Re: What do we want?

Bertho Boman wrote:

> It could always be multitasking as you said but why bother?

That was to appease those that want a CNC swiss army knife.
Personally, I prefer to keep the two on seperate computers as you
suggest. Properly setup, the computer hosting the CNC program ought to
be networked to the computer with the files, and able to pull off files
as needed. Linux ought to support this just fine.

> Real design and verification takes a long time and I expect it
> will be done in an office environment.

For the semi to full commercial applications, almost certainly.

> What commercial and free programs will combine CAD and G-code
> generation?

There is one that integrates CAD and CAM,
http://www.camsoftcorp.com/
This starts pretty reasonable and goes well into the pricey range. For
me as a commercial user, it would be a serious contender if I had some
iron to justify it. (not to mention the $$)

> Any suggestions for converting programs?

My personal interest is in g-code. Ideally I would like to be able to
afford FastNurbsNC which would integrate directly into Cadkey97
and offer all the features I could want for a long time. Reality bites
though, and I limp on a Bobcad demo because the licensed version of 14.0
I bought has a dongle that NT doesn't like.
I think a lot of time could be wasted trying to cram too many functions
into one program, though if enough folks want to do it as a public
domain project and can pull it off, great!
I have no problem with using several programs to get where I want to be
as long as they work together, don't crash, and don't mangle files.

> Any suggestions for plugins in AutoCad?

Nope. Cadkey user here. Acad plugins available but not cheap far as I
know. G-code generator should stand alone and not tie everyone in to an
expensive program not everyone likes.

> I am not familiar with Ron Ginger's program but it sounds like
> you are proposing it as a basis for a "converter". Is that
> correct?

Well, if Ron's willing, yes. However, he designed it ground up to move
his machine. Would he be willing to abandon that aspect to go with
G-code/MillRite output? Could he keep the machine control side and still
do the other?
Is he willing to develop a graphical display for toolpath verification?
Are others willing to assist with that aspect?
I see it as offering pretty close to what I'd like for conversational
programming. Adding visual verification, and importing at least DXF
files would offer a single application that would work for -most-
people.

I may be close to solving my CAD/CAM problems however, just scored a
copy of XCad on ebay for $24. Upgrade to the current ($1500!) version is
just $99. The full-on 3D surfacing CAM module is $1600, which is pretty
decent from a commercial point of view.

Even with that package on hand, I'd still like to see a good
conversational G-code generator. I don't draw up everything in CAD
before making it.

Jon