Cnc Mill Conversion, The Electronics Package. Updated

Eddyde

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Hi All,
I have been assembling the components to convert a Bridgeport sized mill to CNC. I am starting with the electronics as the mill is not yet delivered to my shop and said shop is in my second home, 100 miles north of my primary residence. I carved out a niche in my home office to test the gear and get the bugs out of the system as much as possible before mounting servos to lead-screws. As this is my first foray into CNC the learning curve is quite steep but much fun :)
My criteria for the project:
1. 4 axis (will start with 3).
2. High accuracy, and no backlash worries. to that end I will be using linear encoders on the XYZ axis load. I started a previous thread on this subject, here.
3. Retain full manual operation.
4. 2D, 2.5D & 3D capability.

So far I have:
Galil DMC 2240 Motion Controller (4 axis).
4, Galil 12-80 Servo Amplifiers (Drivers).
3, Brushed DC 72v, 1125 oz. in. servo motors with rotary encoders.
1, 72v 20a power supply.
1, Dell Computer with keyboard, mouse & Windows XP.
1, Galil ICM-2900 Opto-Isolated Interconnect Module with 100 pin cable.
Spent almost $2k so far...
Things I had on hand:
20" LCD Monitor.
Gutted Mac G5 computer for the electronics package enclosure.
And a Gracious gift of control software by a fellow member.
What I have done so far:
Hooked up the Galil 2240 to the computer via ethernet, this was a real headache as the as the software the instruction manual said to use "Smart Terminal" couldn't assign an IP address to the controller. I wound up using the Galil Tools light (free) which worked like a charm.
I hooked up 1 servo and got it to turn :) Now I'm learning the commands and testing the servo, the encoder resolution is 8,192 counts per revolution and the max error I have gotten so far is only 5 counts!
Next up is getting the motion control software to interface with the controller...

Monitor.jpg Bench Testing.jpg
 
Hooked up the Galil 2240 to the computer via ethernet, this was a real headache as the as the software the instruction manual said to use "Smart Terminal" couldn't assign an IP address to the controller. I wound up using the Galil Tools light (free) which worked like a charm.
.
One slick way to do that is to set up the IP address on the 2240 using the serial port for initial communications. I use a USB to serial adapter. The IP setup in SmartTerm is a bit of a PITA, and some times won't work correctly.

You do have to use the Ver 7 drivers with my software (which should have installed along with my software, if I did it right) , but I have worked out a way to use the latest GalilTools drivers but I need to play with it a bit more. I'll have a 4080 here later today to play with.
 
.
One slick way to do that is to set up the IP address on the 2240 using the serial port for initial communications. I use a USB to serial adapter. The IP setup in SmartTerm is a bit of a PITA, and some times won't work correctly.

You do have to use the Ver 7 drivers with my software (which should have installed along with my software, if I did it right) , but I have worked out a way to use the latest GalilTools drivers but I need to play with it a bit more. I'll have a 4080 here later today to play with.

Yeah I was thinking about using a serial cable but didn't have one... I didn't try the Galil Tools at first because it doesn't officially support the 2240 but it seems to work just fine. Also, I have way more experience with Macs, the nuts and bolts of PC world is kind of new to me.
I will try to load you software today, fingers crossed :) And thanks again of sharing it!
 
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