Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Windows and black boxes

> BUT, I dislike the closed nature of Flashcut- why are they unwilling to
> open their communication protocol? Would you buy a CNC machine that used
> a properitary code, that they wouldnt tell you?

I'd be willing to help try to reverse engineer the interface if
someone has one of the boxes in the Boston area. Reverse engineering
for interoperability is specifically permitted under the DMCA.
The question would be what one wants to do with the knowledge:

1) Just to know... sounds good

2) To build another box and eliminate the 'dongle' function of the box
on the software... starts to sound suspicious but may be legit in some
cases (damaged box, etc) Still it's probably best to stay away from
this one.

3) To have the alternative of trying different software which might be
better, or if support from the company stops.

4) To get ideas for how one might build an open 'black box' which
could be supported by a variety of open and commercial control
software. There is probably no problem here as long as no code is
duplicated (unlikley as it would be hard to get at anyway) and they
haven't patented some aspect of the system (again unlikely, given the
high cost for a small market).

Chris Stratton

-------------------------------------------------
Christopher C. Stratton
Engineer, Instrument Maker, and Horn Player
ccs@... 617 628 1062
http://web.mit.edu/~stratton/www/brassbuild.html