I feel like I'm fumbling a bit for information on the mesa cards. Is the firmware open source? How does one go about configuring the card? I have a bit of experience with embedded electronics, but working with this is a bit new to me. How configurable is the spi?
On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 6:05 PM, Peter C. Wallace <p...@mesanet.com> wrote: > On Mon, 6 Feb 2012, Erik Friesen wrote: > > > Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 17:57:10 -0500 > > From: Erik Friesen <e...@aercon.net> > > Reply-To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" > > <emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net> > > To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" <emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > > > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Control board > > > > The mesa card looks interesting to me. The catch is, how is one going to > > go about doing spi and pulling the data into emc2? > > > There is FPGA firmware support for SPI with up 16 channels and up to 32 > bits > of data/channel and clocklow/2 = 16.666 or ~25 MHz) > > There is also HostMot2 driver support for the SPI firmware > (in LinuxCNC 2.5 or >) > > > I assume everything > > would have to be bit banged, and is not taken care of in the fpga. It > also > > says it has quadrature encoder interface, but once again, how is this > > handled? If this was handled with a accessible register, that would work > > pretty well. > > > > Its fully supported by the HostMot2 driver. > > if you have a running LinuxCNC system type: > > man hostmot2 > > for Mesa HostMot2 driver/firmware capabilities on your system > > > On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 1:28 PM, Kirk Wallace < > kwall...@wallacecompany.com>wrote: > > > >> On Mon, 2012-02-06 at 12:29 -0500, Erik Friesen wrote: > >>> I am not so sure about the parallel port and encoder idea though, the > >>> encoders I see are up to 1000 per rev, that requires a pretty fast base > >>> period to handle that, not? <2us ? > >> > >> In reference to my reply, I suggested that using the parallel port for > >> encoders, but only if the encoder pulse rate is similar to the step > >> rate. An FPGA PCI or parallel port board would be needed for decent > >> encoder rates. > >> > >>> I also am not very clear on emc2 capability to manage analog inputs, it > >>> seems easier to offload the deciding to an external mcu of some sort. > >>> Also, how would emc2 handle encoders with steppers? > >> > >> In the normal stepper configuration file, the position command and the > >> position feedback are software "shorted" together. > >> > >> core_stepper.hal > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >> ... > >> 25 # connect position feedback from step generators > >> 26 # to motion module > >> 27 net Xpos-fb stepgen.0.position-fb => axis.0.motor-pos-fb > >> 28 net Ypos-fb stepgen.1.position-fb => axis.1.motor-pos-fb > >> 29 net Zpos-fb stepgen.2.position-fb => axis.2.motor-pos-fb > >> ... > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >> > >> This is because when a step is sent out, it is assumed that the step > >> completes properly, and besides, a normal stepper system has no way of > >> providing feedback. I haven't worked on a stepper system with encoders, > >> but I think one replaces the above stepgen feedback with the encoder > >> output. > >> > >> This link indicates there is are example files somewhere?: > >> http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Steppers_With_Encoders > >> > >> For the cost, this may be a good analog trip indicator: > >> http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9147 > >> > >> The biggest problem might be in conditioning the analog signal to a 0 - > >> 5 Volt range. One could use the USB connection as is, or change the > >> program to just send out a one bit or watchdog signal. Being a > >> microprocessor, the trip conditions could be quite sophisticated. > >> -- > >> Kirk Wallace > >> http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ > >> http://www.wallacecompany.com/E45/index.html > >> California, USA > >> > >> > >> > >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >> Try before you buy = See our experts in action! > >> The most comprehensive online learning library for Microsoft developers > >> is just $99.99! Visual Studio, SharePoint, SQL - plus HTML5, CSS3, MVC3, > >> Metro Style Apps, more. Free future releases when you subscribe now! > >> http://p.sf.net/sfu/learndevnow-dev2 > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Emc-users mailing list > >> Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > >> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Try before you buy = See our experts in action! > > The most comprehensive online learning library for Microsoft developers > > is just $99.99! Visual Studio, SharePoint, SQL - plus HTML5, CSS3, MVC3, > > Metro Style Apps, more. Free future releases when you subscribe now! > > http://p.sf.net/sfu/learndevnow-dev2 > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-users mailing list > > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > > Peter Wallace > Mesa Electronics > > (\__/) > (='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your > (")_(") signature to help him gain world domination. > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Try before you buy = See our experts in action! > The most comprehensive online learning library for Microsoft developers > is just $99.99! Visual Studio, SharePoint, SQL - plus HTML5, CSS3, MVC3, > Metro Style Apps, more. Free future releases when you subscribe now! > http://p.sf.net/sfu/learndevnow-dev2 > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Try before you buy = See our experts in action! The most comprehensive online learning library for Microsoft developers is just $99.99! Visual Studio, SharePoint, SQL - plus HTML5, CSS3, MVC3, Metro Style Apps, more. 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