LinuxCNC + Orange Pi (allwincnc)

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.

I'm working on the project with esp32 in another topic here on the forum, I did some tests and it reached 120khz and a single axis but with 3 axes around 60khz, however it brings the advantage of using an ethernet port and makes it easier to use in scrapbook notebooks etc. , computers with parallel port are a big problem and lack of a low cost ethernet controller is also a problem, at the moment I test with a notebook in dual boot with windows 10 and in tests it looks very promising, however as an enthusiast I like this allwinner project and I even bought a 1gb pc opi for testing but my latency is always high, and with some smaller drives like the tb6600 I had the card disconnected, on the dm860 this didn't happen!

Generally laptops & notebooks and whatever aren't the best option for running linuxcnc due to the power saving bits & bobs they add in to reduce power usage.

Being very truthfully and having experience with MESA and "roll your own" once you work out the additional costs for voltage level conversion, I|O protection and the convenience for of connectors used on the MESA boards, they are expensive to buy the particular ones MESA uses, the MESA hardware is quite good value.

The OPi works fine with the Allwincnc setup. Haven't seen any "following errors".

Haven't bothered to check the latency, if it works it works.

The type of stepper drive you hang off the ESP32 setup has no affect, basically all you are doing is lighting an LED inside an optocoupler of the majority of stepper drivers.

Hello, I want to ask if anybody using gmoccapy screen with allwincnc? I tried it but got few errors about missing icons, their size and Debug file information said => Failed to load module ''gail''

Thank you Martin

This should go someway to fixing part of the problem.
itectec.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-how-to-install-gail-and-atk-bridge/

As for the icons, that seems to be a gmoccapy issue, well they both are.

Just remember the OPi isn't a powerhouse, hence the reason for the included configs for Axis & tklinuxcnc.

here in my country the desk interface is not a very viable option, considering that from $250 usd when all taxes and transport costs are added it comes to almost $1000 usd, believe me it is very expensive for us because 1 USD costs 5,68BRL approximately, so we are talking about a card of 5680 BRL, which is equivalent to 5 minimum wages in my country!

Thanks.
This help me, the error has disappeared. But I got another error.
I'll try to write to MXmaster and ask about it.