Some questions from a n00b

Hi all!

Iam pretty new to this forum and also cnc and linuxcnc
i started to work as an it guy at a small industrial company now the boss asked me if i could get linuxcnc to work.
My question is what do i need to even try to get it too work? Iam not new to linux but as i said above i domnt know shit about cnc machines
so ANY help or advices are appriciated since iam a total n00b.

Thanx in Advance

Robin

Sorry, far too vague for any useful reply

What do you want to get it too work? ?
Milling machine, lathe, pick and place, measuring machine, paint spraying robot....?

If you know nothing about CNC machines and this is an industrial machine with a dedicated controller, then you have problems.

If it is a small machine already running a PC based controller, that might be more easily doable for you

regards

At first i want to know what hardware i need to get linuxcnc to work well. What kind of computer and all other stuff that is required in setting stuff up.
I dont know anything about cnc machines but as i said iam the IT guy here so others know about the cnc machines
As for now the boss isnt here but we have several cnc machibnes 12 or so i think. Iam pretty new at this place so dont really know what kind of machines there are but its atleast some lathe
machines. But what i need help with right now is what i typed first

Sorry for Bad English iam Swedish

Thank You

Robin

EDIT. those this machine give you any info? this is one we have here "SINUMERIK 3T" EDIT.

linuxcnc.org/docs/2.5/html/

Start at System Requirements and go from there.

What hardware you need beyond the computer to run Linuxcnc, will depend entirely upon what machine you are trying to control.

I should just try to install Linuxcnc, do latency testing and run some simulators for now

regards

We have this machines here what i have learned so far.

SINUMERIK 3T

SINUMERIK 810T

FANUC 0I-M

i dont know much about them but can ofc google it

Ill do the system requirments and will get a pc with an paralell port.

Thank You

Robin

We have this machines here what i have learned so far.
SINUMERIK 3T
SINUMERIK 810T
FANUC 0I-M

Those are all controllers, Siemens and Fanuc, rather than machines.

But if those are the controllers, the machines will be large, 3 phase, servo motored and complicated.
You will need to be looking at multi IO boards to interface and a very steep learning curve working out how the controller works currently and how to achieve this with Linuxcnc.

Your boss needs to understand the complexities of what he is asking too.
He may well see a free linux controller software as the answer to big repair bills for outdated dedicated controllers, but it is not going to be quick and it will be costly in man hours.
If he can afford the down time whilst the machine is stripped and rebuilt and the staff to do it all, then fine.

You will find many threads on the forum dealing with retro-fitting large industrial machines, when you find out the make and model of the actual machines, there may even be
a member who has already done the work, which would assist greatly.

regards

I suspect that you will need the assistance of an electrical engineer or technician familiar with CNC machine startups. Especially if your IT training is limited to business systems and generic programming.

The thing is this, you will have to acquire the modern interfacing hardware to at the very least tie into the exciting controller infrastructure. Depending upon the machine that cold be a small task or a huge one. Depending upon how old the equipment is it might be wise to simply replace the entire controller which is again another engineering effort. The amount of effort with respect to software is only a fractional portion of the entire process of rebuilding a machine with a new controller. The size of that fraction varies widely depending upon the actual machine and hardware.

Thanx for your answers. Iam the it guy they only want me to set up LinuxCNC they will fix all the other stuff. The machines that he wants to get it up on iis already the dedicated systems broken on so they cant work with those and the repairs/parts is often worth more then the actual machine thats why he wants to try this. And it can take the time it will. I will get the Real machinenames and be back here thanx for all answers.


Robin