Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Why EMC?

Carol & Jerry Jankura wrote:

> Other than being free, what is it that draws so many folks on this list to
> use EMC? I would have thought that, with so many G-Code interpreters being
> available for DOS and even for Windows, that the necessity to change
> operating systems (and to learn a new OS) and then learn to "tune" and use
> EMC would be more effort than many would want to expend with so many
> alternatives.
>
> Please don't take this question as either a flame or insinuation that EMC
> and Linux are somehow "bad". I'm just interested in understanding why this
> particular G-Code interpreter is so appealing.

One of the reasons is that it is a "professional" high-end motion control
system. It gives smoother motion and faster block processing than almost
any other "hobby-level" CNC control on a PC.

Another reason is that it is open-source, so modifications are possible.
With most other CNC control packages, you are stuck with the features
and characteristics that the vendor programmed into it. With EMC, small
things, like the size of the coordinate displays can be changed by almost
anyone, with minimal computer knowledge. For the more sophisticated,
major features can be changed, like the hardware interface to the motion
control system. Many other programs are stepper only, for common step-
direction stepper drivers, on a cartesian machine only. EMC supports
robots (rotational joints only), hexapods (combination of rotary and linear),

and conventional cartesian machines, as well as 4, 5 and 6 axis machines
(kinematics routines would need to be written). It also supports both
servo and stepper positioning with several options for interfaces, and
it also supports closed-loop steppers.

Jon