DIY Servo controller

[Chris D]

Hi Erik,

I was going over the layout diagram you emailed me and it is for an earlier version of the PCB.

I noticed this right away when I saw the 4 indicator LEDS in a row as opposed to 2 x 2 back-to-back. I am guessing the part placement numbers are very similar, but not know enough about electronics I don't want to make any assumptions :-)

Chris

[vroemm]

Hi..

I see the world has learned about the UHU servocontroller :-))
A super project !

The UHU servocontroller project was born out of the "Gerhards servocontroller" project.
A while back i tried to start a wiki for the old "gerhards servocontroller."
http://gsst.wikispaces.com/
And later added some (the first lines) for the UHU servocontroller.

But it did not catch on, there where very few contributions.
And my mind is to slow to keep it up to date. And busy with other things.

Now lots of new people get to know the project.
Perhaps it is a good moment to suggest making a new wiki for the UHU servocontroller project.
People could one by one add their own little bit of info.

It could answer lots of questions which will be asked again and again.
And give tips of which you had not thought.

All these answers and tips would eventually be hard to find, lost among the many many messages in the forums.
A wiki would prevent this.

The links to price lists would be usefull in a wiki.
And notes on the servomotors.
Instructions on how to assemble the PCB, like what parts first, what parts last.
All kinds of stuff.

Imagine, the great UHU servocontroller supported with a wiki to concentrate all the knowledge about it :-)
Yeaahh :-)

Everybody who contributed to this could be proud for helping to give the hobby world a cheap good working servocontroller with documentation.

Does anyone know a lot about wiki's ?
What would be a good easy to use wiki server site for this ?

Have fun with the UHU servocontroller :-)

[miljnor]

ok someones got to ask.

whats a WIKI?

not alot of german speaking guys hear (comparatively).

[vroemm]

ok someones got to ask.
whats a WIKI?
not alot of german speaking guys hear (comparatively).

A WIKI are webpages which anyone can edit.
Anyone can make a wiki on a subject.

Suppose we make a wiki on the UHU servocontroller.
And i write something this on the wiki.

"With the UHU servocontroller you can control servo motors"

The you come allong and read what i wrote.
And you think, thats not complete.
Then you can change my line in the wiki.
You could make it:

"With the UHU servocontroller you can control DC servo motors."

Now the text is better.

Then someone else comes allong and reads it.
And think, i know something which can be usefull for the UHU fans.
And he/she changes the text into:

"With the UHU servocontroller you can control DC servo motors.
With STEP and DIR pulses from the computer."

In this way more and more usefull knowledge gets in the wiki.

A good example is this free encyclopedia that anyone can edit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Have a look at the "history" link in the right top corner.
There you can see what people have changed.

Here is how the users of wikipedia explains what a wiki is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Here is a tutorial on how to edit a wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial

It takes some getting used to.
But then it can be very useful.

[miljnor]

That sounds pretty cool, but again, I gota ask:

Humman nature what it is, How do you keep the idiots from screwing the page to he!! and gone?

Like if there is vandalism?

[vroemm]

That sounds pretty cool, but again, I gota ask:
Humman nature what it is, How do you keep the idiots from screwing the page to he!! and gone?
Like if there is vandalism?

I do not have much experience with wiki's
But i understand there is some vandalism, but not that much.
Wiki's are often monitored by people of the wiki site.
And vandalisme is quickly removed.
And all changes can be changed back.

Have a look at the "recent changes" page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Recentchanges
Click on the (diff) links to see the changes.
This way the people of wikipedia.com monitor the changes, and remove bad stuff.

There is also a wiki on CNC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cnc

[DennisCNC]

That sounds pretty cool, but again, I gota ask:

Humman nature what it is, How do you keep the idiots from screwing the page to he!! and gone?

Like if there is vandalism?

I think someone would have to be very board to be messing with a CNC Wiki if they are not in to it. But you are right there will be the - people.

Art started a Wiki for Mach also, seems it is doing well.

[smarbaga]

parts

[jrz126]

Sweet. I was just looking into doing this.
Is there a better schematic available? (possibly something in a jpg). My old pc cant really handle that pdf file.

Also, in that parts list above you have the db9 and max232 listed as optional. but arent those necessary for communicating with the PC...or am I missing something?

[smarbaga]

i guess they are .....
i dragged those listings over from another parts list ..
sorry, i will update the parts list now .
_________________________________
**** partslist updated ***********
_________________________________

[ulihuber]

Dennis,

I've put two videos on my web pages www.uhu-servo.de

Be careful, those are 24 MB, so download first completely before starting.

Uli

[smarbaga]

PS:
i will package all these parts and make them available at a reasonable price.
*** not counting the 2313, pc board and the 2 ir2184's
*** there is only 2 places to buy these ir2184's right now, (that i have found) one place is very expensive and the other is in taiwan and you have to but there whole lot (292 pcs)
i can have the package put together within 10 days
i can get pcb's made within 10 days as well.
i will total a price and post it tomorrow.
i will also periodically update the parts list with supplier #'s

[smarbaga]

updated parts list:
ps: i don't have a pc board so this list is not carved in stone.

[vroemm]

Dennis,
I've put two videos on my web pages www.uhu-servo.de

Beautiful... :-)

[miljnor]

ive bought 2184's from digikey before and I think they still have them.

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea...S&Cat=32768745

they are around 3.50 so they are a bit pricey for what they are.

[ejkoeze]

Our main supplier here in Europe (Gemany and Netherlands) lists them as E3,05 per piece. That's about equal.

The DB9 an the MAX232 are absolutely vital for the servocontroller as this is the only way to setup the PID controller. They provide the serial connection to the terminalprogram.

@jrz126

If you PM me your email adress I'll convert it to JPG for you and mail it. I do however recommend the PDF since it is a much better quality that any JPG I can make from it.

Erik Jan

[bill south]

Smarbarga
Am I to understand you are putting together a complete component package for these controllers??? This is absolutely fantastic! I've ordered five chips from ULI with crystals and most definately would like to have five of your component packs to use with them. Also, did you ever find a PC board manufacturer? I found 1 on the web (barebonespcb.com) but to be honest, I don't know enough to even answer their questions with any degree of accuracy. Anyway, I need five so I'll most definately support your efforts and am willing to chip in a reasonable amount of beans to help fund it. I (we) really appreciate your efforts in this venture. It'll save tons of time and aggrevation for us beginners.
PM me with a list of what I can do to help.
billyjack

[jrz126]

Hi Erik, thanks for the offer but I was able to print off the schematic at school.

I noticed some problems with the parts list with reguards to the schematic.
First, the parts list specifies 4 IRF510 mosfets, which are only capable of 5.6A and 100V. Whereas on the schematic it shows the irfp260 mosfet which is capable of 46-50 amps and 200V. Thats a pretty significant difference, both in price and performance.
Also, I dont see any part numbers for the 3 optoisolators shown (below the max232). Are they really needed? what is the K5 connector for?

I'm willing to help as well. I know PCB123 has pretty good prices on PCBs and their software isnt all that bad.

[eqreservoir]

Possible PCB source:
Garfield2 gave a couple of links to pcb manufacturers in message 6 of this thread:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14410

[ejkoeze]

Hi Erik, thanks for the offer but I was able to print off the schematic at school.

I noticed some problems with the parts list with reguards to the schematic.
First, the parts list specifies 4 IRF510 mosfets, which are only capable of 5.6A and 100V. Whereas on the schematic it shows the irfp260 mosfet which is capable of 46-50 amps and 200V. Thats a pretty significant difference, both in price and performance.
Also, I dont see any part numbers for the 3 optoisolators shown (below the max232). Are they really needed? what is the K5 connector for?

I'm willing to help as well. I know PCB123 has pretty good prices on PCBs and their software isnt all that bad.

As to the Fets
Two versions can be built, one with IRF540 Mosfets, max 10A/60V and one with IRFP260N, max 30A/150V

PCB is layed out so that both versions can be built without modification to the PCB. My first has the 540's onboard since this will drive my rotary axis.
If the 30A/150V of the IRFP260 you can also opt for IGBT. I don't have any specs but they can source even more. Partslist will change then however since some of the components have to be tuned to those.

The three opto's are meant as a choice. Pick one you can find and use that one. There are three mentioned in the partslist I supplied. These are not pin compatible and therefore there are three positions reserved for them. They may also need different resistors to limit current ans save your LTP.
You can do without them but risk burning up your printer port.
Personally I would have preferred to have a seperate break out board with opto's and will probably go that way replacing the opto's with wire bridges.
Possible opto's
HCPL-2631 IC11 DIL8 Tested /OK

HCPL-2231 IC11 DIL8 Tested /OK

HCPL7601 IC5, IC9 DIL8 Tested /OK

6n137 IC5, IC9 DIL8 Untested but should work


K5 is the Step/Dir input with ground for the connection of the board to the LPT.