I'm helping a friend develop/build a machine to wind carbon fiber and other
fillaments on a mandrel or spindle. Something like this commercial machine:
http://www.mccleananderson.com/Winders/little%20hornet.htm
We've got a lead screw/linear bearing setup, and a parallel port controller
and stepper motors:
http://www.dsns.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=84
We're in the process of putting together a frame with pillow block bearings
to hold the spindle and cross-feed drive.
I've got EMC2 and Ububtu 8.04 up and running (from the latest "Live" CD) on
a Celeron 500. For some reason I had trouble with grub in setting up a
dual-boot machine, so I went with a linux-only box.
I was looking at the design software McClean Anderson sells:
http://www.mccleananderson.com/controls/composite%20designer.htm
This is exactly what we would use if we could afford it. However, we're
piecing this project together with a very minimal budget (hence linux and
EMC2). Is there any FOSS software that duplicates this type of design? Is
there any software that lets the user design in Polar coordinates rather
than Cartesian? This is somewhat like controlling a lathe during a screw
cutting operation, except that the spindle will be turned by a stepper
motor. I guess in the worst case scenario, I could convert the design to
Cartesian coordinates, and drive the spindle as though it was the "Y" axis.
The design would look like a long zig-zag.
Last question: can EMC2 controll more than one parallel port I/O at a time?
I may need additional "stuff" done during winding, and would need additional
stepper motors (and controller).
Thanks in advance for any comments. Am I missing anything?
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