LinuxCNC in a job shop environment?

rodw wrote:

Linuxcnc is more likely to coexist with your existing proprietary Controllers (Fanuc et. al)

Excellent! Exactly how do you make that configuration?

rodw wrote:

rodw wrote:

The fact that it requires a PC is not really a drama.

For one machine that’s probably true. With one hundred machines and 300 employees we’re on a different planet.

rodw wrote:

Linuxcnc is designed to control machines, not control workflow. If its workflow control you want, you should look elsewhere.

Never said anything about workflow. Not sure what that means. I came here asking if anyone is using LinuxCNC in a production CNC milling and turning environment, and if they could please share some details on their implementation, as far as how they made it happen.

Most machines now have an onboard windows CPU.

Fanuc uses an atx sized mother board with their chip implemented directly on it and laptop ram. Kind of interesting. Our Siemens are the same. Win xp with a motion board in an isa slot.

On older machines like our matsuura 1250 has an 11m control and holds a whopping 25000 character on its memory. One dynamic toolpath and your drip feeding. With Linux you have more storage and options than anything made before 1995 or so.

Leon82 wrote:

Most machines now have an onboard windows CPU.

Yes I am aware of that. As I mentioned I’m interested in knowing if anyone is achieving this in large scale production environments (hundreds of machines). What type of equipment and systems are they using to make it happen?

Linuxcnc is more likely to coexist with your existing proprietary Controllers (Fanuc et. al), not replace your whole fleet.
Its often used to refresh a mechanically sound machine that has an obsolete controller and give it a new lease of life.

Well, we keep coming back to needing a PC to manage a single machine. eg. Linuxcnc running on a Linux machine IS THE CNC CONTROLLER.

So say you had an older machine with a controller like the pre 1995 ones described by Leon and you wanted to bring it up to the 2020's
Lets say it has encoders and 0-10 volt analog servos. While there are many options with LInuxcnc including ethercat, Pico Systems and General Mechatonics, most people would stick with the Mesa ecosystem See mesanet.com/

So the next thing you need to decide is where is the Linuxcnc PC going to live? Is it inside the Control box on a mini ATX motherboard with a PCI/PCIe interface or is it going to live external and connected by an ethernet card. For your machines probably living in the control box would be the best option.

So depending on if the bus is PCI or PCIe, grab a Mesa 5i25 or 6i25, a Mesa 25 pin cable and a Mesa 7i77. store.mesanet.com/index.php?route=produc...oduct&product_id=120
This will give you the ability to control 6 axes. Then you would add additional daughter cards to add extra I/0. Say a 7i84 which will add 32 inputs and 16 outputs. If you want to incorporate a console into the retrofit, then you could add a 7i73
So then you gut the machine but keep as much of the existing wiring, sensors and relays as possible and connect it to the Mesa Hardware. Tune your servos, configure your tool changer and 3 months later you will be done.

So connect the motherboard to your network then you have a modern controller and the ability to upload files on that machine from the network .

Lets also realize there aren't many throw away machines that are worthy of a retrofit. by the time you replaced all the guide screws and everything else it's probably cheaper to buy a new throw away machine.

Old Matsuura, kitamura, Mori, ECT are the only thing really worthy as they are rigid and were built to last. And they will be cost effective to refit the control

justinnoor wrote:

Leon82 wrote:

Most machines now have an onboard windows CPU.

Yes I am aware of that. As I mentioned I’m interested in knowing if anyone is achieving this in large scale production environments (hundreds of machines). What type of equipment and systems are they using to make it happen?

What is the difference between one machine and one hundred? LinuxCNC is a machine controller - for one machine up to 9 axises.
We use a linux operating system installed on a PC with is connected to the machine controller that controls the motor drives and any other input/outputs.

What are you actually asking?

If you read the thread I was quite clear about what I was asking, and the people on this forum very kindly answered my question. Water under the bridge.

There is a huge difference between running 2D tool-paths on a routing machine, and running a full-stack CNC milling and turning operation with hundreds of machining centers, half of which are automated. Don't think it needs any further explanation.

justinnoor wrote:

There is a huge difference between running 2D tool-paths on a routing machine, and running a full-stack CNC milling and turning operation with hundreds of machining centers, half of which are automated. Don't think it needs any further explanation.

Fair enough, What do you mean by automated though? As in tended by a robot for loading/ unloading?

Later in the year I am going to buy one of these Chinese CNC mills. It will come from the factory set up with LinuxCNC, au.syil.com/small-cnc-mill , it does have the option for you to select one of their commercial controllers if you want something more "industrial"

Its by no means a high end machine but here in Australia we do not have much options. Although small in capacity I am sure it would qualify as a full-stack CNC milling machine.

An example would be four connected horizontal milling machines that share tombstones. Each tombstone is typically four-sided, and can have anywhere from 1 to 20 different jobs mounted on it, typically with fixtures and vises. The tombstones are staged on a massive racking system, and loaded into the machines with a semi-robotic carriage mechanism. There are usually up to 50 tombstones in the racking system. So then you can tell the carriage to go grab tombstone #9, and run operation #2, with program #1000, on the 90 degree side of the tombstone.

I’m not familiar with the machine you’ve mentioned. That’s pretty slick that it comes with Linux though.