request for guidance and information

hello;

i received the below e-mail from a person who would really like to test
linux/gnu cad/cam. he is also in need of emc since his current software
based controller is orphaned. i am really 'gun-shy' about letting someone
at such a distance test linux/gnu cad/cam given the last round of testing
really left a bad taste in my mouth. ( it was a near constant flood of
'can you add this', 'could you add this filter',
'could you add photorealistic rendering', etc. )

in my way of thinking he may be better off switching to emc/linux first
before attempting to use linux/gnu cad/cam ( which i reconsider alpha
grade software, many quirks, and it crashes and burns often. i really
need to take a couple months straight and work on it. )

would any one in the group perhaps recognise the system he has?

would any one in the group perhaps have any ideas concerning the
'unidentified isa digital i/o board' which connects to the vfd?

i have no experience with the gahil motion control card he is
using. i did look at the gahil web page and they do have linux
drivers for this card.

<begin quote>

I own a CNC router that currently runs on orphaned proprietary control
software under, and in spite of, Windows 95. I am using an old
entry-level version of Mastercam for the CAD-CAM, but at least I can
run that without Windows. I am highly motivated to find, or help construct,
open source alternatives for the entire system. My present CAD-CAM software
artificially limits what I can do with my machine. I have no hope of any
debugging or improvement in the control software. I cannot afford the
5-figure price of a system like Solidworks, for example, and even if I
could afford it, I would never invest that kind of money in software that
depends on Windows.

I'm afraid I know nothing about coding, but I can offer the use of my
router as a test bed. It operates on a PC-based control, with a Galil DMC-1000
ISA motion control card feeding Yaskawa servo amplifiers and Yaskawa AC servos.
The spindle is a 3HP Columbo powered by a variable frequency AC drive which
appears to be interfaced to the PC via an as yet unidentified ISA digital
I/O board. I could easily add a hard drive to it for a Linux installation,
with little risk to the current software setup, or no risk at all if I swap
the drives out. Perhaps this test bed could be of more immediate help to the
emc project. If so, then I will be more than happy to also help with that
project in any way I can.

<end quote>

--
Terry L. Ridder ><>