Raymond, as you will understand from the other positive mails it is definitely worth the effort. Almost any stepper driver/motor combination is possible. I am using an old Compaq PC, slower than 1 GHz and 512 (or 1 GB - I forgot) MB of memory. I am using stepper drivers with optical isolation on the inputs (using opto couplers) and the 5V to drive the opto couplers I get from a USB port using a cable that I cut in half (the red wire is the 5V line) and the signals come from the printer port (data lines). The live CD contains a setup environment that can install Linux, including all applications needed, in just a few clicks and there is a configuration program (stepconf) to do the basic configuration of your setup.
If it is just for 'fun and learning' anything is possible from the machine side. I have plotter from Fisher Technik (this used to be the popular technical build-toy 'in my days') but this will of course be no comparison against a professional built model with linear guide rails and ball screw. This is just the start. Tuning the motors to their maximum speed and acceleration is not an easy task to do, including limit sensors and a homing sensor does require some reading and testing before you'll have it working to your likings and if you want to compensate any back lash in your system you need to consult the manual or the wiki. The manual is a real good thing to read. It contains a lot of information about different hardware setups that you may just skip when installing EMC for the first time (but maybe it is worthwhile reading at a later stage to get an idea of the possibilities). To give you an idea: I spent about 8 weeks of designing and drawing in the evening hours (including selection of all the parts, motors, drivers, linear guide rails, ball screws etc). After a few days of building and a few hours of installing and configuring EMC this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRhcYF9Vfbk) was my first test. Now, a year later, the system still runs with almost the same setup. I tweaked the timing of the stepper motors a bit, added a real T-grove table and a 4th axis but that's about it. Meanwhile I connected the system to my local network (with internet gateway) making sure the system stays up-to-date using the automatic updates and I've added a samba share which was just a matter of running an install program for samba that is already included in the EMC distribution - something I though could be complex but after reading a bit in "A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux" by Mark G. Sobell this was again one of those 5 minute jobs. In general: the more complex your setup gets, the more complex it is to find the correct information but following this mailing list and browsing the wiki reveals a lot of information. But if you know a bit about machine design and a bit about Linux then a machine based on stepper motors is easy to get started with and see some results quickly. Running you machine and figuring out what kind of cutters, spindle speed, feed rate etc. to use is the big challenge (but that's true for every CNC stystem). Have fun and watch your fingers ;-) Rob ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Create and Deploy Rich Internet Apps outside the browser with Adobe(R)AIR(TM) software. With Adobe AIR, Ajax developers can use existing skills and code to build responsive, highly engaging applications that combine the power of local resources and data with the reach of the web. Download the Adobe AIR SDK and Ajax docs to start building applications today-http://p.sf.net/sfu/adobe-com _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
