Milling Machine Retrofit

[RossF]

I have a milling machine and I want to upgrade it to run Mach3.

It has Panasonic MDM102A1G servos, which are 1Kw 230V AC, with MDD103A1W drives/controllers.

The existing software is running Dos 6.2 so I need to replace the proprietary computer hardware.

I have the computer with XP running which I need to connect with the Panasonic drives/controllers.
They supply the AC and encoder voltages to the servos.

My question is - what hardware - boards do I need for this?
I am still on a fairly steep learning curve with all of this.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Chip]

Hi, RossF

Did a little searching, Maybe this will help. http://industrial.panasonic.com/ww/i_e/25000/fa_pro_acs_e/fa_pro_acs_e/a4.html

Your servos are most likely +- 10 volt type control, You would need some +- 10 volt to step/dir interface boards to use Mach3.

Chip

[RossF]

Many thanks for your efforts Chip.
After a lot of research I went for a Kanalog + Kflop board from Dynomotion and Tom Kerekes has been exceedingly helpful.
We have just started hooking it up and, although we have not quite got the machine fully operational yet, we do have the table working in the x axis and that means we can control the Panasonic drivers, which were my main concern as I was told, by the experts, that they were old and should be replaced.
I am sure we will be successful in converting it to a modern, and versatile machine with simple to use, and easy to understand, software and controls.
After posting here, and a lot of fruitless searching, I went back to the bloke, from whom I bought the machine, and he found a wiring diagram for the Panasonic drivers and, although the colour coding on the wires is not correct, we have been able to use it, with a lot of head scratching.
Ross