Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re[5]: EMC, Linux, RTlinux, General Questions

Smoke wrote:

> I've following this thread somewhat. It would appear to me then that
> computer network set up with LINUX for the server and WIN 98 for the
> workstations could do his 3D Cad drawings, save them to .dxf format, open
> them with A good Cad/Cam program for conveting to G code and then use EMC to
> actually do the CNC machine operations.
>
> Do I have that correct? I know LINUX is much more reliable than WIN so
> would this provide a more reliable system as far as CNC set up/operation is
> concerned?

Yes! I have the capability to do exactly this, but I can't say I have done it, quite.
I have Bobcad/CAM, which can read in a DXF file. A friend tried a massively
complex design for a molded part, with about 200 facets, faces, blends,
fillets, etc. Bobcad might have been able to handle it, but *I* couldn't,
not really understanding the part, etc.

I did a much simpler part for him later, and it worked fine. I had to use the
DXF information as a base, and then do a bit of editing on it to get the
toolpaths I really needed, like adding points for the cutter radius compensation
lead-in and lead-out lines.

I then sent the CNC toolpath (G-code file) to the Linux machine over my
little Ethernet network, checked it on EMC and then cut the part.

I have found EMC running on Red Hat Linux 5.2 (2.0.36 kernel) with the
applicable real-time patches. I have only had one crash with trusted
versions of EMC, and even then, the motion control kept running the
toolpath even though the screen froze. This is in 2 years of use!
(How many times has Win 95 hung up on me in that same 2 years?
I can't count that high!)

Jon