CNC for timelapse photography

[John_Camera]

Hi all,
I'm new to the world of CNC, so apologies if I'm on the wrong board:

I'm building a camera moving machine for timelapse (and other application) photography, with motion controlled by one, two, or three stepper motors. I have a G540 gecko drive and I'm looking for software NOT designed around routers.

I want to control speed and acceleration of my motor(s) with repeatability, but I want direct control of their motion. Is their any software or utility that can help me here? I'm thinking of commissioning a programer to write it custom, but that will get expensive.

[doorknob]

While I can not point to a specific software package to address your requirements, I'd suggest that you might want to investigate the possibility of using something like an Arduino microcontroller to program your motion control.

There are a lot of people using Arduino boards to control stepper motors for robotics applications, which may have a lot in common with the requirements of your application. So you might find an application that you could use as a starting point for your own, even if it did not do everything that you need it to do right off the bat.

There is a stepper motor code library available for Arduino boards, although it looks like its functionality is pretty basic, but maybe it would provide a useful starting point for some custom software.

Arduino - Stepper

[mike345]

but you could be up and running with the free demo version of MACH3 within a very short amount of time. You could then write gcode by hand (very very easy) and have it do what you want. I think the free version of MACH3 is good for 500 lines of gcode, which would prob be sufficient for your use.



edit fyi: MACH3 will easily let you control the acceleration and rapid feed rate of each axis.