FWIW, I originally had the exact same plan you propose. I spent a month pulling and testing wiring and I/O. Maybe 4 hours a day actual work and 4 hours a day learning. All this getting ready for a pro to help with start-up.
The professional retrofitter I had hired wasn't able to make it out 'cause he was on another job. So, I just kept pluggin' away. Never did get him out here.
I must say I had previous expereince doing this sort of thing with a simple CNC control. And computers, wiring, electrical logic, machine problem solving, etc. were familar to me.
Camsoft has hugely more capablity than any other control I've seen. (Mach 2 is a pea shooter,Ahha is a rifle, Centroid is a cannon, Camsoft is a nuclear weapon) This, of course, makes it more complex with a steep learning curve.
The key was to break it down into simple bite size goals. Estop circuit today, limit switches tomorrow, more inputs the next day, and so on and so on.
All told, I spent 3 months on this machine. I could do it again in less than 1 month. 3 days with a pro at initial startup would have saved me more than a month.
Karl  |