RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: PIC DRO Dreaming

> From: "Paul Devey" <paul_devey@...>
>
> You bring up some interesting topics:
>
> - PIC: I threw this out because it is cheap. Their is a company who makes

a

> 50mip version. Maybe using C or a floating point basic it could be done.
> Maybe the Basic Tiger could do the job;

Ok, my tone in the reply may have been a bit harsh, I was just thinking
about a previous exchange, where I assumed someone proposing an ISA card
design had a fair amount of electronics knowledge or he would not propose
such a thing.
In reality this was far from the case.
I didn't want to suggest building something to someone with absolutely
no aptitude or interest for the task.

[Paul Devey]

Understood.

>
> - Display: Their are some cheap parallel and serial displays out on the
> market for the hobbiest these days;

I agree the LCD displays are cheap.

I ordered a few 4 line by 20 column displays for 6 bucks a few days ago.
There are several cheap options.

I admit it is personal preference, but in this situation. I'd lean more in
the direction of a light generating device.

LED or gas plasma.
I saw a blue Gas plasma display a few days ago using the standard LCD
interface for $12.00

It may sound strange, but I personaly would prefer some physical seperation
between the Axis displays, rather than all together, IE. 3 seperate
displays rather than one large one.

LED segement type displays are going to be a LOT tougher than an LCD or
gas plasma display for what it's worth.

[Paul Devey]

I agree. 3 separate gas plasma displays.

I think you want to have a standard interface so people can hook whatever
they want.

Have you seen those little dot matrix displays? They are some type of gas
display I think. HP uses them on some of their test equipment. Droool!

>
> - Level of difficulty: Reading the Quad inputs would not be diffucult.

Nor

> Displaying the results;

The only issues I can think of right of would be the floating point
math, even if nothing more than counting clicks, and multiplying by
.00045354, tracking everything to 5 or 6 digits, and rounding it off
to provide the current displayed value to .0001 or whatever.
[Paul Devey]

This could be an issue if you are rapidly traversing in all three
dimensions at once.

>
> - Keypad input and a serial I/O you might also have the option of hooking
> this puppy to a PC;

Maybe I don't REALLY know how to use them, but All I ever really use on
the commercial ones is the Inch/SI and zero buttons.

I think the ability to track and select between several origins would be
handy, and not something any of the units I used could do as far as I know.

A consensus of a basic set of functions, we could STICK to would go a
long way to getting something like this off the ground.

Spitting out positions at regular intervals and at a FIXED baud rate
should be doable, getting too far into PC control of the device, 15
different automatic baud Rates and Custom "display Units" along
with the kitchen sink could make this become a mess quickly.
[Paul Devey]

Two serial ports. One could be used to interface to displays. The other for
sending info to a PC for redisplay or what ever. The second serial port
could also be used for downloading code into one of the FLASH 8052
controllers.

I have a preference to having it written in a high level language. Easier
to write and can be ported easily to other platforms.

Keeping it simple (KISS) is very important.

>
> - Skills: I could probably do it.
>
> - Time: I will ask the wife and my 3 month old if I am aloud to spend

time

> on this. I think their are people on this group who could do a better job
> than I. Anyone lurking out their who should reveal themselves? Don't be
> afraid to look stupid. I do it all the time.
>

I'm trying to get an 8052 Board together, that is my first use for the
machine I'm trying to get together, to build the boards.
it's a real catch-22 situation.

They are not nearly as compact and simple as a PIC, but on the other hand
they have a lot more options as far as memory and C compilers.
The down side is aside from ~256 Bytes of RAM, and No ROM, all the
128K or RAM/ROM are external chips you need to mount of the board.
The up-side is the option of that much code and RAM means you could
put the whole machine controller on there if you want.

I just ordered some for 88 Cents.

On the other hand my first, project with a PIC took about 4 hours
starting from scratch, and the only thing I had to add was an Xtal.

[Paul Devey]
Their are a few 8052 proto-boards and hobby boards sold by companies.
Circuit Cellar is a good place to look. Saves time and costs less than
$100.00.
Marc


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