Thanks for the suggestions, DJ. Unfortunately, there's really no room for a pc where I have the microscope set up, and most laptops don't even have parallel ports any more. Plus running a full-blown pc just to drive a microscope seems like rather a waste of electricity.
> -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of DJ Delorie > Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 10:44 AM > To: gEDA user mailing list > Subject: Re: gEDA-user: OT - Joystick control of stepper or > servo motors > > > <plug mode> > > Renesas is currently having a design contest using their > latest RX chips - the RX/62N. The 62N series has USB *host* > and a bazillion timers, and can probably do everything you > want in one chip. > > Search for "rx600" on digikey, but they're in the $17 range. > > I'm also asking for feedback on my latest RX/62N breakout board, here: > http://www.renesasrulz.com/thread/3369 - if there's enough > interest, I'll redesign it for hand soldering and make a > batch of blanks. > > </plug mode> > > Coincidentally, I'm also doing some motor control stuff with > the RX, although my motors are BLDC servos: > > http://www.delorie.com/electronics/rx/ > > I'm waiting for the 48v power supply and a paste stencil (and > time) before moving to the next step. > > I think steppers are the right way to go. Easy to operate, > easy to position, go round and round more than once. > Controlling the steppers is easy, you just need a few > N-mosfet transistors (or a dual H-bridge chip, I suppose). > The tricky part is getting an MCU with USB host > functionality. Most have USB device functionality. > > An alternate solution is to google for one of the bazillion > parallel port to stepper interfaces, or a PCB USB to stepper > controller. Why re-invent the wheel when you can just use a PC? > > The first hit on "usb stepper control" is > http://www.stepperboard.com/, for example. > > > _______________________________________________ > geda-user mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user > _______________________________________________ geda-user mailing list [email protected] http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
