On Monday 18 February 2019 14:11:38 John Dammeyer wrote: > > However, I started to wonder last year what's the future of > > LinuxCNC? What concerns me most is the computing part mainly based > > on silly old PC architecture from the 80's. Using PCs for that > > purpose made sense in the early 1990s to about 2010 but now it's > > time to move on IMO. I don't see much usable discussions on this > > mailing list, sorry guys. > > I'm still in the middle of my CNC conversion. I'm far enough along > that the motors are mounted and now I'm working on the power supply > cabinet. Control has aleready been done with MachineKit on a BBB. > Here's a video of two axis control published last year in May. I'm not > much further along other than the third axis(X) now has a motor > mount and I've created motion on all three axis using a surplus PC on > which I've booted both MACH3 and LinuxCNC. I have a new dual parallel > port BoB for it. The interface board I was using for the Beagle > expected NO limit switches and I'm uncomfortable with that concept for > machine control. Anyway here's a link to the BBB with MachineKit > short video. > https://youtu.be/9GF709ZfLRQ > > This weekend I'm working on the power supply cabinet and a place to > mount the PC screen, keyboard and mouse. There's a pull out drawer > for a surplus PC or I suppose a BeagleBone. Haven't decided > ultimately what I will use. During the last year I also acquired a > harmonic drive and STMBL servo controller but I still need to cast the > mount which means I still need to finish the 15 lb crucible all for a > fourth axis. There's no end to projects to make the project. > > I won't get into the Linux verses Windows religious discussion. I > use windows because my job requires I use development tools that > aren't available on Linux. So there's no discussion really. > > Dedicated hardware is an interesting question. I designed and built > an controller for old lathes that were missing gears. Called an > Electronic Lead Screw (E-Leadscrew group on Yahoo) it uses a small > PIC18F series processor, has 2 line LCD display, MPG knob and 35 key > buttons. And before the stepper driver devices became really > expensive also a 3A 48V micro-stepper driver for the Z axis > (carriage). Single pulse per revolution sensing means that it needs a > very stable spindle speed. The user interface is less CNC like and > more manual lathe like. I use it on my 1942 South Bend with only > single axis control and can cut both metric and imperial threads and > safely bore a hole to depth without hovering over the half nut. > > I mention the ELS only because it's a dedicated machine controller and > there have been requests to improve it. And there's the problem. I > could use a BeagleBone with Machine Kit and build a new interface. I > could use a PIC32 mounted on a small carrier board to plug in and > replace the PIC18F 40 pin DIP processor. I even started down that > road with modifications to my Gingery home built lathe. I've 3D > printed mounts for 3 sensors and a slotted tooth sensor for the Beagle > to better capture spindle speed and position. But like the CNC > conversion of my mill these projects have all been stalled due to lack > of time. > > The problem, and sorry to take so long to describing this, is that > the market has pretty well dried up. Those who have CNC on their > mills are using it. Those who don't may dream of it and some do > upgrade but very few now. If someone has a working conversion in > their shop running MAHC3 on a WIN-XP single core processor why change > just for the sake of change. Especially if their desire it to make > parts, not play with PCs. There are probably thousands if not 10s of > thousands using MACH3 (not the newer MACH4) for their CNC routers in > their home shop. > > Similarly if someone is running LInuxCNC on working hardware, why > change. Why upgrade? To what end? > > Then there is the Far East solutions like the one in this link.
<https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Low-cost-New-Product-3Axis-4Axis_6034 3603384.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normalList.37.3701292eTmjk5p> unforch, John, you did not surround this link with a pair of<> which would have preserved its validity even if it had been 2k chars long, but alibaba, rather than leaving half of it displayed so we can manually copy/paste the rest of it, has to be cute and replace it all with their custom 404 message. And even after I fixed it, it still goes to a google listing. And none of them goto that particular machine. > As I understand it there are lots of systems like this out there. I > suspect, that like my ELS, the _time_investment_ to make a LinuxCNC > something on dedicated hardware only slightly better just isn't > available anymore. If I spent another 1000 hours redeveloping my ELS > with a 32 bit custom processor or ported BBB MachineKit to make a > better ELS the question is how many more would I sell to recover the > say 1000hr * $100 per hour consulting R&D costs? > > I think the support on this group is awesome. I suspect though that > none of the members have the time nor interest in re-inventing a wheel > that is already turning. What does one do with that 4 hours of free > time. Take their CNC machine apart to try something new? Or just go > out and make something with what they have and what is familiar? > > John Dammeyer > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users Cheers, Gene Heskett -- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
