Recommendation for an affordable controller

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14 May 2013 00:25 #34020 by ericerb1
:unsure:
I'm building a cnc mill (maybe with a 3D print head as well)
I think I need a motion controller or motor controller board because I'm using Servo Motors and Steppers.
I have two Servo Motors with ServoPack drivers and one stepper motor with a 5 phase stepper driver.
I have found many people doing one or the other but not doing both.
I'd prefer at least 4 axis control (in case I make the printer attachment)
Am I correct to assume any motion controller (ie ethernet SmoothStepper) can control my ServoPacks and Stepper Driver with PWM?
Or if LinuxCNC can handle both on it's own what daughter card do I need?

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14 May 2013 02:21 #34029 by PCW
I'm pretty sure that the Smoothstepper cannot be used directly with LinuxCNC
because it is a buffered non-realtime interface. LinuxCNC controls motion directly
so requires real time unbuffered motion interfaces.

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14 May 2013 02:32 - 14 May 2013 03:24 #34030 by ericerb1
Replied by ericerb1 on topic Recommendation for an affordable controller
yes, that is correct but I have found that some people are using the Ethernet Version of the SmoothStepper with LinuxCNC with some kind of hack. Regardless that's only if I need a motion controller. LinuxCNC is a controller so the SmoothStepper Idea is only if it can't control steppers and servo motors at the same time.
Last edit: 14 May 2013 03:24 by ericerb1.

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14 May 2013 04:24 #34037 by emcPT
In the most simple way to view things, you need something that would generate step signals to your drives, then motors to accomplish that request.

Step generator -> drive(servo or stepper) -> motor(servo or stepper)

LinuxCNC can provide those steps, then if you have servos or steppers depends on your drives, so the answer is yes, you can do with with LinuxCNC or even with Mach3 and SmoothStepper.

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14 May 2013 18:59 #34068 by andypugh
Replied by andypugh on topic Recommendation for an affordable controller

I have two Servo Motors with ServoPack drivers and one stepper motor with a 5 phase stepper driver.

This is fine, there is no real problem mixing-and-matching.

I suspect that the servo-pack drivers take step-direction commands just like the stepper drive does, so you can probably even run the whole setup from the parallel port.
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