Guys, I really appreciate your input and questions. Your experience and wisdom means alot.
I'll try to get a website up with more specs and some videos soon.
Answers to Questions:
1) Step/Direction at the moment. It can be configured for PWM, but I've not done that yet (except for the spindle control). But there is PLENTY of processing room left on the board.
2) Max Encoder Resolution. Great question. Internally (this is kinda weird), it is variable bit math, so in theory, there is no limit. I need to see what it is set for at the moment.
On the linear, I've tested 5 micron, but it was designed for the 0.5micron (just in case). On the rotary, it currently has been test at 4000 steps/turn for the motors (it can handle more, just not tested it).
3) PLCs and other hardware? I don't see why not. It has plenty of pins available. I wasn't sure what in all it was going to run when finished, so it was designed with OEM in mind.
Actually, there is the main board (with the goodies) and a separate breakout board. So, we could either make separate breakout boards with different plugs or it could be used in an OEM configuration.
4) Yes, 5 and 6 axis simultaneous. Currently, I run mostly 4 axis. Design in Rhino (flowing curves and simple interface). Convert to 3D with MadCam (been with it since 1.0 ... Beta MadCam does 4 axis). Most of the time, I position the part in Rhino at (0,0,0) matching the machine, then run 3axis cuts, then rotate as needed (inserting rotation tags), then 3axis cuts.
For 5 and 6 axis, I've only ran in testing, but the logic is identical to 4 axis.
5) USB over Firewire. Well, I had already designed the USB 2.0 interface with drivers. And I had designed the processing core separately. So, when designing the CNC Brain, I "borrowed" my other designs.
The instructions are carried out on the controller board, so the communication is quite simple. More house keeping. The controller caches hundreds of G-Code commands. Either is overkill.
Generally, between the PC and the controller, it can sustain 30MBytes/sec (actual tested throughput, not theoretical).
6) Warranty. I was planning on 6 months.
7) Wasn't asked, but thought I would throw it in. For the SDK, I'm including the source code for the default GUI (C# .Net ... yeah, I know, but a lot of people like it). That way, if you want your own, you don't have to start from scratch.
I hope this answered the questions. If not, I'll try again.
If you have more, please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks! bruce