Can this PCI card replace drivers?

[h3ndrix]

Hi guyz,

I found this card on the USDigital site but, I wanst really able to understand what it really does.

Is this card supposed to replace regular drivers like the gecko or rutex, or is it for something else?
I have servo motors that require 120V, so am I supposed to use some kind of external power for the motors?
Is it possible to use this kind of PCI card with software like Onecnc Mill or TurboCNC without extra programming?

http://www.usdigital.com/products/pci4e/

Any ideas?

Thx

BTW I did contact USDigital, but they seemed to be more confused than I was about the card and what it does...

[HuFlungDung]

H3ndrix

That looks like a plain input card to read data from some encoders. No, this would not drive anything directly of itself.

It might be useful for some kind of fancy software based cnc controller, like that Numeryx one that Bob-scott talks about.

The encoder input to your PC is only useful if there is a program waiting to receive the data, compare it to a commanded position, and output an "error control voltage" proportional to the difference. This is the rough basis of servo control. Even then, the "error control voltage" is tiny, and must be fed into amplifiers that are handling enough juice to actually drive the motor.

I think most cnc controllers for the average application use motion controller cards (either PCI or ISA slot). Such motion controllers are already equipped to accept input from the encoders.

[h3ndrix]

Hu,

Thx for the quick reply