5 Axis TCP Simultaneous Kinematics Fusion 360 setup Mesa 7i76e

rodw wrote:

... Its not really a trivial project. This baby needs a 6000 rpm 1 kW servo motor to output 40 rpm. I think that is in the ballpark. What do you think...

 

If you go with a used servo motor you will need recent model as the older one have a hard time going above 3 to 5k rpm. For example,  I've recently bought a used  Kollmorgen AKM24F. Max rpm is 8000. Constant torque is 1.8Nm  This is an 830W motor but watts rating can be misleading since what you really need is torque.

So,  your gear reduction appear to be 75  (6000 rpm -> 40 rpm). , Considering an efficiency of 90% your final torque will be around 121.5 Nm with such a motor. Hummm, that seems to be a lot of torque.

The gearbox ratio is 153:1. 6000/153 =  39.2 rpm
That seemed to be in the ballpark of some commercial 5th axis units I researched.
Yes I did look at motor requirements. There is a minimum required input torque but its not excessive, I don't think output torque will be a problem!
I really was more interested in the maximum expected torque while cutting as that has an impact on backlash/accuracy.
I probably would use a new servo as I would use 220v AC ethercat...
An alternative use could be to tun a 30 cow rotary dairy on a dairy farm!
In answer to an earlier question, the Japanese manufacturer lists a part number but never replied..
I think in a lot of use cases, custom input shafts are required and they give very detailed specs and drawings
There were 4 of these units given to us and they have been shared around among a group of Aussie users so the cost of the custom shafts for a run of 4 is quite reasonable. I just happened to know the right guys to make them..

rodw wrote:

The gearbox ratio is 153:1. 6000/153 =  39.2 rpm
 

How the heck did I came up with 75???

...An alternative use could be to tun a 30 cow rotary dairy on a dairy farm!
 

How the heck did YOU came up with that???
 

For software DeskProto has some 5 axis capability.  I wouldn't describe it as simultaneous, more like 3+2.  A non-commercial license is <$300.  It's not for high precision work but the website is worth a visit even if just to browse the gallery.
Note: I've only played with this software in demo/simulation and have no 'real world' 5axis experience.

After quite a bit of googling, I've come to the conclusion that Fusion 360 with extension seems to be the most reasonable 5 simultaneous axis CAM solution. Since I already have a Fusion 360 business license and love the Fusion 360 environment, I think I'll stick to it. The only snag will be if I can't make a Fusion 360 post processor work in my favor. The cost of Fusion 360 is about $400 a year and the machinist extension, which opens up the world of 5 simultaneous axis machining is $1200 a year. It's a bit of a tough pill to swallow, but hopefully the product I have in mind will sell well enough that the extra $100 a month won't cause me to break a sweat. I will definitely check out Deskproto, but the designs I have in mind would most definitely require 5 axis simultaneous to achieve efficiently.
Cheers!

rodw,
I used your instructions last night was able to successfully install Debian Bookworm and LinuxCNC, but then decided the machine wasn't good enough, only dual core with 2GB or RAM. Ha! I should have checked from the bios first. Anyway, I'm on the hunt for a quad core 8GB Ram machine on eBay, they're going for a little over $100.
I have a few points of clarification when following your instructions, which might help a relatively inexperienced Linux person like me. I'll take notes next time around and see if you'd like to add anything to your already-very-good guide.
Cheers,
Tyler

Great, any feedback will be appreciated.
Even 4 core 4 gb Ram is adequate.
The 2 cores seem to struggle a but with later kernels but people do get them working.

Hey Rod,
I ended up chickening out, or rather, I want to be using a 5 axis continuous machine sooner rather than later and the learning curve for setting up a DIY 5 axis machine with LinuxCNC + Mesa card would take a lot of time and there is a fair level of uncertainty involved. I'm not abandoning the idea of using LinuxCNC down the road and I'll probably start smaller, by adding a 4th axis to one of my 3 axis machines.
Another reason for this decision is that none of my current 3 axis CNCs has enough Z height to accommodate the AC unit without major surgery. I could convert my manual mill, which has a tall Z, to CNC, but then that's more time and money, etc.
So, I'm ordering a desktop 5 axis machine from China from RobotDigg.
I wanted to give an update and thank everyone who chimed in to help me make this decision. I truly appreciate it.
The more you know, the more you realize that you don't know.
Cheers!
Tyler