Mach to EMC conversion guide?

[randyf1965]

I have my router working with Mach3 but would like to see how it performs under Linux. Has anyone come up with a guide to take the configuration info in Mach and move it to EMC?

If not I guess I will document my Mach setup and figure out the EMC config

[Gads]

Hi randy I just did he same swap and never found a need to look at my mach files. If you know your breakout boards pinouts, motor and gearing specs, driver specs and table travels/limit switches it should be easy enough. my system is a stepper system using ubuntu 6.06 and emc2 2.2.3., campbell board, gecko drivers. I believe starting with emc2 2.2.2 a program called stepconfig walks you through pin, motor and homing/limit setup. my gecko's where a preconfig setting. some others aswell. there is complete documentation with the program, a little confusing at times for this newbie but its working great. Read some of my recent threads or message me if you have questions.
Good luck
Gads

[cyclestart]

Originally Posted by randyf1965 Has anyone come up with a guide to take the configuration info in Mach and move it to EMC?

Their different animals in the configuration department. Same concepts, different methods. I tried mach for all of one day so take this for what it's worth.

If not I guess I will document my Mach setup and figure out the EMC config

Doesn't mach store this info in a xml file? Might be worth making a copy. Not the easiest thing in the world to read however, meaning it can be read with considerable eye strain

[Big John T]

Just run the stepconf wizzard after installing EMC2 and follow the bouncing ball. You need to know your pinouts, stepper info and gearing. You can test each axis as you set it up from the stepconf wizzard...

John

[david_geng]

It would be nice if there is a Mach to EMC converter, or just add an import function to the stepconf.

I think besides the pinout of the steppers, you also need to write down some other parameters from Mach, such as the acceleration rate, the maxium speed, etc etc.

[Big John T]

The acceleration and maximum speeds limitations in Mach might not apply to EMC2. I would use the test function for each axis to find the acceleration and maximum speed that you can get using EMC2 then set them at your comfort level for your machine.

John

[dertsap]

in emc config you will need to set the base period as well as the velocity and accel in order to get the maximum performance out of emc , the more powerfull of a pc youve got the more you can lower the base period , if you lower it too much you'll crash emc or freeze up your pc , its no big deal if it does ,just change the setting back a bit , if the base period is too high then you limit the pulse rate

[Big John T]

I've not seen any crashing or lock ups with the base period too low. Only a warning pops up informing you. No need to guess with EMC, just run the included latency test and it will give you the base period number before you run stepconf. No guessing is needed. The only variable is the power your steppers can deliver and how fast they can accelerate with the loads imposed by your machine. When you design a machine you have some speeds and acceleration in mind. Stepconf allows you to test those speeds and acceleration during setup.

John

[dertsap]

Originally Posted by Big John T I've not seen any crashing or lock ups with the base period too low. Only a warning pops up informing you. No need to guess with EMC, just run the included latency test and it will give you the base period number before you run stepconf. John

i was never aware of the latency test ,
ive never seen a popup though ive had a good number of lockups before i found the right setting , i needed to tweak it pretty good in order to get the high speeds that my system runs at , once i got it set i was pretty impressed with emc

[Big John T]

If you running a later version 2.2.2 or newer you just type latency-test in a terminal window.

http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emc...StepGeneration

John

[dertsap]

earlier i loaded the latest version on my family computer with vmware and it seems they've been working on idiot proofing the configuring with a configuration wizard in the emc menu ,no more digging around to find copy paste and modify the config , looks like it automatically does a latency test , the wizard is pretty thorough saves a lot of messing around

nice

[Big John T]

Pretty good stuff for free!

John