need a benchtop cnc w/external control

[sentons]

hi,
i am interested in using a simple benchtop cnc-type milling machine for some automated testing. one key criterion for me is the ability to control the cnc machine from a 3rd party software (matlab).
i don’t need very sophisticated control – mostly simple x-y-z position commands. however, i _must_ be able to issue the commands from software _outside_ of the GUI most of these machines seem to come with. (eg. command line or dll calls for example)

i'm looking for recommendations from the experts here on what to get.

my specs are:
- budget < $6k-ish (somewhat flexible, but lower is always better!
- minimum 3-axis control
- x&y travel minimum of 12" each (give or take a bit), z at least 1"
- external s/w control (as mentioned)

i'm open to all suggestions.

one very cheap option seems to be a CNC-6040-ROUTER machine combined with mach3 software. (i see this router on ebay for <$1k)
does anyone know if this setup would work for external control?

another is the new shop bot desktop unit -- i see the manual claims they accept command line instructions. (seems to be around $5k?)

any feedback on those two options? or other suggestions?
really appreciate any help y'all can provide -- i'm completely new to cnc, and there are a bewildering number of options out there!

thanks!

[TXFred]

hi,
i am interested in using a simple benchtop cnc-type milling machine for some automated testing. one key criterion for me is the ability to control the cnc machine from a 3rd party software (matlab).
i don’t need very sophisticated control – mostly simple x-y-z position commands. however, i _must_ be able to issue the commands from software _outside_ of the GUI most of these machines seem to come with. (eg. command line or dll calls for example)

i'm open to all suggestions.

Check out the SmoothStepper. It's a USB device that acts as two parallel ports. It is meant to be dedicated hardware that would replace the parallel ports, eliminating timing issues caused by the Windows multitasking environment.

It comes with a Mach Plugin and a Windows driver. Mach talks to the plugin, the plugin talks to the driver, and the driver talks to the SmoothStepper, which talks to the breakout board and stepper drivers.

If you can find out what command language is used between the Mach Plugin and the Windows driver, then you could create your own interface layer between Matlab and the driver. Then you would not need Mach at all.

It's a tall order, but I gather from your post that you have programming skills. So maybe you can make it work.

Frederic

[SCzEngrgGroup]

There are a bunch of inexpensive stepper drivers out there that are designed to be controlled by an application through simple text-based commands passed through either a serial-port driver emulation, or a DLL. Just do some Googling, and you'll find quite a few out there.

Regards,
Ray L.

[691175002]

An arduino will do what you want for 30$.

The stepper drivers only need step/dir pulses, its not like we need to execute g-code here.

Otherwise I'm sure it will be very easy to make a plugin for mach3 that does what you want, there are so many plugins that take input from tonnes of different sources it can't be that hard.

[sentons]

thank you all for your quick responses!

An arduino will do what you want for 30$.

The stepper drivers only need step/dir pulses, its not like we need to execute g-code here.

Otherwise I'm sure it will be very easy to make a plugin for mach3 that does what you want, there are so many plugins that take input from tonnes of different sources it can't be that hard.

with respect to the arduino solution, i did some quick searching, and it seems i would need to develop an interface layer to emulate simple g-code-like commands. i'm under a lot of time pressure, and would like to avoid this type of development effort. i'm willing to spend a bit more $$ to get something going much faster.

with respect to the mach3 plug in -- can you give me a pointer to an example? i actually emailed the mach3 guys, and they told me that what i wanted to do could NOT be done with their software. am i missing something?

RayL. posted: "There are a bunch of inexpensive stepper drivers out there that are designed to be controlled by an application through simple text-based commands passed through either a serial-port driver emulation, or a DLL. Just do some Googling, and you'll find quite a few out there."

i have to admit i'm feeling rather dumb right now, because i did do some googling and didn't find what i wanted. i looked at:
EMC2 - Linux only, so NO
KCAM - Windows 98 only, so NO
TurboCNC - DOS only -- online manual says it might not be compatible with XP?
Mach2/3 - emailed them and they said NO
DeskCNC - seems to be gui based?
CNCZeus - DOS or GUI only?
CNCPro - couldn't find much info
USBCNC - GUI based
CNCDudez - GUI based

am i missing something really simple? sorry, it's probably really obvious to you guys, but i can't see a easy solution from my quick search.
RayL, can you point me to one or more of the solutions you were thinking of?

thanks so much for your help!!
sentons

[691175002]

with respect to the arduino solution, i did some quick searching, and it seems i would need to develop an interface layer to emulate simple g-code-like commands. i'm under a lot of time pressure, and would like to avoid this type of development effort. i'm willing to spend a bit more $$ to get something going much faster.

with respect to the mach3 plug in -- can you give me a pointer to an example? i actually emailed the mach3 guys, and they told me that what i wanted to do could NOT be done with their software. am i missing something?

It depends on what you need. If you are only going to be moving in straight lines at low speeds then programming an arduino to take very simple commands over a serial port will be simple. If you need the ability to execute the entirety of g-code you will be in trouble (although several open-source initiatives exist: http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code ).

The servo controllers from dmm drive ( AC Servo Drive ) can take g-code along with several other types of commands over a serial port. I assume that most of the higher end controllers are similar.

Mach3 already has a lot of plugins for MPGs, joysticks and that kind of stuff so I'd imagine there is some way to hack command line control into the program even if it is messy (such as create a virtual joystick).

Since you need something more ready out of the box I'm not sure how much my suggestions will help. Again, it mostly depends on how complex you want the control to be.

[LUCKY13]

Doesnt the new Gecko driver that is coming out do axactly what he is tryingto do? All though I am pretty good at the machanical side of this stuff, but a lost puppy when it comes to the software side so I may by way off here.



I do believe there are drivers out there already that can do this also. Heck there is so much new stuff out there right now I feel sure you can find a way to do this easy without going through a bunch of messy patched up systems.


Try posting your needs in the " Controler & Computor Solutions" section on down in the forum. The guys down there I think may be able to help you better.


Also giving a more detialed description of what it is your trying to do will help.


Jess

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Google "Programmable Stepper Controller" and similar terms. You'll find quite a few of them.

Here's just one: QKits Electronic Kits: KT-5193A, Programmable Stepper Motor Controller

Regards,
Ray L.

[samco]

Now I have not played with any of this - but emc2 does have some ways to remote control it.. like through telnet

EMC Documentation Wiki: Emcrsh

that is just one - you might want to get on the list and ask the question.

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users

sam

[sentons]

Google "Programmable Stepper Controller" and similar terms. You'll find quite a few of them.

Here's just one: QKits Electronic Kits: KT-5193A, Programmable Stepper Motor Controller

Regards,
Ray L.

thanks for this link, Ray.
this does look like it will allow me to do what i need, but if i understand correctly, it would require me to build my own cnc machine from a kit. while that actually sounds like a good bit of fun, it is time + another learning curve that really puts my schedule under risk. i'm guessing it wouldn't take one of you guys very long to build your own, but it will take me time to figure it out. (i'd like to be running by the end of this month)
is my understanding here correct?

the dmm drive posted by 691175002 also looks good, but again would require a self-built machine. (same for the arduino solution, if i understand correctly)

sam posted:
"emc2 does have some ways to remote control it.. like through telnet"
yes, this looks promising. since i'm trying to graft this onto an existing testing flow, i need my tests to run on windows PC's, but it seems plausible that i could have a dedicated linux machine talking to the cnc router, and a windows machine talking to the linux box through emcrsh. i'll explore this option more. -- thanks!

jess -- your suggestion to post in the s/w & controller section is a very good one. i'll do that -- i'm still hoping for a slightly simpler solution than the windows-PC-telnet-linux-running-emc2-to-control-cnc option.

thanks again for all the help!