Robot arm control software

[blurrycustoms]

Hey all!

I am putting together a machine similar to the one pictured below, and figured it would be best to open up a thread to discuss it progress. I put this in the software section because this is my main concern at the moment. i have the hardware side pretty much finalized (I will post pics soon) but I was wondering what kind of softwware you guys are using to run these things.

I would to use g-code for the programs, but I dont know if you can configure mach 3 to translate this.

Can anyone shed any light on this!

Thanks

[Ed_]

How many axis does your machione have ?

[samco]

I think that is called a SCARA style robot. Emc2 has kins and a sample config for this style robot arm.

http://axis.unpythonic.net/01170693566

Home page
http://www.linuxcnc.org/

wiki
http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl

related info on machine sim
http://jmkasunich.dyndns.org/cgi-bin...-02-04-07.html

sam

[blurrycustoms]

Sorry for the gap in response, I've been in the middle of a move lately that's taken quite a bit of time.

So, yes, actually the SCARA style robot, is exactly the type of robot I am working on. Right now, I would like to pursue the possibility of using mach to control the arm. I only need 2 axis, but I am sure that once I figure that out, a third axis wouldn't present too much of a problem.

I am working on a formula to be placed directly into Mach's formula correction dialog. We'll see if I can get anywhere with that.

In the meantime, if anyone has anything else to add, it would be much appreciated.

[Al_The_Man]

You did not mention the size/type of motors and drives, if already selected?
Is axis interpolation necessary and what type or how much operator input is needed?
Al.

[blurrycustoms]

Well, I have 3 NEMA 23 495 oz stepper motors now, and have planned on getting some gecko 201's for them.

Axis interpolation would be necessary, and the idea was to use g-code as the input. So ideally, code could be produced by any CAM package (mastercam, etc.) and then input into the control software, which would then translate necessary movement into rotary movement, as opposed to linear movement produced by ballscrews, etc.

It seems as though mach could be configured to do this, but I'm just trying to get to a starting point.

[samco]

someone had pointed me to this pdf on mach..
http://www.indoor.flyer.co.uk/kinematic.pdf

(if you must)

sam