Why EMC

>    From: "Carol & Jerry Jankura" <jerry.jankura@...>

<s>

> 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.

Motion control is my hobby. With the EMC I can manipulate any part of the
system and see what happens. I can apply the same basic set of software
to any motion problem, cartesian, stewart, robot, vehicle. I can use a
variety of different feedback systems to collect data on position,
relation to other systems or objects and such.

I came to use linux (RedHat 5.0) because it was what the open source
system worked with. My total cost for that first dual boot system was $19
and about a months worth of download time from my ISP. Hobby folk tend
not to count their time. Linux (Mandrake 8.1) is now my OS of choice. I
still maintain a couple of MS-98 systems and a couple of Macs. But for my
personal use Linux is all of it. There is more available on a current
distribution than I could ever use and I use much more than I could ever
afford on a proprietary system.

My short term goals are to get the several mills, lathes, and hexapod
running here. My intermediate goal is to use my neighbors log skidder as
a mill by mounting a 350 hp hydraulic motor on the boom and use rf
enhanced GPS as feedback. Then I'll add a giant vacuum and hire someone
to run it to mill out holes for basements. <g> My ultimate goal is an
Audi tt with an emc program that I can teach to drive the Autobahn. Most
important in this final goal is the vision and sign recognition software
to see that little gray circle with the four diagonal lines that says,
"let the race begin."

RayH