On 2020-01-27 05:41, Eric Keller wrote:
On Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 11:52 PM Rafael Skodlar <ra...@linwin.com> wrote:
LinuxCNC is not only about RT kernel as some threads seem to spin around
to no end. It seems that Chris understood my original post the best.
What he pointed out is use of modern technologies that makes it possible
to create advanced systems we could only dream about years ago.
It's clear you want something other than linuxcnc and also seem to be
unable to contribute anything other than ideas. Ideas are great, but in
isolation they are not so great. Reminds me of Elizabeth Holmes saying she
invented a time machine when she was 9. What she did was draw a picture of
a "time machine." Not quite the same thing.
People spend time to come up with ideas. Some ideas are free, other are
paid for by taxpayers or people who find them usable. We have patent
system to protect ideas that can be put in practice. Don't isolate
ideas, exploit them and give due credit to their inventors.
I'm not inventing here, I just want to use advanced technologies ...
Refactoring linuxcnc is a big job and the resulting product would take many
years to work as well as linuxcnc. If it were a simple matter, someone
would have done it. That's partially where machinekit came from, but it
seems to have fizzled a little.
That's clear to me. Every software development company in my career went
through phases of initial idea, first lines of code, debugging, advanced
coding techniques, trends in the industry or technologies, etc. Input
from end users is always important at any stage.
It's not my intention to throw away what's good and working. Some parts
might need recoding to be more flexible and work with new functionality.
Replace primitive parts with new formats which can be verified easily
with libraries that were created for manipulation or verification of such.
For example, replace silly ini files with yaml or json in configuration
or even in G-code files. That way it's easier to detect anomalies or
mistakes.
At its core, linuxcnc is a machine controller. It is very flexible, but
LinuxCNC is software for the machine controller.
what it does best is control one machine. It's a very useful piece of
software. As long as there are computers with i/o that works and the
mechanisms that make linuxcnc possible exist in the operating system, it's
modern enough.
We know that don't we? How about this; first guy invented a hammer using
a stone and a wood stick. First open source tool, no royalties.
Thousands of years later another guy invented metal hammer and I bet
there was an argument that it's too hard to dig the dirt and extract
metal when you could simply use stone for the same result.
We either stick with PC architecture for years to come or we open
magazines like Electronic Design, Machine Design and such and see what
technologies are advertised or in demand. Taking costs into
consideration we select technologies and design systems with them.
Software is the glue.
Flexible LinuxCNC could cover machines for use by artists, hobbyists,
experimenters, students, and manufacturers. Start small with Raspberry
Pi like SBC, move to larger and more reliable products based on ETX,
PC/104, m.2, SSD, etc. when your needs grow.
Among others https://acces.io seem to have wide variety of building
blocks for modern or legacy needs.
The smallest CNC system could run without GUI for the most part. You
could manage it with simple keypad and few lines of LCD display or a
terminal in text mode. Oh, that's what's done in laser and 3D printers
for years.
For more advanced use you attach GUI over the network or other fast
protocol/cabling such as HDMI or USB. Linux CUPS comes to mind. You can
check the printer status from more than one CUPS server.
I just found out this excellent option for advanced machines use; CNC
metrics https://www.machinemetrics.com/production-monitoring
That site has a lot to learn from. At least for me.
It's not like a big change like this would attract a number of developers
committed to a multi-year uncompensated work with minimal payoff.
Eric Keller
Boalsburg, Pennsylvania
Well, LinuxCNC was developed after all. Crowd sourcing could solve
motivation/costs for SW development.
--
Rafael
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