need a benchtop cnc w/external control

[sentons]

hi,

i posted this question a couple days ago in the benchtop milling forum, and someone suggested this was a better place to post the question... i'm hopeful you guys can help!

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)
- tight time pressure (want to get running by end of the month)
- because of the tight time frame, i'd prefer not to have to build my own cnc or spend a lot of time building a new software layer to do this interface.

i'm open to all suggestions.

one very cheap option seems to be a CNC-6040-ROUTER machine (or similarly cheap cnc off ebay) combined with emc2 software. (i see this router on ebay for <$1k)
since i need my tests to run on a windows PC, i would telnet into a linux box running emcrsh which would then control the cnc.
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!

[awerby]

Most CNC machines will accept commands written by third-party software. The way it typically works is that a model is created in a CAD program which is fed to a CAM program, which produces a G-code program which is essentially a text file. This is loaded into the program ( EMC, Mach3, or another proprietary control program) that actually runs the machine. If Matlab is producing directional commands, you can translate them into G-code pretty easily, and load them into the program controlling the CNC machine.

I don't think you can get your software package to directly control the CNC; that would require a lot of sophisticated coding, especially on a Windows platform. But if all you need is for the machine to execute some directional commands, that shouldn't be a problem using one of the CNC control programs already written and functional.

Or am I missing something?

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com &mdash; Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[sentons]

thanks for the response, andrew

it seems like it ought to be simple, doesn't it.
but i emailed a few of the s/w vendors, and they mostly say it can't be done.
(including mach3)
the emc2 guys say it can be done over telnet by running their emcrsh process. it means i need a windows PC to talk through telnet to the emcrsh process running on a linux box which would then talk to the cnc...

i'd like a somewhat cleaner solution if one exists, but unless i get another suggestion soon, i may just try it.

thanks!

[wannaknowmore]

Sentons
You should check out EZ-Router.com