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Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
I know the ELS is not that popular when a Full CNC conversion isn't that much harder, but I like the idea of it and have been trying to find a design I can have a go at building. Looked at the ELS group on Yahoo(joined up) and it's a great project ,but not what I was looking for. I have read thru all the google links I could find,(including all the posts here) but there's no projects with the complete instructions (for a beginner) to build.
This one at My CNC Adventures was the simplest one I found and with enough instructions that I could actually make it, but perhaps a bit more basic than I wanted. Also the author built it to show that the ELS is not worth the effort , when a full CNC is not much more work, so maybe not the one to try! I was intrigued though as to just how little electronics he needed to replace the basic gearbox on a lathe. That's really all I want to do, have a quick way of choosing imperial of metric threads and setting the feed rate.
The main advantage, for me, of the ELS is minimal alternations needed to be made to the lathe. My thought is to remove the change gears, mount the stepper/servo motor to the input shaft of the threading gear box(as this give me a speed reduction), mount a rotary encoder on the spindle and that's it. As I would be using the lathe as a manual lathe, just with a ELS, there's no need to replace leadscrews with ball screws as I just use the same procedures I do now to allow for backlash etc,whether is saddle or cross feed and would only be feeding in one direction at a time, no switching over the backlash.
The link below should be to chipmaker.ru but on my screen goes to a long weird thing in gibberish!?
Then I found Oleg's (Chrome's translation))project on Еще одна ÑÐ»ÐµÐºÑ‚Ñ€Ð¾Ð½Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð³Ð¸Ñ‚Ð°Ñ€Ð° Ð´Ð»Ñ Ñ‚Ð¾ÐºÐ°Ñ€Ð½Ð¸ÐºÐ°, на Ðрдуино - МеталличеÑкиÐ� � форум and would love to have a go and building it, but as all the instructions are in Russian, it's been a hard slog so far to read thru it! I've used the translate page on Chrome to have a read thru, but as Chrome translated Electronic Gear to Electronic Guitar, there's a few problems with readability! Plus I think he's made a few additions to the Arduino board, which I would need clear instructions for. Regardless, I've bought an Ardruino Mega and the LCD module to have a go anyway, but was hoping someone (English Speaking) might have already done so and could provide some more details.
Anyway, just my silly idea. I do have a 4'x4' Plamsa table that I put together with Mach3 and have a lot of fun with that, but would rather not use Mach3 for the lathe. Just for interest, here's the lathe I've got, https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/L569D and for good measure I bought a mill aswell. https://www.machineryhouse.com.au/M162D
Can't say they're quite up to scratch with a Monarch 10EE Lathe(Oooh....Goose Bumps:o:o) or Bridgeport Mill, but they're a start.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Well, I bought the Arduino Mega, LCD/keys module and downloaded the latest version of the ELS (6c_auto) software from the Russian's:D and got it installed. That part was easy. On closer deciphering of the Instructions I see he has a development board in between to Arduino and LCD module, bugger, didn't get one of those, so will have to wait until that turns up. I think he changed the design to use a separate LCD module and joystick and buttons so guess I will have to do the same. The extra bits on the dev board are for the encoder input and external buttons/joystick, plus limit switches etc. At least it's being actively developed.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paulmacc
Well, I bought the Arduino Mega, LCD/keys module and downloaded the latest version of the ELS (6c_auto) software from the Russian's:D and got it installed. That part was easy. On closer deciphering of the Instructions I see he has a development board in between to Arduino and LCD module, bugger, didn't get one of those, so will have to wait until that turns up. I think he changed the design to use a separate LCD module and joystick and buttons so guess I will have to do the same. The extra bits on the dev board are for the encoder input and external buttons/joystick, plus limit switches etc. At least it's being actively developed.
Hi Paul,
I am also looking at doing this project and I think I am getting a handle on it. I have read through every post to the project (using google translate) and I think that Oleg has done a good job. Have you made any progress? I've ordered all the parts and 'am waiting for them to come in. I won't really be able to make progress until August as I am taking the family to England. I
I have started to make an English version of the documentation and I have converted all the comments into English in the code as well as adding references to how they obtained the information that they used (i.e. thread table calculations).
Let me know if anything I have done would help you and please keep us up to date on how you are making out!:wave:
By the way, they are working on version 7 which will have a ball turning program and several different groups are working on making boards that have everything marked out to attache to the Arduino.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Hi there bowcoastie,
haven't checked this thread in a while so it's great to find a post here!. Yep, I've been watching the progress for the last couple of months and V7 sounds like a great improvement. Still fighting with Google translate to make sense of it all but I'm getting there. Haven't really done anymore since I downloaded V 6c and installed on the Mega. Had a bit of a play with switches and stepper connected, without much luck then got busy with harvest( I'm a farmer) and haven't really got back to it.
I would love a copy of your translated docs and commented code if I could. Started to do the same myself until harvest started. Nice to see that there are a couple of circuit board layouts now for the interface with the Arduino Mega, though I don't know why they are trying to fit everything on such small boards? Just make them 25-50% bigger and there's plenty of room for everything. Not really an electronics buff myself but if I have a board layout with component placement then I can get it done.
Anyway, great that there's someone else interested in this. :banana: I think this is a great project and look forward to having a play again with it . ( though you might need to give me a bit of help:) )
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paulmacc
Hi there bowcoastie,
haven't checked this thread in a while so it's great to find a post here!. Yep, I've been watching the progress for the last couple of months and V7 sounds like a great improvement. Still fighting with Google translate to make sense of it all but I'm getting there. Haven't really done anymore since I downloaded V 6c and installed on the Mega. Had a bit of a play with switches and stepper connected, without much luck then got busy with harvest( I'm a farmer) and haven't really got back to it.
I would love a copy of your translated docs and commented code if I could. Started to do the same myself until harvest started. Nice to see that there are a couple of circuit board layouts now for the interface with the Arduino Mega, though I don't know why they are trying to fit everything on such small boards? Just make them 25-50% bigger and there's plenty of room for everything. Not really an electronics buff myself but if I have a board layout with component placement then I can get it done.
Anyway, great that there's someone else interested in this. :banana: I think this is a great project and look forward to having a play again with it . ( though you might need to give me a bit of help:) )
Hi Paul,
I hope you had a good harvest and that the prices have held. I've been posting files over on the Yahyoo E-LeadScrew (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/E-LeadScrew/info) group just to keep them all centralized. I'll upload the documents I have here as well but won't keep them updated as I will there.
As to the choice of expansion boards, there are several screw terminal boards for about $35 that would make this a lot easier. Just so you know, nothing will happen in the code without the encoder for the stepper motor; most everything is driven off the interrupt from the encoder.
A gentleman named Richard over in the UK is working with me to get this thing working and putting together suitable documentation to make it easier for non-Russians to set it up.
With all that said, the ELS from John Dammeyer is a much nicer and more professional unit. It can do even more than the Russian one and, if you get the Russian ELS working, the set-up on John's unit is very easy.
Anyway, I a happy to help in anyway possible.
Regards,
Bruce
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Have you seen the ELS project from Malte Knaust at muck-solutions?
I had some boards made a couple of years ago and built one for my Seig C8 lathe. Works very well.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Yep, had a look at Muck Solutions a couple of years ago and liked the setup, especially the larger screen, something I think the Russian project could use. A bit more work in building the board or did you get them built with components included? If so where/who and how much?
Initially I was only looking for a electronic replacement for the gearbox, just so you could set threads/feed speeds without having to lookup gear settings or changes gears when going from metric to imperial, but now that I've seen the Russian version, with taper turning and ball turning, I'm thinking maybe I want more.... Anyway, just interesting to follow the development and get a few laughs from Chromes bad translation attempts!
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paulmacc
Y. A bit more work in building the board or did you get them built with components included? If so where/who and how much?
!
All the components were available on eBay or Banggood, quite cheap. I have the boards made at a Chinese board fab - about $25 for 10 (minimum order). Not too difficult to make if you're confident with surface mount soldering.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Hello Bruce
I am also interested to follow the development of the russian ELS.
I downloaded the .zip files and looked at the diagram of the arduino. I did not understand what he meant with the signal of the tacho on pt. 43 of the arduino.
Maybe you can tell me what it means and how to built this signal.
Regards,
Hans.
p.s. If mine englisch is not so good,sorry for that.I come from Holland.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
laikaatje
Hello Bruce
I am also interested to follow the development of the russian ELS.
I downloaded the .zip files and looked at the diagram of the arduino. I did not understand what he meant with the signal of the tacho on pt. 43 of the arduino.
Maybe you can tell me what it means and how to built this signal.
Regards,
Hans.
p.s. If mine englisch is not so good,sorry for that.I come from Holland.
Hello Hans,
Your English is much better than my Dutch :cheers:
Port 43 is an output for the tachometer which is a separate project that Oleg (the Russian who is the primary designer) has made. I am not connecting anything to it at the moment.
Please be aware that there is a bug in the program on the port for the lead screw in that it is missing a 1. It should read as follows:
#define Motor_Init() DDRL=B11111011 // Is configured as an output, PL2 input T5
I will be posting more information on the ELS group on Yahoo, hopefully this weekend.
Groeten,
Bruce
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Hello Bruce,
Thanks forr all the information.I have repaired the software (the bug).
Do you allso know something about the tachometer project that Oleg has made ? If so, will you be so kind to tell me where i can find it.
Because that is someting i allso will make for my littel chinese lathe.
Groetjes
Hans
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
laikaatje
Hello Bruce,
Thanks forr all the information.I have repaired the software (the bug).
Do you allso know something about the tachometer project that Oleg has made ? If so, will you be so kind to tell me where i can find it.
Because that is someting i allso will make for my littel chinese lathe.
Groetjes
Hans
Hello Hans,
The tachometer is part of his DRO (digital read out) project. The topic can be found here in the comments of the following video, just open the video in Youtube. : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld0aU9q8J40 . If you are going to get into it, don't be afraid to post in English (the threads owner said to do so but as a courtesy I use google translate to put it in Russian below the English). Let me know how it goes.
Regards,
Bruce
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Hello Bruce,
I looked into it,but for me that DRO is a too big project.On my lathe I have allready a sony magnescale dro.
So what Im going to do,is to buy a chinese digital tacho and search all the tinghs together for trying to make the E.L.S.
Thanks for all the information.
By the way,can you tell me, is the YAHOO group you mensioned the group from mr.Danmeyer?
Groeten
Hans
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
laikaatje
Hello Bruce,
I looked into it,but for me that DRO is a too big project.On my lathe I have allready a sony magnescale dro.
So what Im going to do,is to buy a chinese digital tacho and search all the tinghs together for trying to make the E.L.S.
Thanks for all the information.
By the way,can you tell me, is the YAHOO group you mensioned the group from mr.Danmeyer?
Groeten
Hans
Hello Hans,
The whole of Oleg's DRO project doesn't need to be done; you could just put a single display on for the tachometer and ignore the rest of the signals. The Yahoo group is Mr. Danmeyer's; he's been gracious enough to let us post this sub-project there.
Regards,
Bruce
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Hello everyone!
I just stumbled upon this thread and I also happen to be interested in building/implementing the ELS on my chinese mini lathe; and Im also russian/english speaking)
Subscribed to this thread, so if you have any questions please let me know and I will try to help as much as possible.
Alex
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
The Yahoo group is here:E-Leadscrew Yahoo! Group
John
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Just came across this on youtube then found their website https://www.rocketronics.de/els/?v=6cc98ba2045f . If you use Chrome and Translate page you get a good English version. Sounds like another interesting project. Certainly a compact and simple controller, basically just one chip! Thought it might be of interest.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Hi can anyone help me please. I looked at the Russian sketch lead screw and it looks very good but I just want the screw cutting and feed facilities and not being that good at modifying the sketch and eliminating the cross feed x function and all associated functions like taper turning etc. So has anyone managed to do this and if so I would be very grateful is someone could point me in the right direction or or have a modified sketch....Thank you
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
I think you could just leave the code as is and not connect limits switches etc. that you don''t want to use. The feature select is done by a rotary switch so you could connect a 3 way switch to feed and thread inputs (3rd position off) leave the others not connected.
I ended up purchasing a Rocketronics ELS and that works great! Pre-built too! You can choose not to connect an x feed motor in setup menu then just don't use the other options in the menu. Very easy to setup, simple to use and quite cheap for a built and tested unit. There's also another ELS project that I found, using a touch screen and looks really promising. Not released yet but worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKs4lCEXwE
Also there is another one in development here, may be more what your look for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTs9GygRQ-U&t=16s
Hope this helps.
*** UPDATE***
Thought I may as well add this one to the mix as well. a really nice project too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_aGsBCorww
He has a website too. https://www.wadeodesign.com/cnc-lathe.html
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Thank you very informative may look at the Rocketronics
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paulmacc
I think you could just leave the code as is and not connect limits switches etc. that you don''t want to use. The feature select is done by a rotary switch so you could connect a 3 way switch to feed and thread inputs (3rd position off) leave the others not connected.
I ended up purchasing a Rocketronics ELS and that works great! Pre-built too! You can choose not to connect an x feed motor in setup menu then just don't use the other options in the menu. Very easy to setup, simple to use and quite cheap for a built and tested unit. There's also another ELS project that I found, using a touch screen and looks really promising. Not released yet but worth a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKKs4lCEXwE
Also there is another one in development here, may be more what your look for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTs9GygRQ-U&t=16s
Hope this helps.
*** UPDATE***
Thought I may as well add this one to the mix as well. a really nice project too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_aGsBCorww
He has a website too.
https://www.wadeodesign.com/cnc-lathe.html
Hi thanks is it possible to just buy the case and board as I have most of the other bits..thanks
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3 Attachment(s)
Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
If you mean for the Rocketronics ELS, then yes that's what I did. Though you need to be careful when wiring up the motors to the controller. I managed to bridge 2 of the wires and fried the input for that motor. Luckily when I contacted Rocketronics he said replacing a single surface mounted IC would probably fix it and it did. Been going great ever since. Just need younger eyes when wiring up. ;)
I did use a different encoder the the one he sells as I found that a bit hard to mount. Went with a Chinese version of a OMRON 400P Incremental Rotary Encoder. Works great.
My setup. Chinese lathe, 1Kw chinese servo on leadscrew driving thru gearbox, 750w DMM servo on cross slide.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/attac...d=424506&stc=1
Rotary encoder is direct drive off output for gearbox as it's 1:1 to spindle. Intend to mount it properly....eventually :-) Other sensor is for a RPM display I did before the ELS
1Kw Servo is direct drive to gearbox input shaft. I can use the gearbox to play with different ratios. Motor is probably too big, but it's just what I had.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/attac...d=424508&stc=1
Cross slide was a bit trickier. Wanted to do it without modifying lathe too much and still be able to use manually. As there were no roller bearings on the cross slide shaft(just a flat thrust bearing) I had to add the extension to hold 2 roller bearings to take the side load and use a shaft extension to get enough room for the drive sprocket and handle. Allows me to still access all the manual levels. Set the ELS to Gearbox mode and it's just like a manual lathe.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/attac...d=424510&stc=1
Still have a few things to finish off, but having too much fun playing with it to do that yet!
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paulmacc
If you mean for the Rocketronics ELS, then yes that's what I did. Though you need to be careful when wiring up the motors to the controller. I managed to bridge 2 of the wires and fried the input for that motor. Luckily when I contacted Rocketronics he said replacing a single surface mounted IC would probably fix it and it did. Been going great ever since. Just need younger eyes when wiring up. ;)
I did use a different encoder the the one he sells as I found that a bit hard to mount. Went with a
Chinese version of a OMRON 400P Incremental Rotary Encoder. Works great.
My setup. Chinese lathe, 1Kw chinese servo on leadscrew driving thru gearbox, 750w DMM servo on cross slide.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/attac...d=424506&stc=1
Rotary encoder is direct drive off output for gearbox as it's 1:1 to spindle. Intend to mount it properly....eventually :-) Other sensor is for a RPM display I did before the ELS
1Kw Servo is direct drive to gearbox input shaft. I can use the gearbox to play with different ratios. Motor is probably too big, but it's just what I had.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/attac...d=424508&stc=1
Cross slide was a bit trickier. Wanted to do it without modifying lathe too much and still be able to use manually. As there were no roller bearings on the cross slide shaft(just a flat thrust bearing) I had to add the extension to hold 2 roller bearings to take the side load and use a shaft extension to get enough room for the drive sprocket and handle. Allows me to still access all the manual levels. Set the ELS to Gearbox mode and it's just like a manual lathe.
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/attac...d=424510&stc=1
Still have a few things to finish off, but having too much fun playing with it to do that yet!
Hi yes I meant the Rocketronics. I like your setup and once again thank you for your advice. So you got the case with lcd and operation board together with software. Is the layout on the lcd in English ? I went to the Rocketronics site and translated via google but still not sure how to order those parts only.. Anyway thanks, really helpful
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Firstly, if you use google Chrome browser you can right click on the page and ask it to translate to English, may ask you automatically too. That makes reading a lot easier and it's quite a good translation, pity firefox doesn't do it. I went to the shop and purchased the assembled ELS 3. Comes with software, ready to go and English menu option. Think he even set mine to English before sending.
To get it going you will need:
+ELS 3 Assembled unit https://www.rocketronics.de/produkt/els2komplett/
+Rotary Encoder for spindle speed, either his or Ebay as mention above.
+USB power cable for ELS.
+Lan cables for x,y and encoder. I bought his as they were there.
+1 or 2 stepper/servo motors and drivers, depending on what you want to do, you don't have to use both. If you buy from him he supplies pre-wired cables and you can't do what I did and fry the ELS! But it's not hard to wire your own.
+Some way to couple motors to lathe, either pulleys and belts or the couplings like I used on the encoder, just bigger :)
Only real problem is the latest manual for the ELS 3 is in German, but I have used an online PDF translator and someone has posted a copy in the forum. I think there are some countries he can't sell to , so just check you're not on that list.
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Re: Russian Arduino Lead Screw Project??
Quote:
Originally Posted by
paulmacc
Firstly, if you use google Chrome browser you can right click on the page and ask it to translate to English, may ask you automatically too. That makes reading a lot easier and it's quite a good translation, pity firefox doesn't do it. I went to the shop and purchased the assembled ELS 3. Comes with software, ready to go and English menu option. Think he even set mine to English before sending.
To get it going you will need:
+ELS 3 Assembled unit
https://www.rocketronics.de/produkt/els2komplett/
+Rotary Encoder for spindle speed, either his or Ebay as mention above.
+USB power cable for ELS.
+Lan cables for x,y and encoder. I bought his as they were there.
+1 or 2 stepper/servo motors and drivers, depending on what you want to do, you don't have to use both. If you buy from him he supplies pre-wired cables and you can't do what I did and fry the ELS! But it's not hard to wire your own.
+Some way to couple motors to lathe, either pulleys and belts or the couplings like I used on the encoder, just bigger :)
Only real problem is the latest manual for the ELS 3 is in German, but I have used an online PDF translator and someone has posted a copy in the forum. I think there are some countries he can't sell to , so just check you're not on that list.
Thank you very much