[frankee]

I have developed a Mach3 plug-in for a USB based I/O board and require field testing of the plug-in.

I would appreciate someone's help from Canada or the US to install and test the operation of the board, plug-in, USB driver, setup instructions, and documentation. I will provide the breakout board and wiring harnesses for free, but you would have to take care of the shipping-related costs.

The USB I/O breakout board is compact, has 16 inputs and 10 outputs: all I/O are solid state DC. The outputs can directly drive large solenoids, relays, contactors, lamps etc, are surge and over-current protected, and can handle up to 2A/24VDC. The board uses Molex connectors for field connections, and I will also provide 2 ft long wiring harnesses.

We've been making this board for two years, and it has been extensively tested and currently in use in a non-Mach3 (Windows CE) OEM heavy-duty machinery application, so the board hardware has been found to work properly and to be reliable even in harsh conditions ... it's the Mach3 plug-in software that is new and that requires testing and user feedback.

If you are currently working on a Mach3 application, require additional I/O, are an experienced Mach3 integrator or user, and you can test and review the plug-in, please first read the information about the board at this blog post , then send me an email or PM providing ome information about your application.

I would like to have the testing completed in June if possible.

Thanks in advance,
Frank

[frankee]

Hi,

The offer is still available.

Frank

[frankee]

Mach3 USB I/O is still available.

[frankee]

You really know the US economy is hurting when you can't find someone able to take something for free. :violin:

[ger21]

I'm sure you could find some takers on the Machsupport forum.
If I had a setup that allowed easy testing, I'd have taken you up on it the first time.

[dertsap]

I think that the biggest problem is to find someone who meets the requirements .
most guys are building personal machines and not commercial .
most of us run higher than 24v .
few have tool changers or part loading station add-ons . Most add-ons are coolant pump and or spindle relays
And to be honest a 20-40 dollar shipping cost doesn't seem to be worth it to test an unknown board which may or not work for us
Don't get me wrong , but I saw this posting before and when i looked at the blog I realized that I wouldn't fall into the requirements as well as probably most of the other people on the forum

[frankee]

Hi Dertsap,

Thanks for your comment. I realize that I'm looking for someone specific, and realistically I may need to cast a wider net ... I'm just keeping the offer out there.

As for whether or not the boards works, I can pretty-well guarantee that it does since I use it on my own Tormach (which was the motivation behind the Mach3 driver) without problems. I use it to wire-in a remote start/stop/feed-hold pendant and for a tool-change alarm. In the future I also intend to wire-in a low coolant switch and spindle-running/jammed sensor: all useful I/O that a standard Mach3 printer port may not be able to support, but which are important if you prefer to walk away and leave the machine running unattended: just food-for-thought.

Best Regards,
Frank

I think that the biggest problem is to find someone who meets the requirements .
most guys are building personal machines and not commercial .
most of us run higher than 24v .
few have tool changers or part loading station add-ons . Most add-ons are coolant pump and or spindle relays
And to be honest a 20-40 dollar shipping cost doesn't seem to be worth it to test an unknown board which may or not work for us
Don't get me wrong , but I saw this posting before and when i looked at the blog I realized that I wouldn't fall into the requirements as well as probably most of the other people on the forum

[x69rzx]

Sadly, I do not meet the requirements either. However, I am attempting to add some functionality to a mach3 machine I am building and can't find any documentation on the programming of Mach3 plug-ins. Is there an SDK you could refer me to?