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A couple of years ago I asked Galil why they do not have a "CNC" front end to their motion controllers and basically they told me that CNC is a very very small percentage of their business.

Assuming the steppers did not sound smooth at a slower speed, I would look some place else than temperature.

Check your power supply voltage and look at the voltage with a scope if possible to...

Slow...

My rapids are 55inch/minute, this machine is used for prototyping and one off builds so speed is not very important.

I tend to run on the slow side of cutting speeds and compensate...

Depends on a lot of factors, but let me give you my results:

I have a BOSS 6 with really good lead screws and ways which I converted. I can maintain .0005 all day long and be repeatable to the...

Thanks for clearing that up, it now makes sense.

Once you release that HAL code, I may take a crack at a FPGA pulse generator.

In any case, GREAT work, thanks for tackling the problem

Hi

That I understand, but what I don't understand is how the RPi SPI libraries are tied into LinuxCNC at the level of pulse generate commands.

When I think about how LinuxCNC it works with the...

Please excuse my ignorance about LinuxCNC, but if I understand your post,the step/pulse generation information is available via a spi interface?

If I have that correct,could you point me to the...

Hi

If I understand correctly you offloaded the pulse generation from the linux kernel, do you plan on posting the source changes to linuxcnc on Github?

My reason for asking is general interest...

I have spoke to one of their tech folks a few times and they seemed REAL sharp, let me send her a email referencing this thread and see what she says.

Al

So you asked them for the source code and they said they have abandoned it?

Heck, they lost it...

Crazy idea....

What about we try to get them (Galil) to open source their old G Code translator and then we have a go at it?

Speaking for myself, the current stuff works just well enough.

I have considered going down this trail, but get stopped pretty quickly when I look at the range of "compatibility" issues to be...

You will not get an argument from me.

I use their cards and would love to have a front end that understood G code, but I bet it's a matter of price point in the retrofit world.

Their stuff is...

wow, you are digging pretty deep to find that.

Zero experience with that, just wanted to let you know that over a year ago I spoke to one of their product managers. I asked why they do not offer...

Thanks for the reply, and that makes sense that digital drives would be vendor locked

question on this, when you say digital do you mean a custom protocol/instruction set telling the drive what to do across something like rs845 or CAN?

if so how do you sync axis's, and would not...

I have been using Galil for a couple of projects lately and am very impressed, great stuff, and importantly, when you call them you can actually speak to a live person who knows the products real...

Agreed

I use Galil for automation projects but my CNC mill is smoothstepper based because of a lack of front end to Galil controllers.

I do have one question, why VB based?

Al

Hal/DeviceDriver/PIO..., someone would need to write that I/O stuff, which can be a pain to write when I have a complete OS sitting on the top.

I have a RPi on order, but mostly to see how it...

LinuxCNC/EMC requires a parallel port, PCI or ISA bus for interfacing to the physical world, so that would need to be worked out.

Porting a real time kernel and device drivers to work with the RPi...

Make that two.

I am using a Galil ethernet controller for a "pick and place" type project and am very impressed, would love to use it on my Boss6 bridgeport retrofit.

I have that exact same mill, kept the steppers, added some 203 drivers, smoothstepper, used the original limit switches, and rewired the front panel.

it works incredibly well, slow, but very...

Hi John

Any results? I am expecting a full report tomorrow.

BTW: I am attempting sarcasm so please do not be offended by this, not many people do what your attempting in your house.

Best...

One more crazy suggestion, do the same measurements except with the straight edge lying horizontal to negate gravity.

Make up some supports to hold it horizontal, gently clamp the retro-reflector...

Hi

Have you tried taking readings from the other side/direction? Meaning switch ends and see if it mirrors the readings.

What about running it against one of your other straight edges and see...

How long is the center section which has the funky readings and is it repeatable if you move the retro-reflector side to side as much as the flat allows?

Also how stable is the temperature in the...

Hi

What is the design of the bottom mounting surface of your mirror/retroreflector that is sitting on your straight edge??

Is it three points or a surface?

One time using a similar setup a...

Look for a CNC machine with dead electronics, you will have a straight forward conversion.

Everyone keeps dragging this back to EMC and CNC context which is very appropriate given the nature of the forum.

Given I am a crappy developer, I find it easier to spawn off the time critical...

At this point I am not even talking about EMC vs Mach3, that horse has been beaten to death.

What I am trying to say is that at times one should consider using a FPGA and/or a FPGA with a CPU vs...