New Drives

[Mariss Freimanis]

We are more than halfway through redesigning our drive product line. The new drives will have the familiar prefix but will end with the letter 'X' standing for Xilinx CPLD core logic. Finished and waiting for production printed circuit boards are the G201X and the G320X. The G250X is finished this week. Each has significant performance improvements over their their 'non-X' predecessors.

Next up is the G203X. The G203V is our flagship drive and it was the first to use a CPLD. It is the drive that always has the very best new stuff in it.

The G203X will contain a very exciting new technique that no other drive I'm aware of has. It will "change" its power supply voltage according to load and speed.

At low speeds a motor can get by with a low power supply voltage. At high speeds a motor needs a high supply voltage. Light loads can do with a low supply voltage while heavy loads require a high supply voltage. Motor heating on the other hand is a function of voltage.

Normal drives (ours included) cause a motor to get hot anytime it's turning no matter the speed or load.

Now imagine a motor that gets hot only when it's turning very fast or has a heavy load. That motor would stay much cooler when running an average CNC application than any motor presently. That motor could then be used with a much higher supply voltage than now because the drive regulate motor supply voltage.

I have designed a new circuit that does just that. The same full-bridge drive that regulates motor phase current also acts as a variable voltage regulator. Low supply voltage at low speeds, high supply voltage at high speeds. All automatic.

I'm looking to see if this circuit is well enough along now to include in the G203X. I have been working on it for over a year now and it is an exciting development.

Mariss

[TOTALLYRC]

If you keep this up, I am going to have to build a few more machines just to use the new drives.

On a side note, I just recieved my amt102-v capacitive encoders from digikey, based on your recomendation. Ordered on Friday and they came in today. Their service is as good as yours.

[rdduke]

When will the new "x" drives be available? The new additions sound like a great addition to your products!

My son and I are currently designing a 5' x 8' Plasma CNC. We are considering the G540.

Thanks

[gavztheouch]

Hey Mariss

When will the new X series drives be available to buy, im thinking about using a G320, but I would like to hold out for the G320X if they are going to be arriving soon.

Cheers
Gav

[stevespo]

Yes, do you have a ballpark date for availability? I'd like to order a couple of G320/340s and knowing my luck the very next day the new version will come out at a lower price with nifty features.

Are you talking about weeks, months, years?

Steve

[Mariss Freimanis]

The 1,000 boards that arrived on May 18 had a fatal mistake requiring them to be trashed. I hadn't turned on a board middle layer in ACAD that resulted in no +1.8VDC power distribution bus on the finished boards. The corrected gerber files were resubmitted and we will have a new batch of 1,000 boards by mid-June. Look for G320X drives at the start of July. Every G320X has a pulse multipler so they are really G340Xs.:-)

What can I say? I screwed up. Stuff happens. I sometimes dream of building a house where every interior wall and ceiling is paneled with ruined 4-layer printed circuit boards instead of paint or wallpaper. This latest debacle adds another 37 square feet at $53 a square foot to my collection.:-)

Mariss

[amplexus]

That sounds like something I would do. Maybe you can laminate them into panels and build gecko cages, they would be an instant cult classic. Sell them complete with a baby Tokay; trust me lots of people will want one, that licking the eyeball thing is just too cute, or if you are into violent, they are the worlds best mouse bashers, and a slightly obscene FK-U call in the middle of the night just ads to their charm.

Changing the subject can I infer from the above that 4 layer boards are a must? I have this sinking feeling that I am going to have to learn to do multilayer boards or can you make due with two layer and a few vias.
Amplexus Ender

[fretsman]

They'd make a nice Keychain, Mariss

Dave

[Mariss Freimanis]

Four-layer boards are virtually the same price as 2-layer boards in larger quantities. It is very convenient to have a groundplane and power distribution layers. A groundplane also minimizes noise in the circuit. I do board layout in ACAD so it makes no difference how many layers are used.

Mariss

[imsol8]

Will any of the new drives accept differential encoders?

[willheg]

hi there i am like everyone just wondering when the new boards will be out and wheater you have a rough pricing, i'm looking at either the G201/G203V but with the new boards i might what depending on price and how long before they are out, anyway hope you can answer these questions

Cheers
Will

[svenakela]

Mariss, you are the key for CNC-builders.
The only thing I miss in your product suite is a motherboard, it would be so nice and clean.