Controller Retro Fit?

[bdphillips03]

Hello. Hope this is the right forum.
I have an older small (8" swing) CNC lathe that uses encoders with servo drives. It also has a 8 station tool turret. It uses a Fanuc 6T style controller. BTW this was made by Rhino Robotics (ST/8) back in 1991.

My question. Is there a way to change and use a PC type driven controller? I emailed the nice folks at Mach and they said I would have to retro fit the lathe with steppers in order to use their software

Thanks for any advice.

Brian

[MrWild]

Sure. MESA Electronics. A 5i20 card for the control, a 7i33 board for the -+10v analog (unless the servo drives are PWM) and a 7i37 board for the ins and outs for spindle, Estop, etc ins and outs. If the drives are PWM, then skip the 7i33 and buy 2 of the 7i37s. You will need a PC of at least P3 at 1ghz, 512MN or RAM (1,024 is better), a 32mb vid card, and a copy of the latest EMC2.

All done for well under a grand. You just have to be smart enough to put it together.

[Al_The_Man]

Originally Posted by bdphillips03 My question. Is there a way to change and use a PC type driven controller? I emailed the nice folks at Mach and they said I would have to retro fit the lathe with steppers in order to use their software

I imagine they indicated step/direction control which does not preclude servo's, just that you either need step direction servo drives or a converter from step/dir to analogue.
Also confirm your 6T does not have resolvers instead of encoders.
They also have a Galil card based system.
Al.

[jeep534]

In the machsuport forums under show and tel there a number of people running retrofitted Hardinge cnc lathes as well as others. depending on the voltage and current requirements there are Various servo drives compatible with MACH3 as al the man said you must be sure that the encoders are are just that and not resolvers. also the price of steppers has come down so that may be an option as well however, I would recommend staying with the servo's both would require new drives.
Happy Hunting
archie =) =) =)

Originally Posted by bdphillips03 Hello. Hope this is the right forum. I have an older small (8" swing) CNC lathe that uses encoders with servo drives. It also has a 8 station tool turret. It uses a Fanuc 6T style controller. BTW this was made by Rhino Robotics (ST/8) back in 1991. My question. Is there a way to change and use a PC type driven controller? I emailed the nice folks at Mach and they said I would have to retro fit the lathe with steppers in order to use their software Thanks for any advice. Brian