thinking Mesa 5i25, but which daughter card(s)?

Hello,

Converting a 3-axis mill (8x30 table mini-Bridgeport type) to CNC from manual. Have servo motors and working on adding USDigital encoders to them (single ended). To test the motors I have been using some controllers I have that work with them (basic H-bridge controllers) and an Ardrino to send PWM. The controllers take 2 PWM signals for forward & reverse. Not a PWM & direction.

Thinking of using Mesa 5i25 card in my computer control the system.

The question: which daughter card to support encoders with PWM up/down.

7i77 seems popular for servo config but it's a +/- 10V analog board vs PWM. I think I read people using 7i76 as PWM + direction (instead of Step + direction) but that too doesn't help with the dual PWM output and the 7i76 has no encoder inputs

Can I configure pins directly on the 5i25 to do what I want and just isolate the card with a 7i75 breakout board?

Another option I guess is I obtain some controllers that take PWM & direction, if there is a better card combination?

Thanks, Jeff

Probably a 7I85S would be the best 5I25 daughtercard for a PWM/encoder setup.
The 7I85S has 4 Step/Dir or PWM/DIr 5V differential output pairs and
4 TTL / Differential encoder inputs so can support 4 axis. It also has one RS-422 port
for I/O expansion

You can use a 7I75 as well but it will have 3.3V signal levels

Note that the HostMot2 PWM generator can do Up/Down mode as well as PWM/Dir
Up/Down mode is mode 2

man hostmot2

Thanks, I only noticed the RS-422 output options of the non-S version of the card so missed that option.

I also need:
- I/O ports for e-stop, limits etc
- 0-10V output to control spindle
- encoder inputs for manual job encoders for axis

So I believe I could use a 7i77 on the other 5i25 port to provide more encoder inputs and +/-10V outputs. 7i77 might be overkill for my needs but when I tried to get the required in/out from RS-422 cards it was more $ anyhow.

If anyone sees an error in my thinking please let me know
Thanks, Jeff

I would use a 5I25/7I85S/7I84. This would give you 4 encoder inputs
(plus 2 more MPG inputs on the 7I84 if needed) 16 outputs and 32 inputs
you could add a PWM-voltage converter for the Spindle (SPINX1)

Hello,

I have my cards. quick easy service!

Is it correct that my only option is to roll my own HAL config for the 5i25 + 7i85S combo?

PncConf isn't an option as I can't seem to find the XML and PIN files that have a firmware setting which include 7i85S. Interestingly I found if I included the 5i25 directory but no XML/PIN files in it I could continue PncConfig a certain amount and everything looked correct BUT I couldn't save the config as I got PncConfig confused.

I was thinking one of the reasons to use Mesa boards was the easier start-up config as you could use PncConf but I guess that is only for certain combinations.

Thanks, Jeff

j_e_f_f_williams wrote:

Hello,

Is it correct that my only option is to roll my own HAL config for the 5i25 + 7i85S combo?

I'm in the same position: 5i25 + 7i85S + 7i78 cards.

Hope someone has an XML file for the 7i85S otherwise will be slogging it out with the config files.

-Larry

I just wrote an XML file for the 7i85S_7i78 and pncconf appears to recognize it.

I'll do a little testing and then post it and a 7i85S XML file.

-Larry

I posted the 7i85S.xml file over in the Pncconf section of the forum.

www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/italian/forum...183-mesa-5i25--7i85s

-Larry

Hope this is the right place to post this....

I have a setup at work I'm trying to get going - it is 3 BLDC servos driven from some dedicated hardware for them, using a Vishay Si9979 controllers.

I purchased the 5i25 / 7i85S / 7i84 combo that PCW recommended earlier.... The only XML file posted for the 7i85S does not seem to work for me as I need PWM and DIR outputs. I planned on using the 7i84 for servo enable, limit switches and machine control (E-stop, etc.)

Is there a file somewhere for this set up or can someone point me to the information to write an XML file??

Thanks

in www.mesanet.com/software/parallel/5i25.zip
/configs/hostmot2/7i85spx2.xml should be close