Hello,
I am working on an art piece that will involve the routing of an object in real time, based on input from various cameras etc.
I will be choosing one of the following three methods. I will be carving out of foam so that I do not have to worry as much about travel path. When I say outside software I mean software written by myself that in one way or another interfaces to the CAD software.
My possible paths are:
1) Most likely. Pre-defined shape entered into CAD package, but I need outside software to signal the CAD software to make a pass. This means that the machine will move very slowly based on external triggers.
2) Outside software simply triggers the movement of the router head, while the CAD software tracks location of the router and does overarching control. Think of this as an extension of mouse driven CNC.
3) Outside software directly writes to the stepper driver and moves the motors.
Does anyone have any experience on what CAD packages, if any, will work for this? I am an avid programmer so I do not care *how* the software communicates with the CAD software (pipes, database, socket, direct include of script, I am fine with all of them).
Preferably open source.
Thanks!
Lucas