[routalot]

Has the original poster seen any of the numerous youtube videos about driving a large stepper with an Arduino?With the right hardware there shouldn't be any need to submit an Arduino or it's shield to any high currents.Having said that,I would still select LinuxCNC myself and if space really is tight,I would look at using something like a Raspberry Pi in the same box as the drive modules.I don't know a huge amount about what would be necessary and wouldn't be surprised if somebody on this forum could provide an answer.

[rodw]

Has the original poster seen any of the numerous youtube videos about driving a large stepper with an Arduino?With the right hardware there shouldn't be any need to submit an Arduino or it's shield to any high currents.Having said that,I would still select LinuxCNC myself and if space really is tight,I would look at using something like a Raspberry Pi in the same box as the drive modules.I don't know a huge amount about what would be necessary and wouldn't be surprised if somebody on this forum could provide an answer.

This is my LinuxCNC PC. Where is the massive box?



The ethernet cable runs back to the Mesa 7i76e in the control box.

[Black Forest]

It's $440 to get the package Centroid hasn't deliberately throttled for file size (50Kb?) among other limitations to do the up sell. Getting Centroid's motion control know-how for that price is cheap but it's a business practice carried over from industry and it's not the hobby market norm. Unless support is paid for ($90/hr ?) it looks like most support will be from a user community forum with some input/moderation from Centroid techs?

Getting linuxcnc installed and a stepper system running can be a one evening project if every thing goes to plan, the instructions are well laid out. Of course there's some luck involved and Murphy is always hiding around the corner. Fortunately the forums are active and there's even some live help on irc. It's not the overwhelming task it's sometimes made out to be. I've managed many times and my intelligence is pretty average (many have said less than average)

Are you aware that Centroid actually dropped the price of the Acorn recently? Not because it wasn't/isn't selling. It is selling extremely well. I look at it this way. If someone is starting out on the CNC jouney there is information overload. So many different aspects of the whole project have to be digested, understood and implemented. If someone can ease the learning curve why not. As for support for the Centroid Acorn I think it is top notch. The forum is really active with experienced people as well as the folks at Centroid. The ease of setup with the Wizard system and the conversational programming for G-code makes it a no-brainer in my book. The fact that the hardware and software comes from the same company is a big plus. No finger pointing to where the problem is located. Sure everything can be done in LinuxCnc but don't be blinded by your experience with LinuxCNC. I for one know first hand how daunting it can be to set up for the true newbie! Wondering which hardware to order that will play nice with which software is another daunting task. You have to know what questions to ask to get good answers! If the OP wants as inexpensive as possible monetarily then he will have to pay with effort and time. I don't have a horse in this race. Just pointing out another option. It seems the OP has buggered off so it is all a moot point anyway!

[ger21]

Are you aware that Centroid actually dropped the price of the Acorn recently?

Are you sure?
It's $299 + $139 for the software.
It started at I think $269 + $99.

[cyclestart]

Getting Centroid's motion control know-how for that price is cheap but it's a business practice carried over from industry and it's not the hobby market norm

Both parts of that are true. No disputing customers get something valuable for money spent.

Going back to the original question

CNC Software: I see that Mach 3 is common, but I'm looking to build this thing on a budget and $160 is more that I had budgeted for. Are there any open source/low cost alternatives?

Linuxcnc and grbl ore both open source and low cost (free) . The OP said $160 was more than budgeted. All the other options suggested will run circles around Linuxcnc with software step generation (ie: no Mesa help) but it gets a machine up and running.
OP might have been willing to stretch that budget, it looks like we'll never know.

[Black Forest]

Are you sure?
It's $299 + $139 for the software.
It started at I think $269 + $99.

The $269+$99 was the introductory price offered for a limited time that was advertised as such. When the introductory period was over the normal price was $329 I think. The $$99/$139 was for a software upgrade to pro level. with much more advanced features.