Hi All I hope you guys can help me?! I'm just about to re-commission my OX that has been in storage for the last 4 years, and want to use the latest thinking on controller boards that is best suited to my set-up. The set-up is as follows: Desktop PC running XP with fully licensed Mach 3, utilising LPT Printer port to output to controller board Motors X = NEMA 23 Y= 2 x NEMA 23 Z= NEMA 17 I'm curious about the Arduino solutions - just not yet figured out how that integrates with Mach3 etc (if it does at all?)... or would the 'Black box' be the best solution? I have a couple of Raspberry Pis in my workshop ... can they be used like an arduino? Any advice is much welcomed! Andy H
Hi Andy if you go anything Arduino you won't need Mach3, it will be running GRBL (this includes the Blackbox). If you want to keep using Mach3 then you would need a Mach compatible board. Negative on the Pi as arduino substitute. Cheers Gary
Thanks Gary So, if I go Arduino, I bin the PC and just use a monitor etc as the interface? Does the Arduino software have the same level of functionality as Mach 3?
To use GRBL you need a g-code sender (such as Opencontrol or UGS) to send to GRBL running on the arduino. This is typically a PC or the Openbuilds Interface. Check the GRBL Wiki for all the grbl info. Workflow looks like this (for many people, this is simplified for clarity); 1) Design - draw something, can be just about anything inkscape, NanoCad, sketchup, Fusion360... 2) CAM - takes the drawing and converts it into G-Code, post processers create G-code made for either grbl, OpenCam is one way to do this( I use NanoCAD 5 and Estlcam, which is another whole thread) 3) Control - this is a program on a PC or Mac that sends the G-code to the Arduino or Blackbox, also in the interface for homing and jogging the machine for setup. that's basically it.. Openbuilds has a bunch of setup and first cut videos that could be very helpful to wrap your head around it. Cheers Gary
Grab a BlackBox (see https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox) and run it off USB off any PC or Mac (Win 7,8,10,11,Linux,MacOs) using our free software OpenBuildsCONTROL (see docs:software:openbuilds-control [OpenBuilds Documentation]) CONTROL basically equates to Mach, and BlackBox basically equates to LPT port + breakout + drivers + wiring + pain and suffering - instead all in one plug and play "box" - the easy and modern way Modern Software is explained in docs:software:overview [OpenBuilds Documentation] Other cool accessories include Interface (optional extra so you don't even need a PC if you don't want to) see https://docs.openbuilds.com/interface and our Probe (see https://docs.openbuilds.com/xyzprobe)
Thanks Gary. I’m ok with the methodology … if been running my current machine for 3 years using Aspire and Mach 3 before mothballing it. Just want to know the best and latest controller setup.
