Today we began shipping the 2nd generation, DeskCNC controller.
This is a 125,000 steps per second, step and direction, Windows OS controller. It has flash reprogrammable firmware which is updated with the DeskCNC software. The board is 2 x 2.5 inches. All operation is through the serial port.
The controller supports 7 relay outputs (CW, CCW, Flood, Mist, Aux1-3), 8 switch inputs (4 axis simultaneous homing, e-stop, feed hold, probe/limit, and cycle start), and a 5v PWM spindle speed output. It has 4 axis continuous motion contouring. Machine configurations include rotary 4th axis, slaved linear 4th axis, and 4 independent axes for foam cutting.
The board also has a quadrature encoder connector. This function will be activated in the near future with capabilities planned for lathe threading, manual jog control, and torch height control.
DeskCNC is a CAM programming system with contouring, pocketing and drilling, 3D surface machining, PCB tracerouting and drilling, image acquisition, editing, engraving and carving, and text engraving, a standalone editor/simulator, and a CNC machine controller. Specialized programming routines have been added for 4 axis foam cutting, including island salvage, and 3D rotary axis ring cutting.
The controller supports integrated probing with automated surface scanning, compensation for probe tip diameter, and creation of a 3d .stl surface file. It has cutter compensation (G41/G42), tool and work offsets, drill cycles, and program subroutines. An api is available for some user customization of controller functions.
Requires Windows 98 or later, recommended processor speed of 200 MHZ or faster, and 16 meg ram(128 Meg ram and faster processor recommended for 3D surface manipulations).
Additional info at:
DeskCNC 2nd gen controller
Fred Smith - IMService