Hello,
This is my first post on CNCZONE so first of all thanks for all the ideas/photos that the members of CNCZONE are sharing
I have started a CNC project together with a friend, based on a CAMTECH RM25 machine. The machine had NO electronics at all. Only the stepper drivers.
Since the machine arrived the following problems came out:
1) We are located in Greece = shipping from USA is expensive
2) We don't know if the mechanics of the RM25 has any problems = we cannot invest on controller/boards and power supplies, without knowing that it works
So we decided that we should go the DIY way.
Based on ideas around the cnczone, i have created a small parallel port driver - breakout port.
The board is not here to compete the boards from manufactures, it is a cheap solution (well not exactly a solution) which can be etch at home since it is single side (with about 10 jumbers) and with materials found on your/our local electronics shop.
The board has the following characteristics
1) Buffered output/input for the DB25
pins 1,2-9, 14,16,16 are outputs
pins 10,11,12,13,15 are inputs
and all the signals are going to the end of the board through connectors.
2) On board power supply of the 5V, or 5V through a connector
The board is NOT optoisolated, and the question is:
Should the board be optoisolated or you think that if the stepper motor driver is already optoisolated we don't need an extra layer of security ?
What do you think it should be added on the board based on your experience ?
Is something that we will need in the future that we should be aware now ?
The AVR based stepper driver will come in a second post
Thanks in advance,
Bill