you skill set and interests lie. It will take longer and very likely cost more to get that all-out solution up and running reliably. It will also take a lot more skills.

Are you good at diagnosing problems in electrical circuits? Can you read through all the spec sheets and properly determine which components are compatible with one another? Do you enjoy all that?

If the answer is “Yes” to those questions, you’re in a better position to try all the “bleeding” edge (i.e. leading edge) goodies in your project. If the answer is “No”, look for a proven kit that has everything you need and a large community of folks you can turn to with questions.

Market Share of Different CNC Controllers

Speaking of community, I think they’re critically important to the success of DIY projects.

I’ve been on that Bleeding Edge where nobody can help or answer questions and it can get lonely. These days, I prefer to choose products that have a decent-sized community. I like to see evidence that others have already accomplished what I’m looking for with the components I’m considering before I take the leap.

You’ll find you can get 80% of the performance with only 20% of the pain if you take that approach.

To have a decent community, products need a lot of users. You can learn more about the market share of various controls from our CNC Controller surveys:

[ CNC Surveys ]

BMW Footwell Module

The footwell module (FRM) is an electrical nodal point in the footwell on the drivers side. The footwell module picks up the signals from the doors and controls the lighting. The footwell module also controls the adaptive headlights. The footwell module is also the interface to the dashboard.

The following components deliver signals for the footwell module:

• Height sensors
• Reversing light switch
• Brake light switch
• Hazard warning flasher switch
• Light switch
• Driver’s door switch block
• Door contacts in front doors
• Driver’s door lock

A number of control units are involved in the lighting system. In a stricter sense, the following control units are involved in the lighting (in alphabetical order):

ACSM or MRS: Crash safety module / multiple restraint system

• E81, E82, E87, E89, E90, E91, E92: multiple restraint system
• E70, E71, E93: ACSM stands for ”Advanced Crash Safety Module”, also known as the Crash Safety Module

The footwell module is connected to the crash safety module / MRS control unit via the K-CAN. In the event of an accident with corresponding severity, the footwell module switches on the interior light and the hazard warning lights automatically.

• E92: The crash safety module sends a message regarding the front passenger seat occupation detection on the K- CAN. The belt handover on the passengers side is only activated when the front passenger seat is occupied.

AHM: Trailer module

The trailer module delivers the signal indicating whether a trailer is attached to the vehicle. The trailer module also controls the trailer lighting. During trailer towing, the trailer module automatically disables e.g. the rear Park Distance Control (PDC) and the rear fog lamp on the vehicle.

If a trailer is detected, the automatic parking function is disabled. Automatic parking function: To improve the view of the kerb, the outside mirror glass is folded downwards when reverse gear is engaged. This brings the lower area immediately around the vehicle, i.e. the kerb, into the field of vision.

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The trailer module (AHM) is connected to the footwell module via the K-CAN.

DSC: Dynamic Stability Control

When cruise control is in operation, the brake lights are actuated during automatic braking (legal requirement). To do this, a signal must be sent from the DSC to the accelerator pedal module via the PT-CAN.

DSC: FLA: High-beam assistant

In accordance with the traffic situation, the high-beam assistant sends a switch-on recommendation or a switch-off recommendation for the high-beam headlights to the footwell module (FRM). On the basis of this recommendation and various other the input variables, the footwell module decides whether the main-beam headlights should be switched on or off.

FRM: Footwell module

The footwell module is connected to the vehicle with 3 plug connections. Two 51-pin connector connect the main wiring harness. Another 26-pin connector is for the connection to the dashboard.

FZD: Roof function center

The roof function centre is responsible for the components of the interior lighting in the roof area. The Basic variant of the roof function centre has its own control unit. The interior light and the rear-compartment interior light are activated via the footwell module (FRM).
The High variant of the roof function centre has its own control unit, the FZD control unit.
The footwell module is connected to the FZD control unit via the K-CAN.

JBE: Junction Box Electronics

Autotronic Controls Drivers

The lighting for the luggage compartment and the glove box lighting are connected to the junction box electronics.

LDM: Longitudinal dynamics management

In conjunction with the LDM, the option ”Active Cruise Control” uses the ”turn signal” from the footwell module to help when changing lanes. In other words, if a left turn indicator is given before overtaking, the distance to the vehicle in front is reduced. The vehicle to be overtaken is then ”lost” more quickly. On the other hand, when changing to the right-hand driving lane, a vehicle moving there is picked up more quickly.

RLS / RLSS: Rain/light sensor or rain/light solar sensor
> E81, E82, E87, E89, E90, E91, E92, E93: Rain/light sensor
> E70, E71: rain/light solar sensor

The rain/light sensor measures the ambient brightness outside the vehicle. Depending on the ambient lighting conditions, the footwell module will switch the driving lights on or off. To do this, the automatic driving lights control must be activated (light switch in switch position ”A”).

At dusk, the rain-light sensor sends the message ”dusk”. The footwell module switches the low-beam headlight on. The automatic headlight-range adjustment for the dipped-beam headlights is actuated. In darkness, the rain/light sensor transmits the message ”Darkness”. The adaptive headlights are then activated when the vehicle is cornering.

SZL: Steering column switch cluster

The switch signals from the turn-signal/high-beam switch are picked up and evaluated by the SZL. The evaluated switch signals are forwarded as resistance-coded by the SZL via direct lines to the footwell module.

The following components are controlled:

• Exterior mirrors
• Power window drive
• Headlight
• Tail lights
• Fog lights
• Centre high-mount stop lamp
• Auxiliary turn indicator light
• Front courtesy lighting
• Rear courtesy lighting
• Number-plate light
• 2 stepper motor controllers for the adaptive headlight stepper motors
• 2 belt feeder controllers (only E92)

Seatbelt extender controller (only E92)

The footwell module (FRM) activates the two belt hand-over controllers for the drivers and passengers side. The belt hand-over controllers are connected across an LIN bus on the footwell module. The belt hand-over controller activates the drive of the belt hand-over. The position of the drive is reported back to the belt feeder controller by a Hall sensor in the drive. The end position of the extended belt feeder is recorded by another Hall sensor. The end position is indicated to the belt feeder controller. The belt feeder controller transmits both signals to the footwell module (FRM) via the LIN bus. The actuation circuit is located in the footwell module. The belt handover on the passengers side is only activated when the front passenger seat is occupied.

System Functions
The following functions are executed by the footwell module:
– Gateway between LIN bus and K-CAN
– Waking by means of various signals
– Storing vehicle order

Gateway between LIN bus and K-CAN
The footwell module (FRM) enables communication to take place between the LIN bus and the K-CAN. The footwell module transfers the messages to the relevant recipient bus. Components on the LIN bus: Special equipment exterior mirrors Switch block in driver’s door, High variant 2 stepper motor controllers for the adaptive headlight stepper motors 2 belt feeder controllers (only E92)
Waking by means of various signals
The footwell module (FRM) can be wakened via the following signals: K-CAN active, Terminal 15, ON Hazard-warning switch, ON Change in status of door contacts, Anti-theft alarm system triggered.

Footwell modules variants:

LOW without fog lamps, without XENON, without AHL
NSW, BASIS with fog lamps, without XENON, without AHL
XE with fog lamps, with XENON, without AHL
AHL with fog lamps, with XENON, with AHL

Dealing with short circuits in the footwell module

Note:
Dealing with short circuits in the footwell module depends on the production date of the footwell module. Differences result for the production date 09/2007 and 09/2009.

Description of dealing with short circuits up to 09/2007:
If a short circuit is detected in a circuit, the circuit is switched off after one minute. This circuit remains switched off until there has been a terminal change (terminal 15 > terminal 30 ‐> terminal 15). A renewed attempt to switch on is only made after a terminal change. After a total of 50 terminal changes have occurred in a vehicle while the circuit had a short circuit, the corresponding output from the footwell module will be switched off permanently . This is the case if the fault entry can no longer be deleted even though the short circuit has been repaired. Exception: xenon bulbs: If the short circuit was present in the circuit of a xenon bulb, the output will be switched off permanently after 20 terminal changes. In this case, the footwell module must be replaced.

Description of dealing with short circuits as of 09/2007:
If a short circuit is detected in a circuit, the circuit is switched off after one minute. This circuit remains switched off until there has been a terminal change (terminal 15 > terminal 30 ‐> terminal 15). A renewed attempt to switch on is only made after a terminal change. The control unit permanently switches off the corresponding output if a total of 10 terminal changes have taken place while there is a short circuit in a circuit. After repairing the short circuit, the output is reactivated using a diagnosis command in the testing procedure. If the short circuit is still present, the output will be switched off again after 1 minute and permanently switched off again after another 10 terminal changes.

Exception: xenon bulbs: If the short circuit is still present in the circuit of a xenon bulb, the output will be switched off again after 1 minute and permanently switched off again after another 4 terminal changes. An output can be reactivated 5 times by a diagnosis command in the testing procedure. The footwell module permanently switches off the corresponding output if a total of 60 terminal changes have taken place while there is a short circuit in the circuit. Exception: xenon lamps: A xenon output can be reactivated 5 times by a diagnosis command in the testing procedure. The footwell module permanently switches off the corresponding output if a total of 24 terminal changes have taken place while there is a short circuit in the circuit. The output cannot be reactivated, even with the diagnostic command, and the fault entry can no longer be deleted. In this case, the footwell module must be replaced.

Description of dealing with short circuits as of 09/2009:
If a short circuit is detected in a circuit, the circuit is switched off after ten seconds. This circuit remains switched off until there has been a terminal change (terminal 15 > terminal 30 ‐> terminal 15). A renewed attempt to switch on is only made after a terminal change. The control unit permanently switches off the corresponding output if a total of 10 terminal changes have taken place while there is a short circuit in a circuit. After repairing the short circuit, the output is reactivated using a diagnosis command in the testing procedure. If the short circuit is still present, the output will be switched off again after 10 seconds and permanently switched off again after another 10 terminal changes. Exception: xenon bulbs: If the short circuit is still present in the circuit of a xenon bulb, the output will be switched off again after 10 seconds and permanently switched off again after another 4 terminal changes.

An output can be reactivated 5 times by a diagnosis command in the testing procedure. The footwell module permanently switches off the corresponding output if a total of 60 terminal changes have taken place while there is a short circuit in the circuit. Exception: xenon lamps: A xenon output can be reactivated 5 times by a diagnosis command in the testing procedure. The footwell module permanently switches off the corresponding output if a total of 24 terminal changes have taken place while there is a short circuit in the circuit. The output cannot be reactivated, even with the diagnostic command, and the fault entry can no longer be deleted. In this case, the footwell module must be replaced.

The short circuit counter can be reset using ISTA-D which is pretty straight forward or using Tool32. The procedure for resetting the short circuit counter using Tool32 is shown below.

Resetting the Short Circuit Counter via Tool32

Warning: Check your wiring harnesses and verify there are no shorts present BEFORE resetting!

Connect to car and open Tool32

Load the SGBD group file, for FRM1, use FRM_87.prg, for FRM2 or FRM3, use FRM_70.prg

Navigate to the window labeled “Tabellen-Info.” In the drop down menu, select “LAMPNRTEXTE[x][xx].” [x][xx]. This table will list the lamp fixtures and their corresponding IDs. These IDs are the arguments you need to enter to execute your job. Note the lamp ID for the circuit that is out.

Once you have your lamp ID ready, you can select the “Select Job:FRM_XX” window and on the left side, you will see the available jobs for your control unit. Scroll down and select the job “_reset_kurzschluss_sperre”.

Now enter your lamp ID or “argument” into the field. The checkbox for “Data” does NOT need to be checked off. If the job does not execute properly, you can try ticking this box.

Press F5 to run the job. After you have received an “OKAY” response, you can close Tool32 and use INPA or whatever program/method you use to clear any remaining faults.

AUG.2018 – BMW/MINI FOOTWELL MODULE (FRM): LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION INCREASED TO 10 YEARS/156,00

If your vehicle is 2010 or newer and you have under 156,000 miles on it, the repair may be covered by the dealership under Service Information Bulletin-B01 20 16, updated released August 2018. When checking with your local dealer please refer to this Bulletin as some are still unaware of extension.

ON-SITE FOOTWELL MODULE REPAIR SERVICE AVAILABLE – $150
Is your footwell module malfunctioning?Are your windows, lights or mirrors not working properly? Don’t spend $450 plus on a replacement, send in or drop off your footwell module and we’ll have you back on the road the same day. Like all of our services, LIFETIME WARRANTY and same day turn around. Saving you hundreds of dollars over a dealer replacement. Plug and Play ready! Flood damaged or burnt modules not eligible for this service but we do have other solutions available for you – contact us.

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BMW/MINI Footwell Module REPAIR/RECOVERY SERVICE

$150.00Tagged on: E70, E71, E72, E81, E82, E84, E87, E89, E90, E91, E92, E93, R55, R56, R57, R58, R59, R60, R61

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