RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Driver / Controller

It's understandable that you're confused, as the term 'driver' can be used
in a couple of ways:

1. A driver may be a piece of software that provides a standard way for an
application program to interface with some piece of hardware. Examples of
drivers are found in how your program may work with files on a hard drive,
the screen on the CRT, or the printer port lines. MS-DOS (and its workalikes
such as DR-DOS or FreeDOS) don't require any drivers to access I/O ports.
Windows 9x still allows you to access I/O ports directly, but often requires
a software driver if the access is time critical. Windows NT, 2000, or XP
require that you write a software driver if you want to access any I/O
ports.

2. A drive (or sometimes it's called a driver) may be one of two things - it
may be a hardware box that converts step and direction signals sent to a
motor from a printer port into the necessary coil phase changes necessary to
sequence the coils and also provide the power to actually drive the motor
coils. Gecko drives are an example of this, as are the Mauch or Xylotex
drivers. Or, a drive may simply be the last stage that provides the current
necessary to drive the coils, but does no sequencing. I believe that the
hardware that's sold with the Taig CNC machne is an exampleof this second
type of drive.

3. A controller can be almost anything. It could be a complete box that
accepts a paper tape and sends signals to the motor coils. Or, it could be a
'black box' that fits between the printer port and the high current circuits
that actually drive a motor.

In another message, Tim Goldstein wrote:

"For the purposes of a step and direction system (steppers and servos
like Gecko G3x0) a controller is the software package your run on the PC
that reads G-code and outputs step and direction signals via the PC
parallel port (Mach1, TurboCNC, etc.) or it's own dedicated external box
(DeskCNC, Flashcut, etc.)."

I would normally call this software packge the 'G-Code interpreter'


-- Jerry


|
|I'm sorry but I'm still not "getting" one thing and I hope someone
|can help.
|
|The difference between a DRIVER and a CONTROLLER.