DIY DRO (digital read out)

[rlwoodjr]

A while back I bought a mill. See link for mill pictures:http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bridge...rigid_ram.html.

Since it had encoders attached to the steppers I decided to try and make a DRO. I still need to make a box to put it in.....nothing fancy just a zero function at this time. However I did leave the serial pins open so I can add functions if I decide to later. The main chip is the Atmega328 ( same as the Arduino). The chip is actually programmed with the Arduino Uno. I attached the current code in a text file.

[rlwoodjr]

put it in a box and mounted it to the mill....

[ksanalytical]

Very nicely done.

[zafarsalam]

Excellent job. What's the resolution of your encoders. And till what speed can you read the encoders without losing any pulses. I am beginning to explore arduino for my cnc projects, specially it's interaction with Mach3. Right now I'm just a novice with arduino and yet to make a useful app with it.

Zafar

[rlwoodjr]

Originally Posted by zafarsalam Excellent job. What's the resolution of your encoders. And till what speed can you read the encoders without losing any pulses. I am beginning to explore arduino for my cnc projects, specially it's interaction with Mach3. Right now I'm just a novice with arduino and yet to make a useful app with it. Zafar

Thanks!

I am running the 500 cpr at 4x so I get 2000 ticks per revolution. the mill is 5 tpi, so I get 0.0001" per tick. Max speed is 120 IPM. If I did the math right that means a tick every 50 microseconds (20 kHz). The interrupt for the micro-controller takes less than 10 microseconds...probably about 5 microseconds. I would guess that you could get up to 50 kHz without to much trouble.

[zafarsalam]

Originally Posted by rlwoodjr Thanks! I am running the 500 cpr at 4x so I get 2000 ticks per revolution. the mill is 5 tpi, so I get 0.0001" per tick. Max speed is 120 IPM. If I did the math right that means a tick every 50 microseconds (20 kHz). The interrupt for the micro-controller takes less than 10 microseconds...probably about 5 microseconds. I would guess that you could get up to 50 kHz without to much trouble.

Is it Turbocnc on your machine PC?

[rlwoodjr]

Originally Posted by zafarsalam Is it Turbocnc on your machine PC?

Yes it is. Boots in a few seconds...

[zafarsalam]

Originally Posted by rlwoodjr Yes it is. Boots in a few seconds...

Last time I used Turbocnc, it was losing position on arcs and didn't have constant velocity contouring. Then I switched over to Mach3. That was almost 6 years ago.

[rlwoodjr]

Originally Posted by zafarsalam Last time I used Turbocnc, it was losing position on arcs and didn't have constant velocity contouring. Then I switched over to Mach3. That was almost 6 years ago.

That is too funny. I do not have any problems with arcs, but the constant velocity always sounded good...not so much for the mill, but I also have a router.

I like DOS in the shop.

[Bubba]

Yeh, Dave K says he has CV working on V4.2. Now if we can just get him to release it!
I use Turbocnc on my mill and router and soon (I hope lathe)!
ditto the dos in the shop.

[rlwoodjr]

Originally Posted by Bubba Yeh, Dave K says he has CV working on V4.2. Now if we can just get him to release it! I use Turbocnc on my mill and router and soon (I hope lathe)! ditto the dos in the shop.

Dave has said that for awhile...any news on when it will be done?

[Bubba]

He hasn't said lately, had some correspondence Christmas time but nothing on that subject.

Wrote wishing a happy new year with a "nudge", but no response.