I've been given a Burny 3 controller with a tracing eye(and gantry,motors, gear boxes, and drives). I want to run M3 with a MP-1000-THC and gecko's. I'm wondering how I could hook this up so the eye could teach mach a part.

Will I need to keep the burny?

If I need to keep the burny how do I hook up 2 different drives?

What cheap THC options are there that will allow me to just run the burny?


Idealy I would like to run just M3 with an eye and skid the burny control.


Help!!!!!
 

You are not going to be able to use the bunny  controle we could (If given the time) use a $10 web cam to teach in a part This is something that I have been thinking about and just have not had  the time to even think about iit

Brian, that would be an excellent addition to mach, it could be used to digitize templates and other 2d stuff like that!
Im in the counter top business, that is used a lot!
Regards
Fernando

Is there any way to integrate the eye into mach?

If you are a C programer You may be able to get it to work with a plug in... Other then that I don't think so

The last time I did any C programming was about 10 years ago, and I sucked!  So I guess I'm screwed!

HI, I am trying very hard to imagine a a scenario why you would ever want to use the eye. The entire point behind CNC is to gain speed and accuracy in making parts.
If you were just given the entire setup then you probably don't have years of legacy hand trace drawings that might be cost prohibitive to redo in cad so that doesn't factor in. - advantage mach

If you just want to if you want to just take a marker and draw out a part and cut it you can do that on steel and get out the plasma torch and let her rip. If you want to change anything you would have to re layout and cut again. I find it WAY easier to change something in cad then re hand draw something complicated. - advantage mach

The fact someone just "gave" you this complete setup says something about this someones opinion of the setup ( boy that came out weird ). Just guessing, they decided to : a-stop cutting metal,b- company went belly up,c- switched to a cad,cam,cnc setup and realized the eye thing was a useless relic.

I looked it up and the entire thing is a neat hack , and i am sure back in the day it was state of the art. However that day was a LONG time ago. Presumeably thing thing works as is, if you want do just draw a part and cut it out you have everything you need. Adding mach into the loop just adds cost and complexity to a already functioning system. Hand draw-scan-mach-cut nets you zero benefit. Because you are still limited by the "scan" resolution.

Aside from the "just because i can" department , witch i do all the time too, there is no 'justifiable' reason for doing this, at least i can't think of one.


Any how just my .05c - good luck

Chad

Chad,
I see your point, but the fact is, there ARE some cases in which using the eye would work. Take counter top, vanity top, and any solid surface (corian, formica etc.) fabricator and installer. Most of them go to a site where they have to install something, make a template out of cardboard, wood, coroplast etc, take the template to the shop and make the counter top out of that template. No CNC no CAM no CAD involved.

Now If you have a cnc router, equiped with mach, a 10$ webcam, and that plug in, you can lay your template on the router, have mach trace/learn/scan the template, now you have a CAD rendition, which you can then use to lay out sink cut outs, engravings, drain boards, etc. and then use your cam to generate an output and cut in mach with your router.

Why not use just site measurements, and use those to draw up in cad? Well, as any contractor would tell you, there is no such thing as a straight wall. difficult thing to measure by hand and then draw in cad.

THey sell some systems (Phototop i think it is called) that have some sticker markers that you lay out on the install site, use a calibrated special camera, take lots of pictures of those markers, post process those pictures at the shop on their software and then export to DXF and cut, it is a hassle, you have to be trained very well to get good results, plus it costs over $10,000 last I remember. It costs more than my 12'x12' router im building!

SO there are some occations that it will come in handy.
Regards
Fernando

PS. some company even sells a template digitizer, its a 2 axis hand operated machine with alaser pointer for spindle, its tilted almost vertical, you have to tape or fix your hand made template on the machine, and then hand trace the template clicking a buton on all the features and telling the machine if it is a line, or a 3 point arc, etc. Think of it as a HUGE drafting tablet.

I have one of those digitisers, it's a Mimio digitiser, search for one on Ebay using "Digital whiteboard". Basically, you connect it to a PC, set the digitiser up on the corner of a max. 4' by 8' table, place your patterns down, and start. You use a sort of transmitter pen and trace around the template, it comes up on the screen as you draw. Saves as a JPG or a TIFF. I messed with the scaling and got it to be very good, I import it into AutoCad as a raster image, then basically draw over the lines with polylines, freehand or whatever your preference, and save as a DXF. I use it for pattern making for composite mould making and carbon parts, using my CNC router with a tangential knife setup to cut the carbon fiber out. Very nice setup, and very low cost!