Re: Pico Systems USC and GSI products

Lance, since no one else has answered, here's my 2 cents worth. Jon's
boards have a pretty clean architecture compared to a lot of other
products out there. They are a good value for the money as well. They
do not work with Mach2. Mach2 has an open position loop. Jon's boards
are supported by EMC. Linux and EMC may be one of the reasons that
his boards are not more popular as Linux seems to scare people. You
can use one of the DAC channels to control the speed on a VFD or the
USC board has a PWM output that can be filtered to create an analog
voltage to control the speed on a VFD.

~petev

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Lance Hopper"
<snaggletto@c...> wrote:

> Hello,
> I've recently stumbled upon the Pico Systems site, which I

believe

> is run by Mr. Jon Elson that I see around these cnc boards so

often.

>
> I'm interested in the Univ. stepper controller and the Gecko

servo

> interface. Are these experimental prototypes or reliable, mature
> products? The USC in particular has some interesting features like

a

> 300,000 pps pulse generator, E-stop circuit, and what looks to be a
> way to close the encoder feedback loop in software. Not to mention

a

> true DRO, parallel port breakout board and IO board all in one.

Why

> don't more people use these boards?
>
> Do they only work with Linux EMC, or will they work with Mach2

on

> Win XP?
>
> I would like to hear more about these products (in lamens terms)
> and how the specific features work with Gecko G320's and/or Rutex
> servo drives.
>
> It also looks like there are boards that work with step/dir
> software but outputs an analog signal to control AC and DC brushles
> servo drives. Here I thought hobby cnc was limited to

step/direction

> drives and brushed DC servos or steppers.
>
> Is there a way to control a VFD and AC spindle motor with any of
> these baords?
>
> Thanks.