Welcome To The NC Pod Development, Discussion and Support Topic

[kookaburra]

Hi All,

Welcome to the NC Pod topic. This area is intended to discuss the NC Pod and to support those who are new to the device. Although the device is not yet commercially available, feel free to read on as the development team work towards its release. Please do not bother Art directly regarding the NC Pod, rather, post all of your questions here and they will be answered by the appropriate members.

Enjoy the topic, so far the NC Pod is coming along brilliantly.

Take Care

Dave

[greg]

i have seen where i can buy 1. it is for beta use. will there be any physical , mechanical difference in this 1 and future ones? what are the differences between the ncpod and yhe g00? just trying to learn all i can. thanks greg

[ynneb]

What is an NC Pod ? What does it do? Is there a photo of one? How much are they?
Just because you know, don't assume we know

[kookaburra]

Greg,

The Beta version is purely for those who want to be a part of the testing period. There will be an updated Pod eventually with some changes and many additions. So far the NC Pod is a USB device with a Mach3 Plugin capable of 6 axis control, 4 standard outputs, PWM spindle control, 1 e-stop input, 5 generic inputs and 6 homing switch inputs. I have been testing the pod for some time now and it is at the stage where the above items I have mentioned are working floorlessly. The motion from Mach3 is silky smooth. The best thing about the device is that apart from a few pin settings to configure in Mach3 ports and pins, the device is just plug and play, unlike a few other devices that need a good deal of hardware configuration prior to use.

There will be a version released this quater that will have expandable I/O and handle many other functions like smart tool changing, digitizing plus many other features that are currently being discussed.

I hope to get some more info up about the pod shortly.

Ben,

Thanks for the poke in the side to get some info on the Pod up for the readers to browse. I will hopefully have a Photo of the Pod, an NC Pod connection and Mach3 setup pdf and a link to see video footage of the NC Pod and Mach3 in operation.

Take Care all

Dave 

[kookaburra]

Hi All,

Sorry for the large file size. but here is some video footage of my workshop machine running with Mach 3 and the NC Pod. The machine is Servo driven using MCG ID33003 Motors from Dan Mauch and our Tek10 TEKdrives. The spindle is a 2.2Kw 24,000 RPM AC Spindle Motor which is being driven with one of our inverters.

Hope you enjoy it, the file size is 17MB - www.cncteknix.com/video/motiontest.mpg

Dave

[Amnz]

I don't know for sure if this is what the ncpod looks like, but you can remove it if it's incorrect

[Greolt]

Yeah that's what it looks like.  After all that is the photo from the manufacturers site.   

Great to see a forum for the ncPod at last.

[dacostad]

How would you connect the pod to say a Xylotex controller car?

Thanks


David

[Greolt]

It looks to me like you would need to make a rather complicated cable or a adapter / break out board.

I think you will find the next version will allow for more connection types.

Also I did hear that CandCNC is planning addon boards for it. Others will probably do the same as it becomes popular.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showpost.php?p=236619&postcount=18

[rcrabb]

Just got my NCpod. I followed all the instructions, Installed the firmware, but I just can't seem to get it to stay comunicating with Mach. Can anyone help me