ESP32/S2/S3 LinuxCNC Controller (6 axis hardware step gen), USB plug-and-play

Idea was inspired by this one. 

Using the PIO state-machines of the RPi Pico, quad-decode/counting of multiple encoders is a piece of cake.
I have created a distributed motion-controller using this device. Limited to 128 axes but that can be increased if need be image missing /media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png
However, I'm a closed-loop servo kinda guy. Can't understand why anyone would be using steppers for machining, etc.

Craig

smc.collins wrote:

Yeah well, people continue to screw around with under powered micro controllers that can't actually do the thing that's needed, run EMC headless. ESP32 while a nice toy micro for small control tasks lack real resources to actually control machine tools. The micro costing $2 or 25$ is really irrelevant at the board level, If the total cost of the board is $50 " for something that can't actually run a headless EMC install, versus something that is headless and runs a fully featured version of EMC for $200, the cost difference is trivial in a machine costing thousands as a entry point. Even cheap hobby used hardware is thousands of dollars. I have no idea why this incessant need to reduce cost is so prevalent in this community. You want to increase Linuxcnc adoption and investment, make it easier to build a machine, not harder. CNC machines are not cheap, even cheap 3d printers are not cheap. The community does not need yet another slave style control card. We need a real controller running a headless EMC install, if that's a $10 arm MCU or a $2 mcu on a dedicated card for $25 or $200 then so be it. This isn't helping the community grow in a meaningful way, it's not really helping end users, unless of course the game is to impede entry into the area by making the hardware and software difficult to use.

As for snide remarks, maybe you should try reading your own tripe before criticizing someone else's commentary.

I am a motion control dev (since 1988) and I approve of this message.
I am a fan of ESP32 and use it  With THIS  and I am a fan of ESP-NOW and wireless control. Motion? Not a chance.

The best single-chip solution for motion control is without doubt  The P2 Propeller  64 "smartpins" (all can decode quad @ sysclock/4 with no impact on any of the 8 identical cores) any pin can be a 16bit DAC, etc. Too much to list here. No godawful Arduino library nonsense, no clunky OS. Jitter? Latency? Interrupt-hell? image missing /media/kunena/emoticons/laughing.png

Craig

 

I think the real issue is people think building a CNC machine is easy and they want it to be cheap.
There's a lot of caps you have to wear, not everyone can muster all those skills. They are the ones that think it's too hard.

Tinine wrote:

The best single-chip solution for motion control is without doubt The P2 Propeller 64 "smartpins" (all can decode quad @ sysclock/4 with no impact on any of the 8 identical cores) any pin can be a 16bit DAC, etc.

For the price, i always will choose Mesa, the fact it has 16 bit DAC is nice but still Mesa support wins.
It is good, though, for sure.

I posted this on the wrong topic last night, fixing that now

Santa came early this year, also brought a Zoyi ZT-703S osciloscope!
By now i got it working so the video is on the way...
Edit:
Video added
www.youtube.com/shorts/55287Iaa4Y0

@Wez,
How the hell did you cram all that stuff into an ESP32?
Hal2UDP version works, your version is refusing to work on a Wroom module, no network, and ipconfig will reset it.
The rest seems ok, can set motors, enable wifi, etc.
Will report back later if i manage to find the culprit.
It is the "doit" version with strange pinout so had always issues with it, will also try another board