>This is the only way to run what is known as 'hard real time' in this environment.
>It may not be pretty, but it works. Unfortunately the general Ubuntu users population doesn't need realtime response, so the real time kernal mods are an add on. Still it is hard to complain too much when you compare it with the Microsoft situation. At least the Linux kernel is out in the open so it can be modified for realtime operation. No such luck with Microsoft. There are Windows add ons for realtime operation but they are also closed source and very pricey. The problem with a smart SmoothStepper type device is that it cannot be altered by the general public (same as most other commercial CNC controls..). The list of issues with the SmoothStepper is still fairly lengthy. And due to economic issues, demand, the time limits of the developer, etc, the development cycle on the smoothstepper has slowed and perhaps stopped. Many Mach3 users went to the Smoothstepper only to give up on it and go back to the Mach3 LPT driver since they lost functionality. If you want to see an example of this in the Mach3 world, go to the Mach3 forum and do a search on Threading.... there is a lot to read about that... and the different ways that the Smoothstepper vs Mach3 handles threading has created some issues which are hard to overcome... Then if you want to delve further look into rigid tapping...and why it is possible with EMC2 and not with Mach3.. etc.. The SmoothStepper was not able to implement all of the functions that Mach3 has. As the EMC2 developers explained to me, that is why EMC2 is setup as it is. The heart and soul of EMC2 is in software, alterable by multiple people. In most cases going to different I/O hardware (Mesa, Pico Systems, etc) does not cause you to lose core functionality. The power of EMC2 is in the software architecture and that it is open source with many active developers. Many EMC2 users are also quite familiar with Mach3. ;-) Dave On 4/9/2010 9:14 PM, [email protected] wrote: > I agree with Stephen. The real time kernel is not an inherent part of > what Ubuntu does. > > Basically it is a microkernel that drives the physical devices and > runs Ubuntu, and its applications including the rest of EMC as a task. > If an interrupt happens, the microkernel > takes over, when it is done it lets 'lower priority functions' like > running Ubuntu do what it wants. > > This is the only way to run what is known as 'hard real time' in this > environment. > > It may not be pretty, but it works. > > ... > > Other options are to offload all the real time functions to an > appliance like Smooth Stepper by Warp 9 ( http://www.warp9td.com/ ) > but it isn't (yet) EMC friendly. (Smooth Stepper requires Mach3 and > Windows to work sofar) > > For the 'old timers' that there are the DOS g-code interpreters. They > were effectively stand alone but used DOS as a program loader. > > I hope this helps someone... > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval > Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs > proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. > See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
