Arduino based CNC

[chucketn]

Anyone tried building an Arduino based CNC system? Not counting the RT controller projects.
Waiting for delivery of my first Arduino and kits today.

Chuck

 

[canadianhorsepower]

check the download section I loaded a book their yesterda that you will love

good luck

 

[chucketn]

Thanks, Luc. I downloaded that yesterday.
I do have a couple questions concerning a stepper driver and stepper motor I have. The driver is a Chinese TB6560 base circuit, and the stepper is a TEC CBA45-01101 salvaged IIRC from an ancient dot matrix printer. The driver is single axis with 4 inputs- V+, Pul, Dir, and EN, and 6 outputs – A+, A-, B+, B-, +24 and GND.
The stepper is unipolar, 3v, 1.8 deg/step, with 6 wires. I have figured out the A and B coils and commons.
I cannot find data sheets on either the stepper or the driver. I did find some generic info that says to connect the commons of the stepper to M+. I do have a picture of the driver and stepper.
My questions:
1. Can I run this stepper on more than 3v?
2. Is M+ the same as the +24 on the output side?
I received my Arduino Uno and lab kit today and am trying to connect and run the stepper and driver from it. Any help would be appreciated. I do have the stepper sketch for the Arduino.
Chuck

 

[canadianhorsepower]

QUOTE]The driver is a Chinese TB6560 base circuit,[/QUOTE]
Be verry carefull with those they are fairly fragile:fan:

the stepper is a TEC CBA45-01101 salvaged IIRC from an ancient dot matrix printer.The stepper is unipolar, 3v, 1.8 deg/step, with 6 wires. I have figured out the A and B coils and commons

1. Can I run this stepper on more than 3v?this should answer all the tech question http://www.geckodrive.com/support.html

The driver is single axis with 4 inputs- V+, Pul, Dir, and EN, and 6 outputs – A+, A-, B+, B-, +24 and GND.

.
no pictures cant really help

I do have a picture of the driver and stepper

.
that would help

[
I received my Arduino Uno and lab kit today and am trying to connect and run the stepper and driver from it. Any help would be appreciated. I do have the stepper sketch for the Arduino.
/QUOTE]

I would not. I would simply connect 4 led on the output and see if they are all working in the proper sequence before adding any current load to it

good luck

 

[chucketn]

Here's the stepper:

I have tried it with a 5v power wall wart and nothing.

Left side 4 inputs are marked top to bottom V+, Pul, Dir, and EN.
Right side from top to bottom A+,A-, B+, B-, +24, and GND.

Chuck

 

[cwebs]

Anyone tried building an Arduino based CNC system? Not counting the RT controller projects.
Waiting for delivery of my first Arduino and kits today.

Chuck

Google GRBL Great cnc system for arduino

 

[Tin Falcon]

MAny basic reprap 3d printers run on arduina maga boards with ramps capes.
they typicaly run nema 17 motors with 12 -24 volts. so you should be able to do a small router.


You can get a small router package to play with for about $500
they are all over e bay

such as this one


http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-ROUTER-ENGRAVER-ENGRAVING-MACHINE-3020-PCBS-PVC-DESKTOP

 

[Wizard69]

I've been looking into this, that is looking into an Arduino for CNC. Unfortunately I'm swamped at work and funds are going into badly needed home repairs so it has been slow going.

For a straight CNC "GRBL" is the base from which many more elaborate software systems are built. A couple of months ago they came out with a nice update. The big problem with Arduinos is that the controllers are effectively maxed out. I believe GRBL has a maximum step rate of 30 KHz.

Obviously though if performance isn't an issue and the limited G-Code set isn't a problem then Arduinos are probably the lowest cost CNC controllers out there. Also GRBL tries to maintain compatibility with LINUXCNC which has its benefits if you ever need an update to a machine.

Thanks, Luc. I downloaded that yesterday.
I do have a couple questions concerning a stepper driver and stepper motor I have. The driver is a Chinese TB6560 base circuit, and the stepper is a TEC CBA45-01101 salvaged IIRC from an ancient dot matrix printer.

Those drivers are known to be crap. In fact there are blogs on the net that go into fixing them.

The driver is single axis with 4 inputs- V+, Pul, Dir, and EN, and 6 outputs – A+, A-, B+, B-, +24 and GND.

The stepper is unipolar, 3v, 1.8 deg/step, with 6 wires. I have figured out the A and B coils and commons.
I cannot find data sheets on either the stepper or the driver. I did find some generic info that says to connect the commons of the stepper to M+. I do have a picture of the driver and stepper.

Picture are worth a thousand words.

My questions:
1. Can I run this stepper on more than 3v?

Yep, as long as you have a proper driver. The fact is you will want to run it on more than 3 volts to maximize performance. The drivers accomplish this by limiting current into the windings. You need to know the current rating on the windings and need to know how to set up current limiting on the driver.

From a technical standpoint what the driver does is use the high voltage to overcome the inductance in the windings. When the proper current density is reached the drivers chop the voltage to the motor to limit current.

2. Is M+ the same as the +24 on the output side?
I received my Arduino Uno and lab kit today and am trying to connect and run the stepper and driver from it. Any help would be appreciated. I do have the stepper sketch for the Arduino.
Chuck

Obviously you need to know which pins support step and direction. A way to probe those signals might come in handy. For intital debug you could just use a push button to drive the step input on the driver.

 

[goldstar31]

Those drivers are known to be crap. In fact there are blogs on the net that go into fixing them.


Yep, as long as you have a proper driver.

.

So for him and the rest of us morons- what isn't 'crap? What is a proper driver?

I feel that these are questions that many of us would love to know.

Regards

Norman

 

[RonGinger]

The Gecko G540 is kind of the 'gold standard' for small CNC machines, but is also about the highest price, Another very good one, and it comes in a box with the power supply and all wired, you just connect the motors is the PMDX-340 http://www.pmdx.com/PMDX-340

This is what we will be using at the CNC workshop build class. It was also used by Weston Bye in the DIGITAL MACHINIST magazine article about converting the LittleMachineShop.com micro mill.

grbl is a nice control for 3D printing but is very limited in Gcode for CNC milling- it has none of the canned cycles, no drill cycles, no offset or cutter comp and many more functions that are standard in CNC. It will not be supported by any of the common CAM software so what you can do with it will be very limited.

 

[goldstar31]

Thanks but the nearest Gecko 540 is 4280 miles away whilst the PMDX is not even listed.

Obviously, the cost of carriage and customs duty will far outway normal choice.

So I hope that you will appreciate the original question. I sort of guessed- but thank you

Norman

 

[canadianhorsepower]

Here's the stepper:

I have tried it with a 5v power wall wart and nothing.

Left side 4 inputs are marked top to bottom V+, Pul, Dir, and EN.
Right side from top to bottom A+,A-, B+, B-, +24, and GND.

Chuck

left side are the direction from your board
and right side is the wirirng for your motor
not knowing the board I can't make any good helping if it's working on 24 volts OR if it can stand up to 24 volts to drive your stepper.
If you can put any kind of model or supplier's link and I don't mind checking it out
cheers

 

[chucketn]

Luc, I guess I answered my own question, as today I found a manual for the driver. It's a M335-B TB6560 based driver. I attached the pdf for the manual. I have a 6 wire unipolar stepper that says 3v on it. I would like to test it with this driver. Can I hook 5vdc and push buttons with pull up or down resistors to the step and Dir inputs along with say a 7-10 vdc for motor supply to test it?

Chuck

View attachment M335-B-TB6560-Manual.pdf

 

[canadianhorsepower]

Luc, I guess I answered my own question, as today I found a manual for the driver. It's a M335-B TB6560 based driver. I attached the pdf for the manual. I have a 6 wire unipolar stepper that says 3v on it. I would like to test it with this driver. Can I hook 5vdc and push buttons with pull up or down resistors to the step and Dir inputs along with say a 7-10 vdc for motor supply to test it?

Chuck

I'm getting this on my smart phone re direct Ill get back to you asap

cheers

 

[Wizard69]

So for him and the rest of us morons- what isn't 'crap? What is a proper driver?

That particular driver has had a lot of problems that the manufacture has yet to clear up, that is why it is considered to be crap by many.

I feel that these are questions that many of us would love to know.

Almost anything is better. Gecko would be a high end solution but even the single chip drivers are better if they are capable of driving the motor. If you find a local vendor noted for good support that is probably the best way to go.

I get the impression that you are outside the U.S. so I really don't know what is the commonly available manufactures in your area. To that end Google is your friend.

Regards

Norman

 

[Wizard69]

Thanks but the nearest Gecko 540 is 4280 miles away whilst the PMDX is not even listed.

Obviously, the cost of carriage and customs duty will far outway normal choice.

So I hope that you will appreciate the original question. I sort of guessed- but thank you

Norman

This sounds like a business opportunity to me. Become an importer of the products.

Even so I'd have to believe that there are suppliers of electronics in your area. If not electronics at the very least electrical hardware and automation hardware. Or you can just throw this search term at Google: "Chinese stepper motor controller".

 

[goldstar31]

This sounds like a business opportunity to me. Become an importer of the products.



Even so I'd have to believe that there are suppliers of electronics in your area. If not electronics at the very least electrical hardware and automation hardware. Or you can just throw this search term at Google: "Chinese stepper motor controller".

Suppliers are OK if one wants to kit out a factory but in the limits of a very small workshop in a rather salubrious bit of suburbia. I cannot think that it would please the other residents with their Mercedes's, BMW's and big Audi's.

I do get my invitations to Chinese New Years and the Races in HongKong and even a rather exclusive place half way up the Mountain in HK( Oh, yes Zetland Hall)


Again, my thanks

Norman

 

[chucketn]

As an aside, I got started learning the Arduino because of the great support and freely available code and tutorials. Several years ago, I tried to build a Rotary Table controller designed by Kwackers (Steve Ward) on another forum. I still have the hex code for that controller. Is it possible to port hex code to the Arduino?

Chuck

 

[canadianhorsepower]

Chuck Fellow as a program for the Arduino in the download section

 

[chucketn]

CH, I have that program working. Ward's program has a few more features. I thought it might help me learn programming to convert the pic program to run on the Arduino.

Chuck