Are There Any New CNC Controllers Out There?

I really like the look of the masso by hind technology. Its the machine controller as well as hardware. Initially i didnt think it was to attractive but after seeing it run a few machines on youtube i think i may give one a try. It appears to be expensive by looking at the sticker price but if you consider what it replaces its actually more than fair. Its the pc, motion controller and breakout board all in one. Compared to mach3 you have to track down and purchase a compatible pc, purchase mach software and then buy a smoothstepper at minimum to achieve what the masso has to offer.

I've experimented lately with a flashcut mill and i dont care for the interface. They have a new more functional and attractive interface but its currently only available for plasma.

I've read alot about UCCNC which is pretty much a mach 3 knockoff but more stable however it does lack alot of mach 3 features.

The g540 was a hit but im afraid it will soon become legacy as the computers it was designed to run on are harder and harder to find. Of course you can add something like a smooth stepper but its kinda legacy as well. Not to mention you cant do shit with them as far as I/O without adding resistors or optocouplers.

I think the holy grail for mach users with hobby size machines right now has to be cslabs controller with clearpaths.

Take a look at the offerings on Gryphon.com.

They do use leadshine motors and controller.

GBCues said:

Or maybe after getting your fianancing at Gryphon.com one could go to
gryphoncnc.com

Gary

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my bad. you da man!

The best controller/software package I've used is EdingCNC. Bert Eding is the man, and I think his controller software has a more professional, industrial look (that's touch screen friendly), and his controller card is small, robust, and just works.

I used a SmoothStepper before, and to this day still has that "beta" feel. It takes some time to dial in the look-ahead settings because of setting the correct buffer size. I had quite a few buffer over-run, buffer under-run errors. Plus you have to use Mach3/Mach4 which has issues of their own. The only reason you'd use a SS is if you are running an encoder with a high count, have a high mirostep setting in your stepper drive, or MUST have both USB or Ethernet AND Mach.

The EdingCNC stuff runs off USB or Ethernet, and a great value for the money considering the hardware and software are bundled together. If your post-processor can output to LinuxCNC (standard g-code) you're good to go.

BTW the ClearPath motors can be run off most all controllers that output step/direction. You still need controller software at least (Mach3/Mach4)

LGSM3 said:

I really like the look of the masso by hind technology. Its the machine controller as well as hardware. Initially i didnt think it was to attractive but after seeing it run a few machines on youtube i think i may give one a try. It appears to be expensive by looking at the sticker price but if you consider what it replaces its actually more than fair. Its the pc, motion controller and breakout board all in one. Compared to mach3 you have to track down and purchase a compatible pc, purchase mach software and then buy a smoothstepper at minimum to achieve what the masso has to offer.

I've experimented lately with a flashcut mill and i dont care for the interface. They have a new more functional and attractive interface but its currently only available for plasma.

I've read alot about UCCNC which is pretty much a mach 3 knockoff but more stable however it does lack alot of mach 3 features.

The g540 was a hit but im afraid it will soon become legacy as the computers it was designed to run on are harder and harder to find. Of course you can add something like a smooth stepper but its kinda legacy as well. Not to mention you cant do shit with them as far as I/O without adding resistors or optocouplers.

I think the holy grail for mach users with hobby size machines right now has to be cslabs controller with clearpaths.

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UCCNC and CS Labs interface off Mach3/Mach4, you'll still need Mach with these controllers...

louieatienza said:

UCCNC and CS Labs interface off Mach3/Mach4, you'll still need Mach with these controllers...

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Uccnc is software....cs labs is hardware

LGSM3 said:

Uccnc is software....cs labs is hardware

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Didn't know UCCNC had software... last I ever checked on them was their first product which was a USB to parallel dongle. I'm aware of CS Labs stuff, but overkill for this application.

GBCues said:

Loueiatienza,
Thanks for the link to the EdingCNC gear.
It looks interesting as well,
Gary

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Welcome...

Bert's support is great, package arrived fast, and he updates the software regularly. I have some videos I'll link when I get home...

Louie

which eding board did you get?

The CPU5A-3. The 4-axis is not much more. I got the USB version, because at the time the Ethernet connection was a kit; I bought a lot earlier, and now the Ethernet is soldered on-board.

If you do get the 3-axis board it can be firmware upgraded to 4-axis in the future.

You can also download the software now and try it out. I know the guy who designed the GUI, and he'd worked a lot with Heidenhain controls, and wanted to achieve a similar aesthetic. It makes Mach look like garbage if you ask me. The only difference is that EdingCNC software uses units/sec instead of min, so whatever you use in Mach you just have to divide by 60. Since it's look-ahead feature I believe is better than Mach, overall I find the jobs run smoother and faster. I do have an excellent CAM package as well (OneCNC XR4 Mill Expert).

One warning - if you connect a Gecko G540 to the CPU5A, you'll need to build, or have built a "crossover" cable because the pins are a little different than Mach3. I had one built for about $35. If you use the Clearpath motors, it's a lot easier; you would just plug a simple breakout board to the CPU5A and match the leads from the Clearpaths to the corresponding pins. Same with Leadshine drives. Even have a mill, running off CPU5A, and Parker-Hannafin high-voltage (177V) stepper drives and custom-made Lin Engineering 600in-oz steppers.

Some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sHsa4FZ2Cc&t=162s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flh8G2ERUnk

The mill:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj7suIYe-N0

This was a few years ago and the card name had changed but basically the same functionality. The machine was custom built for a project I had, and eventually sold to a school science club that used it en route to winning a state championship in robotics! I believe he had recently extended the travels in the Y direction. The entire frame was made with TUFNOL 6F, a fabric based phenolic material, MISUMI GFS high strength aluminum extrusions, THK SHS15 rails and blocks, and Kollmorgen high voltage, high speed steppers driven by Leadshine DM542 digital stepper drives, 48V PSU. Using 1/2"-8, 2 start leadscrews (.250" lead), I tested in the video at 420IPM and ran it as fast as 550IPM and 50in/s/s accel without stalling! You can see the difference fromt eh first video (no t-slot table) where I'm at only 250ipm or so using Gecko G540.

very cool....was following the skyfire guy a while back and was wondering if anyone had actually received there machines.

So have you run the eding board with any high res motors? You sounded like you had buffer issues with the ESS which is odd because its about the fastest communicating motion controller money can buy without going full on money with galil or delta tau. Certainly the ESS would run any steppers without issue unless that Parker drive will microstep to a really high resolution. The eding board communicates at 125khz which is significantly slower than ESS but certainly adequate for the 10x microstep range with motors you showed in vids. I doubt the eding board would run a 16 bit servo encoder without electronic gearing it down exponentially. Don't get me wrong, I think smooth steppers are for the birds, just curious about edings capabilities and using ess to compare.

Couldnt find specs for edings more industrial 24v tolerant 6 axis board....do you know if it outputs at 125khz too?

Have you noticed any sort of latency when jogging with the eding setup? Or is it pretty responsive as in when you press the jog button it goes and when you let off it stops. It seems that when adding some usb or ethernet motion controllers to mach occasionally there is a delayed reaction.

Does eding have the capability to modify buttons to have custom scripts like mach?

sorry for all the questions

LGSM3 said:

very cool....was following the skyfire guy a while back and was wondering if anyone had actually received there machines.

So have you run the eding board with any high res motors? You sounded like you had buffer issues with the ESS which is odd because its about the fastest communicating motion controller money can buy without going full on money with galil or delta tau. Certainly the ESS would run any steppers without issue unless that Parker drive will microstep to a really high resolution. The eding board communicates at 125khz which is significantly slower than ESS but certainly adequate for the 10x microstep range with motors you showed in vids. I doubt the eding board would run a 16 bit servo encoder without electronic gearing it down exponentially. Don't get me wrong, I think smooth steppers are for the birds, just curious about edings capabilities and using ess to compare.

Couldnt find specs for edings more industrial 24v tolerant 6 axis board....do you know if it outputs at 125khz too?

Have you noticed any sort of latency when jogging with the eding setup? Or is it pretty responsive as in when you press the jog button it goes and when you let off it stops. It seems that when adding some usb or ethernet motion controllers to mach occasionally there is a delayed reaction.

Does eding have the capability to modify buttons to have custom scripts like mach?

sorry for all the questions

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I was one of the fortunate ones. He does have a representative now that does US-side business, but haven't kept up. My particular machine is special, because of some non-stock items I had fitted: 4mm pitch C3 precision ground ballscrews, high-precision linear guides, and a 3HP 24krpm electric spindle, water cooled.

The thing with steppers and high microstep resolutions is that you get to a point of diminishing and negative returns. This is because as microstep resolution increases, torque decreases, to the point the torque can't even overcome the detent torque, let alone friction from preloading and inertia of the screw and load. So it's advantageous to set microstep at the lowest setting that gives the resolution needed. Thus any SmoothStepper is not necessary when running steppers. The lowly parallel port can transfer data at 3MB/s fast enough for Mach.

Trying to remember what I have the multipliers set up for in the router (Leadshine) and mill (Parker).

Haven't contacted Bert in a while, so I'm not sure of his other products. The software does support customization, but I'm not sure of the extent. I'd drop Bert a line, he responds pretty quickly. It does support scripts/macros as far as I'm aware, though I don't really use them in my work. The jog controls are very responsive, no latency that I'm aware of.

Hope I have answered some questions....