DIY 1-8 axis PC controller card

[karl1]

I'm kicking around the idea of putting together a DIY, open source PCI card ito be used as a 1 through 8 axis controller; can be used for stepper or servo motors on any combination of axes. PID compensation with velocity and acceleration. Modes of motion include jogging, point-to-point positioning, contouring, electronic gearing, position tracking, linear and circular interpolation. A Mach3/EMC interface/with a active "closed loop" error handling. Dual encoders for every servo/stepper axis. Optically isolated I/O.

This would very much be DIY approach to a Galil Motion Control Products. I don't plan on mass marketing or making kits, but leaving it open source on both electronic design and firmware. Any suggestions would be helpful. I guess the success of this idea would need the early input for initial design. I see it as a PCI card connecting to a breakout board of some type; this could then feed to Servo Amplifiers or Stepper Controller. Any comments would be appriciated!

Karl

[cwiliam]

wish i could help but don't know much



The project seems very interesting
Can't wait to see it

[Al_The_Man]

What kind of LSI Processor are you thinking of using ? Something like the TI or Motorola DSP etc?
What about the HMI part of it, will this be the Mach/Galil already partly developed?
A decent on board PLC with output interface to OPTO G4 module boards would be an asset.
Al.

[karl1]

I hope to use what I am comfortable with: Motorola, TI or Philips NDX for the controller. Either Xilynx or PLX for the PCI front end bus controller part. I know that breadboarding isn't that tough for me - I've got 25 years of design and prototyping to fall back on. The Mach/Galil portion may just be wide open - haven't thought much about that. The programming of a plugin may just be a joint group effort of anyone following the open source idea. I guess I should revisit the Mach Galil plugin to try defining a board that mimics their I/O scheme. Open sources may just bring a lot of expertise along for the ride. I am using Eagle Schematic Capture on this project since the freeware version will allow others to enjoy/critique/join in.
G4 (I am assuming your talking of OPTO22's G4 bus) is easy enough to include a 50 pin header going to a 16 module OPTO22 board. The I/O modules would have to be defined in software - and the PLC progamming could work off that! I even have a ton of Analog OPTO22 stuff in my *junk* box to push through an analog contoller portion of the board. Hmm... analog strain gauges, temp monitor, and air pressure/flow monitor; just wait till I ge my hands on a plasma cutter to mod!

Thanks!

Karl