Bridgeport boss stepper drives with linuxcnc

[AThayer]

Does anyone know if I can control boss stepper drivers with linuxcnc? My understanding of boss drives they need quadrature signal. Any ideas or comments thank you.

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[PCW_MESA]

Yes, LinuxCNC supports quadrature step modes.

( and many others, LinuxCNC's stepgenerator supports 14 built in step modes plus a user defined mode )

[Eric]

For what it is worth, I am using Mach 3 to run my BOSS 5 with it's original steppers. You need to use the MAX NC CL mode which is quadrature drive.

[AThayer]

So when I connect the breakout board to the machine. Do I connect it to the xdi plugs on the wiring harness side or do I connect to the xdi board?

[Eric]

Basically you remove the card cage and replace it with a breakout board. Then you connect the BOB to the XDI cables. I made my own simple BOB which replicated the XDI circuit. Add a few extras to interface the E-stop and the spindle enable and you are good to go.

[AThayer]

Basically you remove the card cage and replace it with a breakout board. Then you connect the BOB to the XDI cables. I made my own simple BOB which replicated the XDI circuit. Add a few extras to interface the E-stop and the spindle enable and you are good to go.

So I was wondering if you know xdi board plug pinout? Mostly need pinout of k8 as it is the one that runs the axis drivers right? Any idea what is going on with these pins?

[Eric]

I have the pin outs but not at my disposal today. I'll post them tomorrow. You basically interface with K5, K6 and K8. I used double row male headers and soldered my cables to them. That way I did not need to cut off the BOSS connectors. I also have some mating connectors for the original BOSS connectors. I will try to find the part numbers for those as well.

[john-100]

I don't know if this helps

from an old post here and web results like
http://manuals.chudov.com/Bridgeport..._to_Mach_3.pdf

I have saved these files -








John

[Eric]

That is a good reference. If you have any questions, just ask. My setup is similar to that one except I made my own breakout board with spare parts I already had lying around.

[AThayer]

That is a good reference. If you have any questions, just ask. My setup is similar to that one except I made my own breakout board with spare parts I already had lying around.

How does it control the stepper motor with only 3 wire from each driver?

[Eric]

Because it is phase drive. The opto-couplers on the BOB (and the XDI) board have the phase voltage for each motor coil (A or B) connected to the anode of the opto coupler and the cathode of each opto coupler is tied together providing a path to ground (I think). Therefore you only need 3 wires. One for each phase and one for a return.

On the XDI K8 connector, pin 1 is Phase A, pin 2 is Phase B and pin 7 is for return for the X-axis. Then it continues for Y on pins 3, 4 amd 8 (com) and for Z on pins 5, 6 and 9 (com). Pin 10 is not connected to anything.

I'll try it find my schematic for the XDI board and you will see that all you need to do is mimic the XDI circuit with the breakout board.

[AThayer]

Because it is phase drive. The opto-couplers on the BOB (and the XDI) board have the phase voltage for each motor coil (A or B) connected to the anode of the opto coupler and the cathode of each opto coupler is tied together providing a path to ground (I think). Therefore you only need 3 wires. One for each phase and one for a return.

On the XDI K8 connector, pin 1 is Phase A, pin 2 is Phase B and pin 7 is for return for the X-axis. Then it continues for Y on pins 3, 4 amd 8 (com) and for Z on pins 5, 6 and 9 (com). Pin 10 is not connected to anything.

I'll try it find my schematic for the XDI board and you will see that all you need to do is mimic the XDI circuit with the breakout board.

My research is that (k8) pins 7-8-9-10 are ground. The are connected to wire #39 on machine side. I'm going to try to make one axis work first. Thanks for everyone's help.

[AThayer]

Because it is phase drive. The opto-couplers on the BOB (and the XDI) board have the phase voltage for each motor coil (A or B) connected to the anode of the opto coupler and the cathode of each opto coupler is tied together providing a path to ground (I think). Therefore you only need 3 wires. One for each phase and one for a return.

On the XDI K8 connector, pin 1 is Phase A, pin 2 is Phase B and pin 7 is for return for the X-axis. Then it continues for Y on pins 3, 4 amd 8 (com) and for Z on pins 5, 6 and 9 (com). Pin 10 is not connected to anything.

I'll try it find my schematic for the XDI board and you will see that all you need to do is mimic the XDI circuit with the breakout board.

Which linuxcnc machine, files do I want to use?

[Eric]

Which linuxcnc machine, files do I want to use?

I do not know. I am using MACH 3.

[AThayer]

My research is that (k8) pins 7-8-9-10 are ground. The are connected to wire #39 on machine side. I'm going to try to make one axis work first. Thanks for everyone's help.

I have the x axis hooked up to the Bob. I have linuxcnc setup for phase A and phase B output. The leds seem to show phase drive. The axis does not move. Do I need to enable the drives? I had to unplug K6 from xdi board to get spindle to run. So I don't think the machine is "enabling" the drive if there is such a thing.

[Eric]

Did you completely remove the cardcage? Did you hook up the other signals to the K5 connector? Did you hook up the E-stop to an input on the BOB (K5 pins 12 and 15)? The E-stop opto-coupler BOB input should have K5-15 connected to the Annode and K5 pin 12 connected to the Cathode. After you do, you still need to push the LIMIT OVERRIDE on the BOSS control panel to enable the drives.