Re: Best components?
Having read this thread and noting your background. I would suggest you look at LinuxCNC becasue its got a full range of industrial quality interfaces from Pico systems and Mesa.
Depending on the PC you are going to use, a Mesa 5i25 or 6i25 (PCI/ PCIe) interface and a 7i76 daughter card would cover your needs. I use a Mesa 7i76e card which is essentially the same thing that is connected by an ethernet connection. The thing that stands out with the 7i76e is that it has 32 inputs, 16 outputs, 5 stepgens, spindle control, spindle encoder input, 2 MPG inputs, and 3 analog inputs before you need to add some daughter cards that provide almost unlimited expandability. Mesa also has a range of hardware to drive servos, encoders and resolvers of all descriptions. In my view, a 4x4 table requires a lot more inputs than whats available on a standard parallel port BOB.
The advantage LinuxCNC has over Windows is that it is installed on a Real Time Operating system that guarantees precise timing so things are guaranteed to happen at 1000 times per second while the Mesa hardware stepgens can operate at up to 10 MHz.
Rod Webster
www.vehiclemods.net.au