Messages

11

SmoothStepper USB / Re: Just got my Smoothsteppers, have a few queries now!

« on: December 08, 2008, 02:54:59 PM »

Thinking about it a bit more, using a 10tpi leadscrew means that I'll have 0.0127mm per step using no micro steps, so going to 10 microsteps is going to give me just over a micron theoretical accuracy.  Mr Gecko may well be right that any more than that is just overkill

I suspect the Stepper drivers lose a fair bit of efficiency when asked to switch that fast too

Still, I'll have a play and see what happens!

Cheers
Andy

12

SmoothStepper USB / Re: Just got my Smoothsteppers, have a few queries now!

« on: December 08, 2008, 08:59:03 AM »

Good news!  It works

I got the smoothstepper hooked up to a test motor/drive over the weekend, and it is singing away very happily!  The stepping is silky smooth and is running WAY faster than when I was trying to drive it from the laptop parallel port

The next step is to get all three axes wired up, and tested.  One thing I am wondering about now, is the microstepping level that I use.  I'm using 1.8° per step motors, and MDS542 drivers from here: http://www.motioncontrolproducts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=3  they apparently can cope with up to 400KHz input, so running the 125µstep mode means a max rpm of 960.  I am using 10tpi leadscrews on all axes of my mill, so the theoretical max speed is plenty quick enough for a small machine (10" travel in X and Y).  Is there any reason why I shouldn't use the largest µstepping level?

Thanks folks!

Andy

13

SmoothStepper USB / Re: Just got my Smoothsteppers, have a few queries now!

« on: December 05, 2008, 06:25:21 AM »

Hi Hood,

Many thanks for those answers, it is much appreciated!  I'm just off to pick up some 26 pin connectors, and hopefully I'll get the Smoothsteppers wired up this afternoon and tested

Cheers
Andy

14

SmoothStepper USB / Just got my Smoothsteppers, have a few queries now!

« on: December 04, 2008, 05:42:40 PM »

Evening all,

Thanks to the quick shipping and good service from the guys at Warp9, I'm now the owner of two Smoothstepper USB boards.  I have just started setting one up for my mill, and I have a few queries already!  Hopefully they won't sound too silly, and perhaps someone might know the answer?  I would be most grateful for any help if you do!

1.  When I am configuring Mach 3 with the SmoothStepper in the "ports and pins" setup box in the config menu, what should I be entering here?  I can only enable parallel port 1 and 2, and these need an address (a hex number).  Also, the Smoothstepper has 3 ports that can be used?  What should be entered to use the inputs on the 3rd port (do I just enter the number "3" in the boxes that are asking for port numbers?)

2.  Charge pump output.  I was originally planning to use a parallel port output from my laptop, and thus make use of a charge pump circuit for safety reasons.  As I am now going to be using a Smoothstepper board instead, is the charge pump still required? Is it recommended?  Or is the function of the chargepump now not needed as the smoothstepper does effectively the same thing?

3.  Are there any known issues, or features that are not implemented/supported by the smoothstepper in Mach3 at present?  I have read a few threads that mention the odd thing (soft limits?  Backlash compensation?) but not seen a current "list" anywhere.  Maybe this could be a sticky at the top of this forum?

4.  Can anyone give me, or post a link to, any resources that will explain what a differential input is (as seen on the Smoothstepper port 3 input 2), and what benefits it has over normal inputs?

Other  than that, it looks pretty straightforward.  I already have it communicating with Mach 3, but I haven't decamped out to the (bloomin cold!) workshop yet to hook it up to a stepper driver!  I may resort to bringing one inside this weekend if the cold weather continues!

Cheers
Andy

EDIT:  remembered the 4th question I had!

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 hardware drivers

« on: November 09, 2008, 05:28:12 PM »

Will do

I'm sure there will be more questions from me, especially when it comes to optimising the setup for my machine

Cheers
Andy

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach 3 hardware drivers

« on: November 09, 2008, 04:41:38 PM »

Hi Hood,

I've ended up ordering a pair of SmoothSteppers   I did try the drivertest.exe on my laptop, and the pulse speeds were all over the place, very inconsistent.  Despite upgrading the processor to a 2Ghz Pentium M, and disabling all the power saving features, it was still very inconsistent.

From what I have read, the SmoothStepper should sort out all the issues with running the parallel port comms on a laptop.  Fingers crossed the wait list goes down a quickly!

Cheers
Andy

17

General Mach Discussion / Mach 3 hardware drivers

« on: October 10, 2008, 06:53:36 AM »

Good afternoon all,

I have just registered with this forum as I am looking for a software system to drive my small CNC router/mill project that I have been working on.  It is a 3 axis gantry mill, which has a cutting area about the size of an A4 bit of paper, and around 100mm travel in z.  I currently have the mechanicals complete, and the Stepper drives all wired up, and I am about ready to build a breakout board and get the software side of things configured.

I have been recommended Mach 3, and looking at the website it seems like it will do everything I am looking for.

I do have a slight issue though, and that is that I only have access to a fairly low powered laptop (Dell Latitude D505 with a 1.5GHz Celeron M Processor).  I know it is not recommended to run the Mach 3 driver on a laptop, but I was wondering if anyone has had any success doing so?

The other option that I have just seen on here, is the ability to use an external hardware driver.  I have had a quick look over the "SmoothStepper" USB interface, and I was wondering if there are any other products out there that would do a similar job.  I quite like the idea of having an interface that allows some buffering, and is not entirely dependant on having a good spec desktop computer, and can work using a laptop or similar?

I'm off to do a LOT of reading of this forum now, and see what I can find out.  If anyone has any links to threads that might be useful to read, or has any advice, I would love to hear it!  Apologies for the "newbie" questions

Cheers
Andy