Hi,
Recently we purchased a Vital Systems HiCON Integra card as others were not yet completed or functional with Mach4.
We wanted to make a new Controller for our Mill to use with Mach4.

Our requirements were:-
Have a Controller with 4 Axis with the option to go to 5/6.
Have full front Panel 5 Button control the same as Mach4 controls.
Have the front Panel Buttons LED lights function correctly as well as have LED’s for other items.
Be able to have +5V Homing function with +24V inputs to controller.
Be able to have limit controls 24v inputs to controller.
Be able to fully control a high speed Spindle/VFD.
Be able to have full and proper E-Stop.
Have a fully functional MPG with E-Stop.
Have cost effective Stepper Gecko Motor Drivers (G203V and GM215).
Have a good Power Module for the Motors (PMDX)
Be able to Dump Motor Back voltage (PMDX).
Be able to disable Gecko Drives (+5V).
Be able to attach a Probe.
Have sufficient documentation and support (Marc/Rufi/Brian) to get the Controller completed and functional.

Make sure you fully read all the documentation HiCON/Mach4 as the answers are there.

Well this was a journey that required a lot of planning, simulation and circuit testing, providing a lot of fun along the way.
HiCON Integra Card and its Documentation, plus the Mach4 Documentation made it possible to do all we wanted.

We now have a fully functional Controller and are waiting on two items in Mach4 to be able to go into production.
1)   CV to be completed
2)   MPG to function correctly with .01mm and .001mm.

So in summary if you want a Mach4 Motion card that works then Vital System HiCON Integra delivers.

Mauri.

Hello Mauri,

We really appreciate you taking the time to write this honest and good review, and of course, the time you had spent working with the HiCON Integra. 

I'd like to clarify the current issue with the MPG as it also encompasses incremental/step jogging (or relative motion in general) for those who may be seeing a similar problem.

It appears that the current version of the Mach4 motion planner generates a trajectory that can be 1-2 counts off the intended target (this was verified in our testing when we checked the vectors that Mach4 was plotting). This is NOT present, however, with absolute position as it appears to be spot on to the very last count according to what we've seen with testing. This may or may not be a problem depending on the required level of precision, but it is clearly a concern for your application. As for the solution, we've brought up the problem with the Mach4 development team, and they're currently looking into it. We're still waiting on a response if the fix ought to be in Mach4, or if there is something that can be done from our plugin.

Thank you for your patience, and we'll upload the update once this issue gets resolved.

-Marc
Vital System Inc.