HI Andy, To be truthful I haven't investigated how open the MESA is. When it comes to hardware I define open source as schematics and firmware. I don't think PCB layouts need to be open. And unfortunately often open source software is written in a way to obfuscate the code.
Probably because I also use Delphi to write Windows applications and it's so incredibly easy to create forms with check boxes etc. that command lines and complex make files are the hard way to do things. But in either case LinuxCNC with a MESA board or MACH with a Smooth Stepper is still far less expensive than these: One can buy a CNC mill in Canada like this one for $27K https://www.kbctools.com/itemdetail/6-265-006-G23 or the same one with 2 axis DRO for $10K https://www.kbctools.com/itemdetail/6-265-006-N5 So there's about $15K for ball screws, motors, drivers, and the CNC control. The amount MESA charges is trivial relative to the overall costs. The ACU-RITE control is way more expensive than a LinuxCNC or MACH3 system. https://www.machinetoolproducts.com/acu-rite-millpwr-g2-cnc-console-upgrade-for-millpwr-ii-mp2-2003214-or-642650-01 This lists at $4799 But not to get distracted, let's just define a box that can be a 3 or 4 axis DRO, show spindle RPM, control spindle speed and direction along with jogging each axis either continuously or in increments. With an MPG to simulate the original hand wheels. No PC. Just a display that looks remarkably like a DRO display. And a switch for local remote. Under remote an Ethernet connection LinuxCNC does the trajectory planning and motion commands. Under local, a group of buttons create a manual mill with power feed on each axis but with far more features like soft limits after homing but no automatic features other than perhaps peck drilling. Power feed for tapping with an instant reverse at depth. In some ways equivalent to a G-Code MACRO. Most servo drives out there don't support smart serial so although an option other methods of control are required. John Dammeyer. > -----Original Message----- > From: Andy Pugh [mailto:bodge...@gmail.com] > Sent: January-25-20 11:57 PM > To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Real-time OS for machine controllers > > > > > On 26 Jan 2020, at 00:56, John Dammeyer <jo...@autoartisans.com> > wrote: > > > > . LinuxCNC stops being an true open source solution the moment an > aftermarket hardware step/servo interface board is required. > > That rather depends on which board it is. > The Mesa FPGA code is open-source, and some people have made their own > Mesa style cards that work with the existing drivers. > Also, the Mesa smart-serial protocol is open source, which allows the STMBL > drive to appear as a smart serial peripheral to a host FPGA card. > > The situation with EtherCAT is more complicated. > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
