New to LinuxCNC - seek ATC advice

Interesting!

Quick question regarding the Mesa FPGA cards. I can't really find a clear FAQ anywhere.

With a low latency PC what frequency can I expect to drive stepper motors? I was looking at the 7i76E from a touch screen AMD APU CPU.

I assume the software step limitations are removed with FPGA adaptors?

ftree wrote: With a low latency PC what frequency can I expect to drive stepper motors?

I think the limit is something like 10MHz. Basically so fast that you don't even have to consider it.

Excellent. I only need ~ 250Khz max. My stepper has 6400 steps per rev with 8mm lead screws. So 2000 rpm = 16m/min rapids @ 214Khz.

Andy,

I've had a quote back for MicroE Systems Mercury II.

The SPI or Quadrature sensors are around £750+VAT on a 5m cable. 3m of tape with end limits is around £400+VAT. The end limits laser etched on the tape are useful.

The Quadrature version has some useful pins like tri state alarm and active-low non latching for the limit markers. At 40nm interpolation and a max speed of ~20m/min we would require a output frequency of around 2MHz.

The resolution for the SPI version @ 25Mhz does not drop off with speed.

Pricey. Does anyone know how that compares to Renishaw Resolut?

ftree wrote: Pricey. Does anyone know how that compares to Renishaw Resolut?

You could look at magnetic tape scales:
www.machine-dro.co.uk/digital-readout-sy...30&encoder_type=1101

That works out at about £170 for the tape and £70 to £170 for the reading head depending on accuracy.

I think that most machines choose to trust the ballscrews.

hi ftree did you solve yours i just saw you mentioned my video -

thomas