LinuxCNC + Orange Pi (allwincnc)

Although it was based on Linuxcnc MK development has taken a different path than mainline Linuxcnc. There has been a lot of lowlevel changes made as well.
Machinekit development has been broken it 2 code bases, machinekit-hal & machinekit-cnc. There is also support for web-based interfaces & control, along with machine-talk which is a kind of sever-client model.

I have used Machinekit on the BBB, but switched to Linuxcnc for various resaons.

could you give me these reasons, just out of curiosity, i have never used machinekit but i have heard a lot about it and i would like to know why it has returned to the official linux CNC

Allwinner the company that makes the ARM SOC used on the Opi's has new SOC's that use RISC-V vs ARM. Not sure if this is the new direction they are going or if they will be making parts with both architectures. I don't see any integrated microcontrollers in the RISC-V parts yet.

www.cnx-software.com/2021/10/25/allwinne...processor-64mb-ddr2/
linux-sunxi.org/D1

Porting this project to a RISC-V SOC with integrated micros (PRU's) might make sense if and when they become available.
And as I've mentioned before another ARM SOC option is Rockchip but some vendors are only promising availability through 2022  www.pine64.org/availability-and-shipping-status/

Mainstream Linuxcnc support for the BBB would be the go. And they seem to be staying on the market for a while. Element14 has a "Industrail spec" board, if that's your want.

For hobby\home use they work fine. If you forgo the HDMI interface yo get a plethora of I\O including 3 hardware encoders. Yeah some have complainined about lack of GPU power......is that really an issue ? As long as you don't use any hardware specific GLX drivers AXiS works fine over ssh, not as snappy as an x86 platform. Or if you are fine without a backplot there are other options.

Now that I received the FPC breakout board I'll be able to test the usefulness of the camera connector on the OPi for an additional 16 - 19 I/O.

Whilst I'm I'm going full MESA for the mill, I'm still deciding whether to use BBB with an early MK image or the OPi with Linuxcnc for the lathe.

So many options.

The Opi appeals to those that want low cost as well as a HD res/20fps GUI using one mainboard similar to a PC with LPT port. Rock64 would be another option.

Other low budget options that use multiple boards or micros:

forum.linuxcnc.org/18-computer/42276-rem...oller-via-spi/unread

forum.linuxcnc.org/18-computer/42414-lin...t-using-esp32/unread

forum.linuxcnc.org/27-driver-boards/44422-colorcnc/unread

Actually OPi PC with 1Gb is an impressive little bit of kit.

ESP32 shows promise.

Colorcnc the boards would appear to need some mods for inputs

Remora, had a look a that and played around with it.