Hi and thanks for the reply. I'm not sure why I need a board for isolation - my current setup doesn't have anything like that. I just have a ribbon cable that goes from my Ethernet Smooth Stepper to the Gecko motor driver. Maybe there is isolation in the Gecko or I don't understand something.
But the rest of your post gives me pause. I'm not looking for a research project - I have to get paid for that. It this is not something that is frequently done and therefore there is some tribal wisdom on it, I'll take another path. I was getting that vibe from the forum. If I run into the same thing with generic LinuxCNC and the Mesa ethernet, then I'll have to hold my nose and go with Windoze. I know that I can buy a UCCNC ethernet card for a little over a hundred bucks and the UCCNC software for 55 euros and I'll have a working system. I'm intrigued by the Linux solution and I'm sick of Windows, but my primary goal is to use my CNC, not to dink around with it. I'd rather go with Linux, but I can't let religion get in the way of building (physical) things. So thanks! Your cautionary tale is more valuable than you might think! On Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 1:02:55 PM UTC-7, Rick M wrote: > > I'm just starting on building a CNC router using MachineKit and a BBB. > You'll still need a board of some kind, if for no other reason than to > isolate the BBB from the rest of your system. I bought an OPTOCAPE ($165) > to experiment with, but I will be designing and building my own board at > the same time (mostly because I want all the right connectors on it). > > So far, I have not had any success figuring out how to get MachineKit up > and running. I also haven't tried that hard, but it's really non-obvious, > and there are huge gaps in the documentation. I finally have enough pieces > in place to try this in earnest, but my shop office buildout has taken > priority (can't make room for the router until I finish that). > > I'm fairly sure MachineKit and BBB is the right way to go. MachineKit > seems to want a real-time Linux kernel even though I don't think it's > necessary because of the PRUs. There's also this project which might be > worth considering: <https://github.com/hzeller/beagleg>. > > > On Mar 28, 2018, at 09:50 , Andrew Voelkel <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > > > > Hi, > > > > I was referred to the MachineKit group after discussing plans to switch > my router machine control from Mach3 on Windoze. He told me that people are > using the PRU on the BBB to do the stepper motor control for LinuxCNC. That > sounded attractive. > > > > (I have a Gecko motor driver. My system is 4 motors, but only because > the x motor is mirrored.) > > > > So I did a forum search here and it didn't really clear things up that > much. It was pretty down in the weeds. > > > > What I'm trying to figure out is whether using MachineKit LinuxCNC and > the BBB with the PRU is standard fare or not. I have basically two choices > as far as I can tell: > > • Use MachineKit and a BBB I have lying around, and the PRU as > stepper control. Ride off into the sunset. > > • Use a Mesa 7i92 for stepper motor control and standard > LinuxCNC instead of MachineKit, making sure that I have a realtime kernel > installed one way or the other. I'd probably still use the BBB as my CPU. > > Although I like the idea #1 above because it is a one board solution > (and I save $89), the most important thing is that I choose the system that > is easiest to set up and most reliable. > > > > Does anyone have any opinions of which that might be? If both of these > configurations are regularly used, then I'll go with BBB and PRU and > MachineKit, since I can try it all out for the cost of my own time. But I > value my time so I don't want to get too experimental. > > > > Thanks for any help!! > > > > -- > > website: http://www.machinekit.io blog: http://blog.machinekit.io > github: https://github.com/machinekit > > --- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Machinekit" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send > an email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/machinekit. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > Rick Mann > [email protected] <javascript:> > > > -- website: http://www.machinekit.io blog: http://blog.machinekit.io github: https://github.com/machinekit --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Machinekit" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/machinekit. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
