Rob, It seems that your choice of amplifier model is going to determine your choice of EMC2 supported controller. I recently completed building a CNC mill using an Intel D510MO and Jon's Pico Systems PPMC board set, which was used because my amplifiers required a +/- 10VDC analog velocity input and my servo motors had a quadrature encoder output. It is working great now, but it was not easy finding information regarding servo loops and tuning. In spite of this however I am happy with my controller choice, and Jon was very supportive throughout the build. You didn't say if your motors had encoders, but Gecko makes very reliable drives. They all have Step/Direction type command inputs. I recommend that you work backward from the sample configurations listed on the startup screen of your EMC2 installation. For closed loop systems your choices are fairly narrow, which actually makes it easier! Good Luck. Jim
-----Original Message----- From: Robert Pabon @ Corse USA [mailto:robertpa...@corseusa.com] Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 11:11 PM To: emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Emc-users] Motion control cards Hello everyone! This is my first posting to the list so forgive any newbie faux paus (sp?). Anyway I have never used EMC and am looking at doing my first EMC build (lathe retrofit). My first build was an AjaxCNC "kit" so this is my first true build where I am sourcing all the parts and learning along the way. I am learning quite a bit, but there is a huge gap in knowledge before I am anywhere near where I need to be. A plan to use Brushless DC servos ad have begun trying to find suitable amps and all the rest of the necessary hardware to get the system up and running. So I am looking at motion control cards at the moment and need to get some information. The brushless DC motors added a layer of complexity that I hadn't had to deal with with my previous build since everything was brushed DC. So I have been doing a lot of reading on motors, commutation, amps and drivers and think that I am starting to sort things out a bit. But I don't know much about motion control cards. How generic are these things in terms of pairing them to servo amps? What about software, if I buy something like a galil card on ebay will I need driver software and is that available somewhere? I know that Pico makes a 4 axis board, but after a posting on the linux forum Jon made me a bit hesitant on using his board with these motors because he had some trouble in the past. I don't know if that is a motor problem, a amp problem or a motion controller problem but I'd hate to find out by buying all the components only to have it not work out. I have thought about the Mesa cards, but I honestly don't know what all I would need to buy or what I would need to configure one. I haven't really found a resource that outlines the process for using a mesa card in the applications. So what does the collective wisdom have to offer? What are my options in terms of motion control. Affordability is a high priority, but performance is also important. I am willing to put up with some learning curve, but I don't want to forge new ground completely since I don't have the skillset to support that. Thanks, Rob ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fulfilling the Lean Software Promise Lean software platforms are now widely adopted and the benefits have been demonstrated beyond question. Learn why your peers are replacing JEE containers with lightweight application servers - and what you can gain from the move. http://p.sf.net/sfu/vmware-sfemails _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users This communication is for the use of the intended recipient only. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, the disclosure, copying, distribution or use hereof is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please advise me by return e-mail or by telephone and then delete it immediately. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fulfilling the Lean Software Promise Lean software platforms are now widely adopted and the benefits have been demonstrated beyond question. Learn why your peers are replacing JEE containers with lightweight application servers - and what you can gain from the move. http://p.sf.net/sfu/vmware-sfemails _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
