Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Lost Steps => time for microprocessors!

Jon Elson wrote:

> And, I'm going to jump right in and BUST your drum, again!
>
> A microprocessor can just about do the job, but it is too slow, unless
> you
> REALLY want to spend some money on a bunch of DSP machines, like
> the AD 29060 super-SHARC.
>
> I can EASILY do this for 4 channels in a single $18 FPGA, and have pulse
>
> timing resolution down to 100 nS by running the chip's counters at 10
> MHz.......

Ah well, we dont disagree that a dedicated box of electronics should do
the hard real time stuff. If its a microprocessor or a gate array, the
effect is a special box of hardware.

I assume your box needs to be told how many steps to move, and how fast
to make them. How do you handle the acceleration, let the PC program it
in a series of short moves until it reaches speed?

If your box has a nice clean interfce so I can poke values to it by a
simple driver, or even the BASIC equivalents of PEEK and POKE, then it
shuold satisfy my needs jsut fine.

I am very anxious to hear the specs of your box and know when it will be
real.

ron