On Mon, 6 Feb 2012, Erik Friesen wrote: > Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2012 18:34:37 -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 > > I feel like I'm fumbling a bit for information on the mesa cards. Is the > firmware open source?
Yes > How does one go about configuring the card? For bus configurable cards (Most), the configuration bit file is specified in LinuxCNCs .ini file, something like loadrt hm2_pci config="firmware=hm2/5i20/TPEN6_6.BIT num_3pwmgens=2" For the 5I25/6I25 the cards EEPROM needs to be preconfigured with the desired firmware I have > a bit of experience with embedded electronics, but working with this is a > bit new to me. How configurable is the spi? its pretty configurable. The current driver code supports the BSPI module which supports most SPI features (clock rates from a few KHz to 16 or 25 MHz, data sizes from 1 to 32 bits, normal CLKPOL and CLKPHA options) > > 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. 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Keep Your Developer Skills Current with LearnDevNow! 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-d2d _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
