Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Help needed to select a Motion Control Card.

Alps Technologies wrote:

>Hello All,
>
>I recently joined this group. I am working on used CNC Milling/Lathe machines to
>repair/replace their control panel and/or malfunctioned drives.
>In this regard, I need some information regarding Motion Control Cards, there are
>lots of products available over the Internet offering multi-axis DSP based motion
>control cards.
>
>Can anybody please help me select a card from the following list:
>
>

It would be helpful if you mentioned what software you plan to use with
the card you select. If you have software in mind already, then the
first place to look is at their supported hardware list.

If you don't have software chosen already, here are a couple of options:
EMC2 has drivers for a number of servo cards, a list is here:
<http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?EMC2_Supported_Hardware>
These cards can be mixed and matched, ie, you can have more than one
card in the system at a time, and they can be different cards as well.

EMC2 is the only low-cost controller (that I know of) which supports
true servo control - with EMC2 closing the servo loop.
More info and a live CD ISO are here:
<http://www.linuxcnc.org>
The LiveCD is a bootable CD that gives you a chance to try out EMC2 and
the realtime Linux kernel. It's based on Ubuntu Linux, which is quite
easy to use. You do not need to install to your hard drive to try it
out (but of course any changes you make while booted from CD will not be
saved).

If you want to use Mach3 on windows, this is the list of supported hardware:
<http://www.artsoftcontrols.com/artsoft/plugin.htm>

There are other controller packages, you just need to choose one and
look at the supported hardware.

If you're writing your own code, then I strongly suggest EMC2, since all
the source is readily available.

- Steve