Re: Octave Capability / Control Mach3 System

[Rian Lauwrens]

Hi

Thanks for the help. I am not very familiar with this type of work and
am trying to learn more about it. I just thought since I am using the
Mach3 breakout board I will only be able to communicate with it via
the Mach3 software. I'll try EMC2 as soon as I get the system up and
running. I'll let you know of my progress.

Regards


Rian

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 5:28 PM, Przemek Klosowski
<address@hidden> wrote:
> On 06/30/2010 04:38 AM, Rian Lauwrens wrote:
>
>> I am a 2nd year Mechanical Engineering student busy with vacation work
>> at the NMISA. I am designing a system consisting out of a Mach3
>> breakout board, Geckodrive stepper driver, Stepper Motor and a linear
>> actuator. I want to write an Octave program to control the whole
>> system via the Mach3 controller through a parallel port.
>>
>> I would appreciate it if someone could answer the following questions for
>> me:
>>
>> Will I be able to do this with Octave or will I need to use MatLab?
>> Do I need to download some sort of driver to control the Mach3 or will
>> I have to write it?
>> Is it true that I will send the Mach3 the GCode from my Octave program
>> to move according to my specifications?
>
> I happen to know a little bit about this. You write that you use the Mach3
> breakout board, but you also imply that you are planning to use the Mach3
> software. Mach3 is a CNC system---numerical control of a material machining
> station. Essentially, it receives Gcode (RS274) commands for configuring a
> machine (lathe, mill, plotter, etc), calculates the trajectories of the
> elements of the machine (X,Y,Z axis, tool spindle, etc), and issues commands
> to the actuators (stepper motors, linear actuators, etc). The utility of
> Mach3 is in calculating those trajectories to take into account constraints
> like acceleration limits in multi-axis moves, cutting speeds, imperfections
> like backslash and difference between climb and conventional cutting. It
> also knows how to interface to many motor controllers, like your Gecko.
>
> Normally, Mach3 takes Gcode files as input, and interprets them to move the
> machine. I don't know whether and how can Mach3 take realtime command
> stream.
>
> Are you sure you need Mach3 at all, rather than directly driving your
> actuator? If you do need it, consider instead using the Free machining
> software called EMC2, http://linuxcnc.org/ . For instance, I do know that
> EMC2 has a Gecko driver, and it has a provision for streaming live commands
> into it via the emcrsh, http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?Emcrsh
>