Steven, thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm by no means a programer nor do I expect that I'd get proficient at it in the time frame needed [or to the level that would be required]. I'm more interested in being able to 'look up' stuff and learn to read code a little.. to understand what is be asked where etc.
On the motion controler I should have called it a step generator. I've used the G100 and have [haven't installed it yet] a Smooth Stepper for Mach3. I've been satisfied w/ how Mach3 has run the only thing that is driving my switch to EMC is the ability to do proper tool offsets while in 5 axis. Brian [from Artsoft] has advised me that he doesn't currently have plans to add this functionality. He's a busy guy and my move is in no way a slight against him. I'm sure that a switch to EMC is more daunting in the initial stages than it is once one jumps in. However I'm at a bit of a loss since I've no experiance w/ Linux or EMC. I've down loaded the manuals and will start reading them this weekend. Has there been configurations created for a 5 axis system where a person can just add the head dimensions to allow the software to compute the tool offsets? I'm hoping I can put a auto tool length system in as well so the machine automatically measures the tool length on each ATC. Just had a look at the Motec stuff, I see the 100 series has 8 axis which would suffice [I need min of 6, prefer 7] for my setup. I'm not seeing anywhere, where it states that it will output step/dir, as I re-read your reply I believe that is infact the case. Are the Mesa cards 'stackable' in that I can add as many as I need [IIRC they have 4 axis cards so I'd need two?] Does Mesa provide some form of a configuration file w/ their cards to help a user get to [almost] plug and play, or does one have to manually configure the card etc? Also on alot of this hardware I'm seeing the closed loop of the encoders coming back in. How does this play w/ a closed loop drive where it requires the encoder connection back to it's self, to be able to accuratly drive the motors? [ie; my Granite drives] Thanks VERY much for your help and advice.. J. Johnson [totally out of my comfort zone w/ this stuff :) ] > H & J Johnson wrote: > > >I'm a new user when it comes to Linux and am interested in moving > from Mach3. However not being a programer of any depth, I'm a > little leary of taking a working machine and trying to convert it > to linux and possibly ending up w/ a machine that isn't working. > > > There's no need to be a programmer to set up a Linux/EMC2 PC. You > should read as much documentation as you can stand before doing > it, to > reduce the duration that the machine is unusable. > > > My main reason for moving to Linux is to install a 5 axis > [Spindle mounted to a B/C axis] system on my router. Because of my > encoder count numbers, my machine would be best served by some > form of an independant Motion board [Mesa or some other]. > > > > > Note that the Mesa boards, and indeed all boards that are > supported by > EMC2, are not motion control boards. They're I/O interfaces of > some > kind, which can do things faster and better than a PC CPU. What I > mean > by this is that the Mesa cards can output step/dir or analog (PWM) > commands to a motor drive (or whatever you want to connect them > to), the > Motenc cards output analog, both have encoder inputs. These cards > do > not do anything other than taking the high speed counting and > PWM/step > tasks away from the PC - the software running on the PC is still > controlling all motion, using closed-loop control (in the case of > servos). > >To start w/, does anyone have some good links to help a new user > better understand the Linux language [writing a HAL file & > compiling etc] that a person could read to increase knowledge etc. > > > There is extensive HAL documentation on the linuxcnc.org website, > both > in PDF and HTML form: > <http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/2.3/> > > You don't need to know anything about compiling unless you want to > write > your own software. It's unlikely that you will need to do that, > though > it's possible, if we don't have a kinematics module that can be > directly > applied to your machine setup. That's mostly a math problem > though, as > there's a very nice tool called "comp" which will compile and > optionally > install any custom code you write. Comp should also be documented > at > the link above. > > >I'd be interested in buying books even, but rather than just > pointing and shooting, thought I'd as which would be recommended > first.> > >Btw does DSCMP/IP now have an interface to enable connection to EMC2? > > > No, there is no ethernet support in EMC2 yet. I'm assuming you're > talking about DSCP, the quality of service protocol. > > > Is there a general concensis as to which of the add-on motion > control modules is the best option for EMC while using step & Dir > for servo control? I'm currently using Granite Devices servo cards > and would prefer to stay w/ them if possible. > > > > > It appears that all the Granite Devices servo drives accept > step/dir, > and that some also accept analog velocity control. For step/dir, > there > are several supported hardware interfaces (Mesa, Pico Systems, > parallel > port). If you want to use analog as well (either for servos or > spindle > control), then you can add a couple of others to that list - like > Motenc. If you want to mix and match, then Mesa is probably your > best > bet, since it supports both analog and step/dir simultaneously > with the > same hardware (which the parallel port also does, albeit much slower). > > - Steve > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----------- > Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports > 2008 30-Day > trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - > and focus on > what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new > with > Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus on what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
