Re: When will "acorn" release?
Originally Posted by
cnckeith
Acorn has PLC wizard with easy drop down boxes.. the wizard programs the PLC program for you. very cool. just pick what you want the output of input to do and save it.
i'll post some screen shots or a video of this soon.
but if you want to you can hand edit/program the plc program. and yes it uses the same language as OAK and Allin1DC cnc control boards.
you'd be alot happier with a centroid over hte syntec for sure!
post some info about your machine....what axis motor and drives are you using? what kind of machine tool? etc..
Frank would be happier with Centroid - if he started with it for sure and maybe still. He and I both have syntec (now - my last machine was centroid cnc7 at the end). I knew Frank asked about centroid in the syntec thread and I have nothing but good things to say about both the hardware and the network of installers like Keith and CNCNW that work with centroid.
Frank really seems hell bent on modifying his machine to add a ton of tools and seems to have other customization in mind that I know are not suited to a poorly documented (in english at least) Taiwanese controller.
I absolutely love the look of that Acorn board! I agree that it is not enough input/outputs to do a replacement of a syntec (as the syntec has 16/16 and I know mine is using about 13 outs and maybe 10-12 inputs). The oak board is what I would pick and its not an idle observation as we have another machine with an older syntec controller that I can see needing replacement sooner.
I hope to find a use for that Acorn board - I would be nice to use the centroid control software again. I still might too. I have an engraver project using Tinyg board and really, if this had been out earlier, I might have gone centroid for it just for the controller software. Anyhow, to anyone researching it, that Acorn board looks awesome. I wouldn't touch Mach 3 with a 10 foot pole (It seems like a kludge on top of a patch to me) and this looks so much easier and so much better. Not that I use a gecko 540 but that particular db25 feature looks so awesome to someone like me that struggles with neat enclosures.
Anyhow, just wanted to see the praises - my previous machine was great and it was built in 2000 with older tech. These have all the benefits of modern tech and the simplicity of a tried and tested user interface.
In case anyone is wondering, I'm the twin of the other gfacer on cnczone...