> On 3 Apr 2018, at 06:54, Roderick Mann <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> On Mar 29, 2018, at 00:37 , Bas de Bruijn <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >>> On 28 Mar 2018, at 22:02, Rick Mann <[email protected]> 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). >> >> Hi Rick, >> >> Can you give an example where you find documentation lacking? >> here’s a link on how to set up Machinekit. >> http://www.machinekit.io/docs/getting-started/getting-started-platform/ > > So, here's just a small bit of how the documentation is lacking. > > - There's no 30,000' view of how MachineKit is structured and runs. I'm > vaguely aware via osmosis that there are some layers, and possibility for > remote UI.
It's there. Legacy linuxcnc CNC stack but outdated > - The Getting Started/Setting up machinekit on a platform really just tells > you how to get the software installed. Perfectly fine place to start, but > then says nothing more. > > - So, I try the next line in the list of Getting Started links: System > Requirements. Well, that doesn't really help, and in fact adds confusion, > since I'm doing this on a Beaglebone Black, which doesn't meet the minimum > requirements. So I ignore that knowing people are successful with BBB. Outdated, we're looking forward for any PR > - Next is Stepper Quickstart, which "assumes you have done a standard install > from the Live CD," but the previous instructions make no mention of a Live > CD. Okay, ignore that, it's clearly out of date. Indeed, Outdated, we're looking forward for any PR > - Latency Test. I can probably ignore this because I'm on BBB. Should work > - Sherline & Xylotex. What? Okay, I know a Sherline is a brand of small > mill/lathe. I google Xylotex to see what that is. Some kind of DIY CNC? > Neither of these seems important to my setup, and certainly don't merit the > same level in the outline of Stepper Quickstart as Latency Test or Machine > Information. > > - Machine Information. Okay, this looks like something to pay attention > to. But wow, is this sparse, and does it presume a lot of MachineKit-specific > knowledge. Good thing I know a fair bit about what it would take to implement > this stuff from scratch, so I can infer some of this, but I feel already like > some basic introductory material has been skipped. > > (Note: these tables look like screen shots from a UI I have yet to > experience. This is the 10th time I've looked at this page, and only now do I > realize it's just a table showing the info I'm intended to gather. I think) > > - Pinout Information: Talks about parallel port. Well, that's clearly not > applicable. > > - Mechanical Information: Okay, I don't really care about this stuff right > now, I'm literally just trying to get one ClearPath stepper to work with my > BBB setup as a proof of concept. Back to Getting Started list. > > - Stepper Configuration Wizard: Better introductory information than anything > else so far, but says it's for "standard parallel port." Does that mean I > can't use it on BBB? Yes, the BBB does not have a parallel port. Machinekit is not a beaglebone project. So there will always be options not applicable to your hardware > Not sure. But I still don't know how to even get to this. Maybe the item > "Running MachineKit" I saw further down the list is helpful. Not sure why it > wasn't the first thing after installation. > > - Mesa Configuration Wizard: Okay, I own a Tormach, so I know what "Mesa" > probably means, I'm gonna skip this one. > > - Running Machinekit: Hey! Figured out how to run mk. Okay, I see there is a > pru_examples option in the configuration UI that pops up. There's no > information displayed with it, but let's choose it. It offers to copy it to > my home dir, then restarts machinekit. I see a splash screen, then it all > ends with some errors. > > I'll write another post about those errors, but that's my initial feedback on > the state of the docs. I hope it helps. Thank you for your feedback. Documentation contains the legacy linuxcnc documentation and in some/a lot of cases is outdated. And yes, structure can be improved. However there is a lot of documentation. And it's findable. Developers always have good intentions regarding documentation but I've learned that it will very rarely be done. Machinekit has a lot of changes wrt Linuxcnc and are not always documented. Personally I have made various attempts at getting documentation into better shape regarding structure and I've given up on some parts. I'm mildly interested in CNC so I'm not feeling inclined to spend a lot of my free time on that (having the experience that users themselves don't read/investigate docs before or during going head-first into this project) Previous years there's been a lot of effort put in making documentation easier to change/update. But someone still has to spend time on that. Bas > >> >>> >>> 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: >> >> The PRU’s only do step generation. You basically want to have an RT kernel >> because you want to update the commanded position and read out the current >> position in a timely manner. RT preempt kernels are common enough not to >> have them build yourself. The Beagleboard has RT kernels. >> >>> <https://github.com/hzeller/beagleg>. >>> >>>> On Mar 28, 2018, at 09:50 , Andrew Voelkel <[email protected]> >>>> 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]. >>>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/machinekit. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Rick Mann >>> [email protected] >>> >>> >>> -- >>> 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. >> >> -- >> 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. > > > -- > Rick Mann > [email protected] > > > -- > 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. -- 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.
