Multiple controller boards

Greetings,
I'm wondering,  it's it possible to connect a couple of controller boards  (like Arduino) to LinuxCNC, i.e.one for XYZ, anothe for ABC, one more for adding a turret or a double spindle..?

Why not, it seems to me there must be a way now as computers got super processing powers.

If yes, is there a specific controller board type(s) that can be connected together? Maybe several types may inter communicate with LinuxCNC and to themselves too?

Or maybe connect a number of these boards to a number of servo motors and drivers and other boards to other stepper motors and drivers?

Exactly, I am just at a beginner, trying to figure out how to make my super fancy machine., so do you think my dreams are valid, or can be true soon?
Is there some hardware that I have to buy prior to others, you know in order to plan the priorities and budget, but make sure I want to build the fancy CNC?

I'm sure there are many like me.

Thanks,,
Byes

Mesa 7i96S as the first in line, all in one, then to move things along, Mesa 7i85 for encoders and Smart serials, then add 7i84 or 7i70 or 7i71 for IO as these can be remote to any place on the machine and require only a single LAN cable to communicate.
Mesa boards start at something like 70$ and up, they are very fast and very reliable and i have used a lot of those on industrial machines that are in use daily.
Anything else you look might seem cheaper, it is not, and they will be extremely limited in expansion compared to Mesa.
You can probably do this cheaper with Remora boards or ESP32, but to much fuss and messy wiring and to much time compiling/configuring stuff just to make them work.
BTW, i did test ESP32 and it works, and i can build any damn thing i need, but the time and effort is not worth at all compared to Mesa "wire it/power it/run the machine."

tommylight wrote:

Anything else you look might seem cheaper, it is not, and they will be extremely limited in expansion compared to Mesa.

 

Trying to get a feel for this but I'm a bit overwhelmed.
Is it possible to use my own motion controller with LinuxCNC? I am only interested in closed-loop servo and I want to handle the PID myself. 

Craig

What do you mean by Motion Controller?
Using 2 of those would be reduntant and unnecessary.
Do you mean closed loop in the drive or in LinuxCNC? Both can be used, and LinuxCNC has PID controll and settings for everything required. Also can use PID closed in Drives and in LinuxCNC, and much more.

I have created closed-loop motion controllers using the RPi Pico, each one reading 4 quadrature encoders (2.8M quad-counts/sec)
I am using a separate Pico for each axis though. +/- 10V motor command, 12-bit DAC.
I guess I could simply take pulse & direction from LinuxCNC but I would like to not have to worry about LC's latency and jitter issues.

Craig

That would be analog control, like old servo drives or velocity control drives, so yes you can control them with LinuxCNC and Mesa boards, see below, and would also require encoder feedback to LinuxCNC.
Mesa combos that can do +-10V :
7i97T all in one
7i92TM with 7i77
7i92TM with 7i85 and 7i83 and 7i84 for IO if needed
7i96S with 7i85 and 7i83.