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Author Topic: nMotion Drivers  (Read 802 times)

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nMotion Drivers
« on: September 05, 2020, 11:55:24 PM »
Hey All,
I would love to try out Mach4 without having to do a full overhaul.

Are there any nMotion drivers for Mach4?
If not, what is a good controller card for Mach4?
Re: nMotion Drivers
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2020, 06:56:15 AM »
Hi,
any external motion control board must have a Mach4 compliant plugin that adapts the motion control features of the board
to the trajectory planner of Mach4.

Each control board manufacturer has to develop such a plugin. NFS are of course enthusiastic and will support any manufacturer
to produce a plugin, after all it means more Mach4 ready hardware for potential new users and therefore customers of NFS.

At this time there are seven manufacturers who have invested the effort to make a plugin, nMotion is not among them.

The leading contenders are:
Vital Systems to suit their Hicon Integra board.
Warp9TD to support their Ethernet SmoothStepper.
PMDX to support their PMDX-411, PMDX-424 boards.
CNCDrive to support their UC series boards and seemingly also their new AXBB-E board.
PoKeys to support their 57CNCdb25 and 57CNC boards.

CSLabs have written a plugin but is tolerably buggy and they have been VERY tardy it trying to fix it. The plugin is to support their
CSMIO/P and CSMIO/A boards, both good quality boards but let down by the buggy plugin.

XHC, the lone Chinese manufacturer has written a plugin but its atrocious, avoid like the plague!!!

Of these manufacturers and their boards I prefer the Ethernet SmoothStepper at $180. Warp9TD have offered continuous development
and is arguably the best performer in the lower cost market segment, but any of the manufacturers, excluding CSLabs and XHC, offer
products that work as advertised and support their customers.

Craig
'I enjoy sex at 73.....I live at 71 so its not too far to walk.'
Re: nMotion Drivers
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2020, 02:51:33 PM »
Thank you for all the info. I have been eyeing the SmoothStepper for a while. Come winter I think I will do the conversion. Ill check back next year.