Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: BeechDesign on April 01, 2020, 05:23:55 AM

Title: Breakout board design - what encoder inputs and limit switches will Mach 4 use?
Post by: BeechDesign on April 01, 2020, 05:23:55 AM

Hi. I'm in the process of designing a breakout board for my CNC, I'm going to be using an Ethernet Smoothstepper for motion control, with some Trinamic 5160 Drivers to control the steppers, and an Arduino Mega to look after them via SPI. All (relatively) simple so far. So, my questions are:
*Is it ok to use NC limit switches to simplify the wiring on the X/Y/Z limits (this is the way my current control unit works, so ideally it will be the same going forward).

*What kind of encoder inputs will it accept? I have found some reasonably priced encoders (these one's... https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/CUI-Devices/AMT203-V?qs=WyjlAZoYn51vfiQSHOoysQ==), and ideally I'd like to use absolute encoders so that if I make a 4th/5th Axis in the future I can mount square stock always in the correct orientation.

Thanks :)

Title: Re: Breakout board design - what encoder inputs and limit switches will Mach 4 use?
Post by: smurph on April 01, 2020, 08:34:26 PM

I would pose this question to Warp 9 on their forums.  You will likly get a better response.  But not that there are already some nice BOBs out there.  PMDX-126, MB3, etc...  literally too many to list.  You may be re-inventing the wheel. 

Steve