control system for custom cnc machine

[kpk250]

Hi,
I am new to the forum so please bare with me. I am a mechanical engineer with very limited electrical/software engineering experience. I decided to join because I wanted to get some input on a project of mine. Let me explain.

I am looking to control 5 stepper motors/servo motors and some other associated switches and optical sensors. The machine will be completely custom and built by me. It would be beneficial to program and control the machine using a laptop computer. The machine would turn out parts modeled in 3D from SolidWorks and could be in native SW format, IGES, or STEP. Basically I need to fill in the gap between the 3D data file and the machine's motors and sensors.

After searching the web for "custom cnc controllers" I came across the Arcsoft site offering Mach3. I don't even know if this is what I need. Any help or guidance would be extremely appreciated. Thanks.

[ger21]

Mach3 will control a machine from g-code. You typically use CAM software to get g-code from a 3D model.

[kpk250]

Thanks Gerry. So if I understand correctly, the process is:

1. Generate 3D using CAD (SolidWorks).
2. Export and IGES file from SolidWorks.
3. Import the IGES into CAM (MasterCam).
4. Generate g-code from MasterCam.
5. Import g-code into Mach3
6. Mach3 controls the servo/stepper motors and sensors.

Is that right?

The parts will be repetitive with variances in diameter and cut length. Is there a way to skip the CAM step and import the IGES right into some software that does the g-code and machine control behind the scenes? I am envisioning a very simple front end..........what part should I make and how many. The machine would prompt for another piece of raw stock then resume.