LinuxCnc with Copley controls-Stepnet ST3-055-04?

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04 Oct 2012 20:37 #24957 by andypugh
varun0421 wrote:

Its connected through a serial port. The type of serial port is the RS - 232 port.


In that case it would need configuring to step/dir mode. It looks to be in some sort of serial mode.

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10 Oct 2012 04:06 #25195 by varun0421
Thanks a lot Andy.
Alright! I seem to have finally figured out how to do that and it should be done.

What will be the next step/steps to be done after configuring the step/dir mode?

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10 Oct 2012 14:05 #25207 by andypugh
varun0421 wrote:

What will be the next step/steps to be done after configuring the step/dir mode?


Wire it up to LinuxCNC then start stepconf and configure it.

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11 Oct 2012 19:25 #25252 by varun0421
This is a general query for me to understand a bit more about controls -
Why is it important for the drive to be setup to take step/dir input?
What are the other modes/configurations that are usually used?

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12 Oct 2012 17:28 #25272 by Todd Zuercher
There are 3 comon signal types that I know (plus I think there are a few serial comunication formats).
Here is how I understand them.

1. Step/direction: wich is two signals from the control, one tells the drive to take a step and the other tells it wich way to go.
2. Step+/- wich is two signals, one tells the drive to step one way, the other steps in the other direction. (I am not sure of the propper name for this format)
3. Analog control: usually +voltage moves one way - goes the other way (how much determins how fast or how much force)

#1 and #3 are by far the most common.

What is important is thay you know what type of signal your drive needs, and thay you set up the contorl to provide that signal. Also within each type of signal format there are details that need to be paid attention to, such as minimum times between steps and signal changes, differential vs single ended signals, voltages...
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15 Oct 2012 11:58 #25332 by andypugh
varun0421 wrote:

Why is it important for the drive to be setup to take step/dir input?

That is a scheme which can be easily produced digitally.
Quadrature is slightly better, as it happens, but I don't recall seeing any drives that work that way.
quoteWhat are the other modes/configurations that are usually used?[/quote]
I guess it is currently running under serial port control, where numerical values are sent for target position and speed.
As far as I know LinuxCNC doesn't have any real-time access to the Serial Port. I guess you could write a driver, but I don't know how well it would work.
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26 Oct 2012 01:04 #25821 by varun0421
Can the TB6560 Stepper Driver boards be used for the stage that i have?
Will these boards be configured to work with Linux CNC?


Link for the board - 3 Axis TB6560 CNC Stepper Motor Driver Board Controller


www.ebay.com/itm/3-Axis-TB6560-CNC-Stepp...roller-/270549461424

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26 Oct 2012 07:20 #25829 by andypugh

Can the TB6560 Stepper Driver boards be used for the stage that i have?
Will these boards be configured to work with Linux CNC?

Yes. In fact one of those was the first thing I used with LinuxCNC

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31 Oct 2012 04:11 #26097 by varun0421
Alright! thanks a lot.....

Another general question.....
whats the difference in spped between a serial port and parallel prt connection?
because the preferred mode of communication for linux cnc or any cnc controller is parallel port.......
why is that?

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31 Oct 2012 05:11 #26100 by andypugh

whats the difference in spped between a serial port and parallel prt connection?

They are different rings. In effect the serial port only has one output pin and one input pin. The Parallel port has 17 individually-controllable pins.

because the preferred mode of communication for linux cnc or any cnc controller is parallel port.......

Oh no, the Parallel port is far from the preferred means of communication. PCI is far superior. (As was ISA)
However, the parallel port is controllable in real-time. The Serial port (and USB ports) have buffering hardware and don't necessarily send the data quite when told to do so.

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