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

Jon,

Is the Spartan chip an FPGA? Or a BIG CPLD? Perhaps you could supply a
reference source for parts, info and "compiler". Do we need to spend
gobs of money for the compiler, or is it freely available? Are any
available in DIP style packages, for prototyping? I'll pester my son at
UCSD and see what gate array stuff he was doing. Would you want to give
us a run-down on what is planned for the board and what it's goals are?
if too early or not a good idea, I can understand.

Thanks for your fine efforts in the project.

Alan

Jon Elson et. al. wrote:

> > 3. I think Jon is on the right track here with the CPLD approach.
>
> One very small correction here, but thanks much for the support. It is
> hard to get
> heard for all the PIC for everything people out there. A CPLD, which is
> very nice for
> a lot of simple things is just too small to hold the encoder counters,
> or the timing
> generator. It just has too many flip flops. If you have a 24-bit
> counter, and a 24-bit
> count holding register for each channel, plus one 24-bit word assembly
> register, pretty soon
> you have 216 flip flops on the chip, not counting any protocol state
> machines and or
> whatever else is needed. The CPLD I'm using on the DAC card is under
> $10. The
> more capable Spartan chip (about 5000 gate equivalent) is $18, and you
> need a $4
> serial prom to hold the program for it.
>
> > Jon, are you doing this as a product design to sell, or is it an "open
> >
> > source" type project?
>
> Both, I guess. What I'm trying to eventually get to, is where I can
> supply an entire
> package, with EMC software, just about any computer, and several boards
> that
> plug into a backplane to do encoders, servos or steppers, servo amps,
> digital
> I/O for auxilliary stuff, and eventually a dedicated control panel for
> EMC.
>
> > Also, I read about you doing battle with the EPP
> > fast transfer protocol. How many different parallel port chips have
> > you
> > tested with. Some don't play nice at all.
>
> Well, 2 so far. I never got EPP mode to work right. But, I did get one
> system
> set to ECP mode, and then configured that back to the EPP subset, and
> that
> DID work as advertised. I have to go back and try the first machine
> again with
> the new knowledge I've acquired, and the code that now works on one.
> The ECP seems to be more strictly specified in hardware, where the EPP
> definition left a lot up to the designers, as the only locked-down
> interface
> definition is the BIOS routines.
>
> For a number of reasons, USB can not be used safely.
>
> Jon
>
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