#linuxcnc Logs

Dec 24 2023

02:01 AM Deejay: moin
03:59 AM Tom_L: morning
04:02 AM Tom_L: 57°F & rain high 58°F
05:21 AM JT-Cave: morning
07:10 AM JT-Cave: rooster just crowed
07:16 AM JT-Cave: 50°F Partly Sunny High: 65°F
07:40 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Been setting up a CNC retrofit old machine with lcnc. I have https://cncu.co.za/EasyRoute-CNC-Router/Component%20Manuals/Fuling%20DZB200_DZB300%20Inverter%20User%20Manual.pdf and I have the freq command and on/off working but I cannot seem to control fwd/rev through the terminals. I can see that they are correctly switching high/low but the VFD only goes fwd. I have tried changing a few paramters.
07:40 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut>
07:56 AM jpa-: what pin on the VFD is the direction signal connected to?
07:58 AM Tom_L: P49 makes reference to K1 K2
07:58 AM jpa-: it seems if you set F2.01 = 1 and F2.02 = 2, you can use them as separate FWD/REV pins
07:59 AM jpa-: or you can set the "three wire control" setting to have enable and direction separately
07:59 AM Tom_L: F0-25 might have something to do with it
07:59 AM Tom_L: P.41
07:59 AM jpa-: and F2.07
08:00 AM Tom_L: i can barely read it :)
08:00 AM jpa-: anyway, if you list the parameter values and the pin connections, we can look it over :)
08:00 AM jpa-: seems like it can be configured in lot of ways
08:12 AM lcnc-relay: <travis_farmer (@_discord_731083529441640538:jauriarts.org)> i think that's the same VFD series i have for my CNC spindle...
08:14 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> It certainly is a terrible PDF. I took k1/2 to mean just a connection to use with the key. I only have a spindle enable and a spindle direction. So I think 2 wire control 2 would be ideal.
08:14 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I have set them to FWD/REV now. It’s their default
08:15 AM lcnc-relay: <travis_farmer (@_discord_731083529441640538:jauriarts.org)> i have just fwd/rev with 0-10v frequency control, and it works great
08:15 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I will try changing F0.25 as that might do it
08:16 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I guess I could instead set my enable to be a forwardnpin rigjt
08:16 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> That’s not a bad idea!
08:19 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I kind of forgot I could just remap pins as I felt like it. First time using lcnc
08:19 AM lcnc-relay: <travis_farmer (@_discord_731083529441640538:jauriarts.org)> lcnc is the best 🙂
08:20 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> So far I’m liking it. I’m using a remora flexi-Hal board so it’s a bit different. Kind of wish I had something with mesa but it’s much cheaper this way
08:20 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Just want to understand the ui design part. I would like to modify it a bit
08:23 AM lcnc-relay: <travis_farmer (@_discord_731083529441640538:jauriarts.org)> lol, just now realized current version is 2.9 and devel is now 2.10... i really need to get out and update my system. been so long with the cold, and then the power outage for days...
08:24 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I’m always hesitant to update unless I have issues with things, too much change for problems
08:25 AM lcnc-relay: <travis_farmer (@_discord_731083529441640538:jauriarts.org)> i am just the opposite, i like to stay current. though it is a drag when they make breaking changes that i have to reconfigure again
09:26 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> So I set it to have a fwd and rev output. I have them connected and confirm they work. However I cannot get it to switch between the two fwd/rev. It is quite starnge. I switched the order of the terminal so 1 is rev 2 is fwd and it was only going in reverse. I think its aprotection setting at this point. Will try f0.25
09:33 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Starting to think that terminal input is dead or just doesnt work
09:33 AM Tom_L: mmm rain gage shows 4.25" overnite
09:36 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Well that did it! Damn terminal didnt work so Ijust remapped the next one along!
09:37 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> FWD and REV baby! (No idea why I would need that)
10:07 AM jpa-: one good use for REV i have heard is to clear out the long stringy chips that plastic sometimes leaves on endmills
10:09 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!
10:10 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> 🎄🤶
10:12 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> * 🎄 🎅
10:13 AM JT-Cave: 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a chicken
10:14 AM JT-Cave: the chickens were all nestled all snug on their roosts while visions of crickets and worms danced in their heads
10:14 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> https://matrix.org/_matrix/media/v1/download/matrix.org/jgmSgvNUOKRYqrTZXwcOmgDz
10:16 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> https://matrix.org/_matrix/media/v1/download/matrix.org/fZnQAfZOxturGUlubMYhvSmZ
10:16 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> 😄
10:25 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> https://jauriarts.org/_matrix/media/v1/download/jauriarts.org/ICLmWNHFyfkHWtgGRVFQfllN
10:25 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> https://jauriarts.org/_matrix/media/v1/download/jauriarts.org/EXzhQicQNRuVlsHTlMzVMNbu
10:25 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Any thoughts on why I get Z travel error when I do a X command?
10:28 AM jpa-: are you perhaps already outside Z limit?
10:28 AM jpa-: one way to get errors like that is if your home position is outside the normal travel limits
10:30 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Ohh interesting I can check that. I can manually jog ok though?
10:32 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Oh no I made sure to move it down into its travel a bit, so it should be well within. The Z axis is setup to home to 0 and min limit of -150
10:33 AM jpa-: also i'm not sure how it acts if you have first run a G1 that *would* put Z outside limits, and then run a G1 without Z parameter
10:33 AM jpa-: i think it may remember the Z because normally it would
10:34 AM jpa-: but hmm, i think for MDI it should move from current position in any case
10:40 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Anything I can try? Is jog and mdi different in terms of if a limit is active?
10:40 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> if you are in a limit state there is no motion to avoid crashes, no axis should be movable while in this state
10:40 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> fix your config
10:41 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> add a small sushion between G53 XYZ0 and the soft limit
10:41 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> * add a small cushion between G53 XYZ0 and the soft limit
10:41 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> push the machine axis off the limit
10:42 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> or temporarily invert the limit switch signal
10:43 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> move off the limit then close and return that limit hal signal to the correct syntax
10:44 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> you are also running an outdated version of probe basic that is no longer supported and has several bugs
10:44 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> you should convert to linux debian 12 bookworm, linuxcnc 2.9 and the latest probe basic
10:44 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> It’s the latest supported by the hardware I am using I believe.
10:45 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> grab a spare ssd and try it
10:46 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> probe basic running on 2.8 will run on 2.9
10:46 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I can try that then. Do you think that will fix this issue?
10:46 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> no hardware issue there as the only thing would be the graphics support and its the same for both version
10:46 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> nothing will fix a bad config except fixing the config
10:47 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> It’s a pi so only need an sdcard to try it.
10:47 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> if the simulation works but your configuration does not, its not PB its the config
10:47 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> oh then no clue
10:47 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> thats a diffeent animal
10:47 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> ditch the pi and get a pc
10:47 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> pb is not for pi and there are a bunch of issues
10:48 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> That’s really unhelpful advice
10:48 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> there is no advice for pi
10:48 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> its not supported
10:48 AM Tom_L: :)
10:49 AM Tom_L: likely too slow to run all the gui properly
10:49 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> meaning to make it work requires so amny patches and fixes that us trying to trouble shoot it would be near impossible
10:49 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> if you want to run probe basic it is supposed to be run on a pc
10:50 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> It runs fine, the issue is the error message you saw
10:50 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> some of the other ui's using non VTK backplotter will work natively on pi
10:51 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> PB for 2.8 has many bugs
10:52 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> its may be one of them and fixing it would require setting up a dev pc and manually finding and fixing any code causing the bug
10:52 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> we no longer have the ability to build for 2.8 linuxcnc
10:53 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> so thgat is something you would need to do locally and specifically for you installation
10:53 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> hence my reocmmendation to upgrade to 2.9
10:53 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> but if your hardware handicapped.... what is the alternative
10:59 AM Tom_L: run a bookworm rpi4 deb with axis
11:02 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> https://jauriarts.org/_matrix/media/v1/download/jauriarts.org/bRYmwSIzjHWxZIwlmZScrGpQ
11:02 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> All good now. It was my misunderstanding of LCNC that was the issue
11:03 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Err ignore the other picture haha
11:09 AM jpa-: for future reference, what kind of misunderstanding? :)
11:14 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I think the code I generated with the conversational element had a move that went outside the motion limits. I didn’t think it looked ahead and line 57 kind of gave a clue there. My misunderstanding was when I did the MDI I think it still checks the loaded Gcode for issues as well. So the same error came up even though I had only an X move in it
11:24 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> you will still run into bugs on that version notably the MDI is a known issue
11:24 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> 2.9+
11:26 AM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> you would need to check the forums to see if someone has found a solution for that.
11:30 AM lcnc-relay: <roguish> old Gene Heskett has been messing with RPi's quite a bit. try a letter to the email list....
11:35 AM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Cheers, I will see how things go and try and update if there is a route. It’s remora using the flexi-Hal, not sure if it’s in active development but even with the bugs in this version it’s already miles ahead of what I was using before and really great
11:36 AM lcnc-relay: <roguish> good luck.... keep us informed of your progress......
11:36 AM lcnc-relay: <roguish> start a topic on the forum. you'd be surprised how much help you could get...
01:17 PM Unterhaus_ is now known as Unterhausen
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Err ignore the other picture haha
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> I think the code I generated with the conversational element had a move that went outside the motion limits. I didn’t think it looked ahead and line 57 kind of gave a clue there. My misunderstanding was when I did the MDI I think it still checks the loaded Gcode for issues as well. So the same error came up even though I had only an X move in it
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> you will still run into bugs on that version notably the MDI is a known issue
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> 2.9+
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <Lcvette> you would need to check the forums to see if someone has found a solution for that.
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <roguish> old Gene Heskett has been messing with RPi's quite a bit. try a letter to the email list....
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <desicated_coconut> Cheers, I will see how things go and try and update if there is a route. It’s remora using the flexi-Hal, not sure if it’s in active development but even with the bugs in this version it’s already miles ahead of what I was using before and really great
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <roguish> good luck.... keep us informed of your progress......
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <roguish> start a topic on the forum. you'd be surprised how much help you could get...
02:07 PM lcnc-relay: <travis_farmer (@_discord_731083529441640538:jauriarts.org)> "I'm, dreaming of a brown, Christmas... not even a trace of snow out there..." Happy Christmas Eve everybody that celebrates! 🙂
02:11 PM XXCoder: happy holidays all. so far, havent snowed here. usually snow in least once by now, though it wouldnt surive contact with ground.
02:57 PM solarwind: It's incredible how much soot a single candle puts out
02:57 PM solarwind: my air filter in the workshop takes about a month to get visibly darker with dust
02:58 PM solarwind: but just a few hours with a _single_ candle burning, the entire thing turns _black_
02:58 PM solarwind: it's not actually clogged, it's just capturing the soot particles on its surface
02:58 PM solarwind: but it goes from white to chalkboard black
03:01 PM CaptHindsight: try cooking some bacon in the shop or some deep frying
03:02 PM solarwind: Why? What will that do?
03:02 PM CaptHindsight: clog the filter faster
03:03 PM solarwind: Ah, the oil vapours?
03:03 PM XXCoder: it coats the filter and everything sticks to it
03:04 PM solarwind: the whole point of a filter is to make everything to stick to it though
03:04 PM Tom_L: so you can improve the quality of the filter for nearly free :)
03:04 PM XXCoder: its why commerical kitchens use metal sections to capture oil, then steel mesh filters
03:04 PM CaptHindsight: avoid cooking bacon in the shop while wearing shorts
03:04 PM Tom_L: just oil soak it
03:05 PM CaptHindsight: happy xmas advice
03:05 PM Tom_L: old cars used oil soaked air filters
03:05 PM solarwind: Yeah
03:05 PM solarwind: I use oil soaked air filters on my BMW R nineT
03:05 PM XXCoder: and some just use oil
03:05 PM XXCoder: like old volkjwagon beetle uses oil to filter air
03:06 PM CaptHindsight: some mass air flow sensors disagree with the oil vapor
03:07 PM roycroft: a lot of old vehicles and some current big trucks and construction vehicles use oil-filled air filters
03:10 PM CaptHindsight: the Norad and Google Santa trackers disagree on his location again this year, something is fishy
03:10 PM XXCoder: maybe theres secretly more santas now
03:10 PM XXCoder: probably to keep up with number of people.
03:10 PM Guest55: Hello
03:10 PM Guest55: Happy New Year everyone
03:10 PM Guest55: I just joined the linuxcnc community
03:10 PM Guest55: And I want to use it to control a 6-axis robotic arm
03:10 PM Guest55: There are many questions in my mind, can anyone guide me?
03:10 PM CaptHindsight: just ask Guest
03:12 PM solarwind: Guest55 are you prone to stockholm syndrome?
03:12 PM CaptHindsight: which brand and model arm? (just curious)
03:13 PM Guest55: I can't use Misa cards
03:13 PM Guest55: What are my options for control hardware?
03:13 PM roycroft: why can you not use mesa cards?
03:14 PM Guest55: Because I live in Iran and I don't have access to them
03:15 PM solarwind: Guest55 ok here's what you do
03:15 PM roycroft: ok
03:15 PM solarwind: You teach your nuclear department how not to get hacked by the jews
03:15 PM roycroft: so it's not an issue with the hose computer
03:15 PM roycroft: knock it off, solarwind
03:16 PM solarwind: teach them about air gapped systems and
03:16 PM solarwind: I'm just screwing around lol
03:16 PM andypugh: Too late now. But stop.
03:17 PM XXCoder: solarwind: thats too far
03:17 PM CaptHindsight: interesting conundrum
03:18 PM andypugh: I guess that he assumed he wasn’t going to get any help.
03:18 PM andypugh: Which is a shame, as there are other options we could have explored.
03:18 PM XXCoder: yeah theres other frpas possibilities
03:19 PM solarwind: No he disconnected by mistake
03:19 PM solarwind: nobody's _that_ sensitive
03:19 PM XXCoder: never assume that, solar.
03:19 PM andypugh: Guest55: Do you have drives? What control signals do they take?
03:19 PM solarwind: Anyway, parallel port, or aliexpress has many FPGA cards
03:20 PM * roycroft fears solarwind is reverting to his veegee persona
03:20 PM Tom_L: let's just hope not
03:20 PM roycroft: yes
03:20 PM andypugh: The LED driver cards might be available?
03:20 PM roycroft: that would be singlarly bad
03:20 PM roycroft: singularly
03:20 PM solarwind: andypugh they are, I bought some recently
03:20 PM solarwind: but there are better options than that
03:21 PM XXCoder: color led board is interesting one, and probably buyable for iran?
03:21 PM andypugh: I meant that they might be available in Iran.
03:21 PM andypugh: Or, maybe EtherCAT?
03:21 PM solarwind: if aliexpress ships there, then yeah
03:21 PM solarwind: ethercat will be your best option
03:22 PM Guest55: andypugh
03:23 PM CaptHindsight: the US has export controls on simultaneous motion on >3axis
03:24 PM andypugh: Someone ported the Hostmot2 firmware to one of the LED driver boards.
03:26 PM andypugh: Guest55: https://forum.linuxcnc.org/27-driver-boards/47730-new-project-litehm2-a-hostmot2-port-to-linsn-rv901t?start=0
03:27 PM CaptHindsight: so I can't comment without incinerating myself
03:27 PM Guest55: andypugh Do you mean servo drive?
03:27 PM Guest55: I want to use servo drive
03:27 PM andypugh: Can you get the linsn rv901t LED
03:27 PM andypugh: Do you already have the servo drives, or just the arm and the motors?
03:28 PM solarwind: CaptHindsight are you serious?
03:28 PM solarwind: They're that paranoid?
03:28 PM solarwind: They think some other country is going to build war bots and invade them or something?
03:29 PM solarwind: Guest55 there are ethercat servo drives
03:29 PM solarwind: Guest55 they come as a kit with everything you need including the motor and all you need to do is plug it into your ethernet port
03:30 PM solarwind: They are by far the easiest option if you can import them.
03:30 PM solarwind: I know the university of Tehran has some kind of robotics department, see what they use
03:30 PM solarwind: I have a friend who goes there
03:31 PM andypugh: Can you import https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003480736845.html
03:33 PM Guest55: The drive is available but expensive
03:34 PM andypugh: That price includes the motor.
03:34 PM andypugh: You haven’t said if you have the motors.
03:35 PM andypugh: CaptHindsight: So, technically, our serves in the US should block downloads to Iran?
03:36 PM andypugh: (But it would be OK from an EU mirror?)
03:37 PM CaptHindsight: not sure, I'd have to reread the export rules
03:37 PM CaptHindsight: if they were really concerned I'd imagine they would have contacted the devs by now
03:37 PM andypugh: Guest55: Can you source the IRAM256-2067A2 ? (It’s almost unavailable anywhere, so it seems unlikely)
03:39 PM andypugh: But if you can, then building the the STMBL servo drive might be an option. (If you can also get STM32 microcontrollers)
03:41 PM solarwind: Guest55 that is actually a decent price
03:42 PM solarwind: the shipping is expensive to Canada, but it should be a lot cheaper for you
03:42 PM solarwind: if you're buying non-ethercat drives, the cost won't be much less and you need a step/dir signal source on top of that
03:43 PM solarwind: which is why I highly recommend you get the ethercat drive because they are CiA DS402 compliant
03:43 PM solarwind: you can give them absolute position commands and they are very very flexible including axis synchronization between all the drives
03:44 PM solarwind: Guest55 what is your target price range for drive+motor?
03:45 PM CaptHindsight: i was looking into 4+ axis CAM software and came across the export restrictions
03:46 PM solarwind: doesn't really hurt anyone, who the hell wants to buy overpriced servo drive shit from the USA?
03:47 PM solarwind: Germany, Japan, they all make very high quality high end stuff
03:47 PM solarwind: Yaskawa is serious business and only 50-100% more expensive than leadshine
03:51 PM Guest55: solarwind: Something around 4000 dollars, which should also include the cost of making the robot body
03:53 PM andypugh: No way to buy a used robot? It’s going to be very hard to build a robot with all new parts for that money. Unless it’s a fairly small one.
03:53 PM andypugh: What size and working load are you thinking of?
03:54 PM Guest55: solarwind: I can probably buy a delta B3 servo drive
03:56 PM Guest55: How can I use microcontroller for pulse direction generator in Linux CNC?
03:56 PM andypugh: You won’t be able to use just the servo motors on a robot, you probably need reduction gearboxes, possibly harmonic drives.
03:57 PM andypugh: well, litehm2 is one example.
03:58 PM Guest55: I want to make this robot for welding
03:58 PM andypugh: https://forum.linuxcnc.org/18-computer/42414-linuxcnc-esp32-software-stepping-over-ethernet-using-esp32?start=0
03:59 PM andypugh: That’s using an ESP32 to generate step pulses.
04:00 PM andypugh: For welding you _might_ be able to use a couple of parallel ports (a single parallel port does not have enough pins to control all your drives)
04:01 PM Guest55: Yes, that's right. I want to use a 400 watt servo motor and a harmonic gearbox with a ratio of 1:100 for each axis.
04:02 PM solarwind: Guest55 delta B3 is not going to be any cheaper
04:03 PM solarwind: You'll need to write the mechanism for linuxcnc to tell the microcontroller how to generate the pulses
04:03 PM solarwind: and µC aren't good for that. You really want an FPGA
04:04 PM andypugh: Can you find something used as a starting point? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234944626374
04:04 PM andypugh: (It is likely to be difficult to persuade them to send to Iran, but you cpuld look closer)
04:05 PM Guest55: In this case, how does the microcontroller communicate with Linux CNC?
04:05 PM solarwind: Entirely up to you
04:06 PM solarwind: RS232, parallel port, ethernet
04:07 PM andypugh: SPI
04:07 PM solarwind: Search "AX99100"
04:07 PM solarwind: There are multiple parallel/serial I/O cards based on it
04:07 PM solarwind: it can actually do much more than that including SPI
04:08 PM solarwind: It only costs around $10 for a card on aliexpress
04:11 PM Guest55: Does AX99100 have the ability to generate pulses and receive encoder values at a speed of about 150 kHz?
04:12 PM solarwind: No, that's not what it does
04:12 PM solarwind: It's just a PCIe <-> I/O bridge
04:13 PM solarwind: and unless you have a fairly fast microcontroller, you won't be able to do what you need for 6 axis
04:13 PM solarwind: no way in hell, not with any accurate timing or repeatability
04:13 PM solarwind: I'm not suggesting ethercat or FPGA for no reason...
04:14 PM solarwind: microcontrollers need multiple timer/output compare/PWM hardware peripherals to do what you want
04:14 PM solarwind: it's not a trivial task
04:14 PM solarwind: and reading encoder signals on top of that for 6 axis, you're not going to be able to do it with a cheap µC module
04:15 PM solarwind: The ethercat drives do all of this in hardware
04:15 PM solarwind: they're fully closed loop drives that synchronize all axis on the bus. These are not trivial features to implement on your own
04:16 PM solarwind: So if you want a solution that works for maybe a few $hundred extra, get the ethercat drives
04:16 PM solarwind: it's also universally compatible with all industrial I/O control, it's a fully standardized protocol
04:16 PM solarwind: I'm not pushing it just for shits and giggles
04:17 PM solarwind: You daisy chain your 6 drives with $0.25 ethernet cables and plug them into your wall power, and you're good to go. Really it's that simple
04:18 PM solarwind: If you want to waste your time with esoteric solutions to save a few $ with potential for a lot of issues needing specialized knowledge to debug, yeah, go with random µC modules and stuff
04:19 PM solarwind: Guest55 watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEPfznStd0s
04:19 PM Guest55: So with this description I have to use an EtherCAT drive
04:19 PM solarwind: You don't _have_ to do anything. It's just my very strong suggestion based on a lot of experience
04:20 PM solarwind: And yes, they come in kits including the drive + motor
04:20 PM Guest55: Yes, it is true, I also agree with you
04:21 PM solarwind: MESA cards were created because it's otherwise such a pain in the ass to interface with step/dir drives from a PC because the timing is critical
04:21 PM solarwind: they use FPGAs for a reason
04:21 PM solarwind: you can't pull this off with a microcontroller
04:21 PM solarwind: ethercat drives do all of this on their own internally in hardware
04:21 PM solarwind: you can control it with any software you want, not just linux cnc
04:22 PM solarwind: for 6 axis stuff, there are some great robotic arm control OS out there
04:22 PM solarwind: they just work out of the box with ethercat because it's a fully standardized protocol
04:26 PM Guest55: for 6 axis stuff, there are some great robotic arm control OS out there
04:26 PM Guest55: Can you introduce me some examples of them?
04:26 PM solarwind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Operating_System
04:30 PM Guest55: Another question I had is that I want to use teaching mode to control the robot
04:30 PM Guest55: .
04:30 PM Guest55: This mode includes point-to-point control and determining the movement path between two points and circular movement from a specific point.
04:30 PM Guest55: Has something like this been created in this software before?
04:31 PM solarwind: Guest55 guess what... ethercat drives have that built in
04:31 PM solarwind: well it requires some configuration, but basic motion like that is built in
04:31 PM solarwind: and anything more advanced is fully supported in Robot OS
04:32 PM solarwind: I'm trying to find a video showing the GUI interface where you have full 3D visualization of the robot and the motion you can make it do
04:32 PM solarwind: anything you can imagine, it can be done. It _has_ been done
04:34 PM solarwind: which is why it's better to focus on the actual build itself and not waste time with servo drive interfacing and never even get off the ground
04:36 PM Guest55: Yes, it is absolutely true
04:36 PM Guest55: Time is the most important thing
04:37 PM solarwind: Watch the video I posted above. It took him 5 minutes to set up that drive
04:37 PM solarwind: Doesn't really matter what brand you get, they all work the same way
04:38 PM Guest55: Another question is, where should I start to learn Linux CNC faster?
04:39 PM solarwind: I'm not an expert on linuxcnc, someone else can jump in. But online docs are pretty good
04:41 PM JT-Shop: Guest55, play with some of the sims
04:42 PM Guest55: solarwind: Thank you for your patience in answering my questions
04:42 PM solarwind: Guest55 ain't no thang dawg
04:43 PM solarwind: had to make up for the stuxnet joke somehow
04:44 PM Guest55: I still have many questions, but first I need to get an overview of Linux CNC
04:45 PM CaptHindsight: solarwind: your face is a stuxnet
04:45 PM solarwind: CaptHindsight I know, I'm not the prettiest gal at the ball
04:46 PM solarwind: A couple of girls did tell me I'm handsome but I have a very hard time believing it
04:46 PM CaptHindsight: were you walking in or walking out? :p
04:46 PM solarwind: It feels like the same way when your aunt or grandma pinches your cheek and says look how handsome he is
04:46 PM solarwind: lol! based on pics from the front
04:57 PM andypugh: Guest55: You might want to start by opening LinuxCNC and choosing the config sim-axis-vismach-puma-puma560
04:57 PM andypugh: That has a virtual model of a Puma robot. And you can get a feel for what it looks like running G-code.
06:00 PM flyback: https://arcdroidcnc.com/products/arcdroid%E2%84%A2-cnc-table-top-plasma-robot