Industrielle Linux CNC 5achs Fräsmaschine

I don't have much experience with Ethercat.
I simply had a milling machine frame without drives and I was curious if I could handle it.
I ordered integrated Lichuan drives and managed to configure the machine.
It wasn't easy, but the first time never is...
Since it worked really nicely, I decided to convert a second milling machine, basically identical, only slightly larger, so apart from a few numbers in the ini file, it should work with the same configuration.
I bought identical drives, connected them identically, ran LinuxCNC with the configuration from the first one and basically everything worked, except the motors did not rotate...
I wasted a lot of time before it turned out that I had to write the same thing in the xml file, only in a different order.
The manufacturer probably improved something, and that's how it ended.
Since then, I have been very cautious about recommending Ethercat to someone who has never used it before.
I really like Ethercat, but for now there are too many problems with it.
It will probably get better with time.

Ok, so for the first test I will use a mesa card, since I don't want to mess with the original motor drives. However if we decide to use Linux CNC multiple machines may be converted, therefore the hassle implementing ethercat is valid. Am I right when looking for a PC that has a Intel nic and 8th gen i5? Is Linux CNC able to do collision detection of the machine gcode?

Some computers are not suitable for LinuxCNC, not because they are too weak, but because they save energy without taking into account the costs.
If the processor heats up and is turned off for a few milliseconds, you will not be able to control any machine with it.
I like to experiment and although I don't recommend it to anyone, I installed properly working LinuxCNC (2.10 on Debian 13) on Wyse 3040 (Atom X5-Z8350 2 GB RAM and 8 GB "disk"). It lags a bit if you run several programs at the same time, but LinuxCNC with Mesa 7i92 works flawlessly.
For work I use AMD A10, both for Mesa and Ethernet. No problems.
I tried Ryzen 3 2200G and Ryzen 5 3400G, they work better, but they lost compared to AMD A10 in terms of dimensions, because they don't fit in a backpack, and that's what I care about.
So it's more of a lottery, a computer for LinuxCNC doesn't have to be very powerful or very expensive, it just has to fit.

tommylight wrote:

tuxcnc wrote:

"Ethercat is faster" is not a valid argument,...

He did not say "faster", he said more efficient, and even that does not seem correct to me from what i read around here, no experience with ethercat yet except rare services of machines using them.
I am intentionally refusing to use ethercat until something is done to have proper feedback, so far it does not work or it does work with big delays.
But, i would really like to have the redundancy it may offer, for now only in showrooms.

I think you are out of date Tommy. Grandixximo has done a lot of work and maintains an improved version of Ethercat specifically for LinuxCNC and also ahs done changes to the core code in LinuxCNC that improves how the Ethercat thread and servo thread sync on startup. Drive feedback form the encoder is just another variable on the Ethercat bus.The included lcec-configgen will build the xml file for you.

That sounds great, where do I find more information about that?

Some more questions:
What's the best touch GUI in your opinion? Later I must implement custom multi spindle tool probing etc, so that should be possible.
Can someone give me some tips how to set up a machine simulation? It would be great if that also hast a collision detection. Is that possible?, how does that integrate into a GUI?

I would suggest qtdragon-hd with a 1080p touch screen. Several probing methodologies are included.
Linuxcnc includes a  (large?) number of Sims.
There is an extensive thread about Ethercat jitter which you will see died out once issues were resolved.
forum.linuxcnc.org/ethercat/58103-ethercat-random-jitter-fix
Part of the solution  is tuning the system for RT performance and it was comforting for me to see it acknowledged that my tuning  methods were needed. I might add, the same applies for mesa network cards.

The fundamental difference between mesa and Ethercat is that mesa requires a dedicated point to point railway track. Packets hop on the train and get off at the end. Then packets get on the train and go back to the PC.

Ethercat is more like a streamlined bullet train which goes past a number of stations (slaves). Packets get on and off at each station (slave) without the train stopping. Hence why I say its more efficient.

The other difference is that mesa has pncconf to build your config and ethercat need you to build your config from a template just like I had to do on my first machine that used a Mesa 7i76e that was not supported by LinuxCNC at the time.  Having a similar Ethercat dsonfig tool is unlikely. It hard enough to do for the family if mesa cards, imagine how hard it would be with thousands of devlces, some of which are rarely found on a CNC machine. Then ask a machine to home itself without LinuxCNC's knowledge or control....