#GECKO G540 4 AXIS STEPPER DRIVER DRIVERS#
#GECKO G540 4 AXIS STEPPER DRIVER CODE#
#GECKO G540 4 AXIS STEPPER DRIVER PC#

IвЂ™m also designing an electronics cabinet that will hold all the components for the new configuration. The machine itself is not changing (steppers, homing switches, etc.)

24 vdc switching power supply for the 7i76e board and for field power for all the I/O.

Mesa 7i76e FPGA board (with ethernet interface to PC).

Tested a Mesa 7i76e ethernet FPGA board in place of the parallel port interface.

The existing electronics will be left as-is except for the addition of disconnects that will allow easy swapping between the two configurations.

I am alsoВ interested in testing a toroidal power supply, using the Mesa 7i76e again, and seeing how the Raspberry Pi 4 works as the control computer running Linux CNC. They have since become an attractive option, so I have been wanting to try them out.

#GECKO G540 4 AXIS STEPPER DRIVER DRIVERS#

IвЂ™ve had these components for some time now but havenвЂ™t prioritized setting them up until now.Д«ack when I first designed my CNC router, Leadshine drivers were significantly more expensive than the Gecko G540 that I ended up using. I will be testing a new electronics package for my CNC router.

#GECKO G540 4 AXIS STEPPER DRIVER PC#

The second method is RS-485 control direct from the PC to VFD.ДЄll the details are documented in an article on controlling a Huanyang VFD and spindle from Linux CNC 2.8. The first method is using the Mesa 7i76e, which has a dedicated terminal block for analog spindle control. I tested out two methods of controlling the VFD. The cooling pump is a submersible aquarium style pump that is being controlled from LinuxCNC to automatically turn on and off when needed. The spindle is a 2.2 kW 110 vac 3 phase 400 Hz motor with water cooling. This specific model is for 110 vac input and 110 vac 3 phase output.

IвЂ™m starting with the Huanyang HY series VFD. So, going forward I will be testing each of the above for myself. IвЂ™ve read many (sometimes conflicting) opinions about water cooled vs air cooled and 110 vac vs 220 vac spindle motors.

#GECKO G540 4 AXIS STEPPER DRIVER CODE#

The VFD is connected to LinuxCNC to enable it to be controlled automatically by the G code when files are run on the machine. ItвЂ™s possible it would have run faster with a NUC computer running LinuxCNC.ДЄlong with the electronics upgrade, a 2.2 kW Huanyang VFD and water cooled spindle has been installed in place of the previous DeWalt routers I had been using (both the DW618 and DWP611). HereвЂ™s a quick video showing this maximum speed, which was achieved not only using a Raspberry Pi to control the machine, but operating the Pi wirelessly over remote desktop from a laptop computer. It was slightly less when driving X and Y together: 38000 mm/min (1500 ipm).

In this case, the maximum speed on a single axis was 40000 mm/min or 1575 inches/minute (ipm). That makes it easy to detect when there is an issue and quickly find the maximum speeds. With the Leadshine AM822 drivers, if the motors stall or lose steps the drive will set a fault and stop motion immediately. Another item that might limit max speed is if the ball screws start whipping. Once the main core of the electronics were installed and working, it was time to test and tune the speed and acceleration values.ДЇirst, the acceleration is set to a low value (750 mm/sec/sec) and then speed is gradually increased, testing each axis individually and also in concert with the others until the motors start stalling or missing steps.

Gecko g540 4 axis stepper driver