Hi All,

I've been pretty satisfied with my Taig so far with the stock driver, steppers and Mach3. I've looked at the DSLS upgrade on http://microproto.com/MMDSLS.htm and while it looks to be promising (being able to double my feedrate and more than triple my rapids all while being more accurate and repeatable) I just haven't heard a thing about it other than the reply I got about inquiring about it. The price I got from the salesperson was $100 per axis and $100 to upgrade the driver box. Basically they're putting encoders on the steppers and making it a closed loop servo system. $400 doesn't seem bad for upgrading basically to a encoded servo system from an all stepper system before. Does anyone have this upgrade or any thoughts on it?

They're still steppers, just with encoders. Not that there's anything wrong with steppers, but they are not servos.

Sort of the same confusion MaxNC used to create with their closed loop system, they wanted you to believe it was the same as a servo motor.

about its closed-loop stepper system, but the definition of "servo" has come to include any kind of system with motor-monitoring feedback. That said, servo systems are usually straight DC motors with encoders that "try harder" when they encounter resistance, using an analog control circuit to tell them when they've attained a commanded position and can go on. The DSLS works differently; it monitors position, but if inaccuracy exceeds a certain step-count, it will kick out a "limit" error and quit. This will save your part, as opposed to the open-loop system that will blithely keep going even though it's totally lost, often destroying everything in its path.

I've been using one for a while; it definitely does go faster than the regular Taig system, but it can seem temperamental. However, when I've examined the circumstances of a shut-down (once I had it dialed in) it's generally been due to operator error, usually a tool that's buried in the material and can't keep up. This has saved me some broken tooling and wrecked parts. Being a bit impatient, I'm usually pushing the speed-feed envelope - the closed loop system has often preserved me from the consequences of my recklessness...

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Well the main thing is can you recover from your "recklessness and continue*....which is what a closed looped system is all about.

Hmmm... well I do most my work in aluminum, and given the physical constraints of the mill, I don't think I'd gain much if anything by running at a higher feedrate, or if I could even push it that much faster, safely. It would be nice to see if I'm missing any steps though, as it would add accuracy to my cuts, but I think I go slow and conservatively enough not to worry about it.