We resurrected a MilwaukeeMatic IIIb. http://electronicsam.com/images/KandT/oldkandt.JPG http://electronicsam.com/images/KandT/DSCCurrent.JPG http://electronicsam.com/images/KandT/conversion/frntcontroller.JPG (we used a 386 as a tape emulator)
The original control was used well into the 2000's and finally died. We then converted to linuxcnc (obviously ;) ) It was all discrete components - no IC's. It did circular and linear interpolation (all be it - we never got it perfect - you could see the faceting..) But worked quite well. Very limited GCODE http://electronicsam.com/images/KandT/conversion/cheatsheet.JPG I don't know how many cards it had - but it was a bunch... http://electronicsam.com/images/KandT/conversion/card1.JPG http://electronicsam.com/images/KandT/conversion/rearcontrller.JPG (that was only the lower half of the control) This was a 2.5 axis + table index machine with hydraulic servos. The X, Z and B axis all shared the same hydraulic servo. (they are all separate now) We are still using most of the axis drive train - the Z axis being the most convoluted. It runs through atleast 5 sets of zero backlash gears + zero backlash linear spline. We have the backlash of that axis down to a few tenths. The rest are zero. The drawings are dated 62ish and the machine was delivered to a local manufacturer in the late 60s. We still use the beast daily and linuxcnc has given it a new life. It does things now the designers only dreamed of back then. The machine is a tank. sam On 8/31/2016 11:37 AM, Jon Elson wrote: >> On 31 August 2016 at 07:42, <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Got into a bizarre argument... so of course it was initially "Computer >>> Numeric Control". I was noting people breaking it down to explain it to >>> people as "which means it's 'computer numeric controlled'" but that seems >>> to add nothing to the meaning. In fact it's confusing. > Before CNC, there was NC (or tape-NC). No computer. The > Moog Hydra-point control read a wide tape which had the > positions coded on it with air nozzles, similar to a player > piano. The position encoders on the machine slides also > used many holes and air nozzles to encode position. The > control was entirely pneumatic. The comparison between > commanded position and encoder position controlled Moog > hydraulic servo valves to move the machine by hydraulic > motor and leadscrew. That was an example of "extreme" NC. > > GE made controls that were electronic and digital, and used > traditional (but very limited and concise) G-code. > These had hundreds of boards full of discrete Germanium > transistors. It was all functional logic, no computer. > The basic control did positioning only. If you wanted > linear interpolation, you had to add a couple hundred more > boards. if you wanted circular interpolation, add another > couple hundred boards. There was no CRT, just an LED > position display and paper tape. > > Bridgeport and others had early CNC systems that worked > about the same way, no CRT, just an LCD display with very > terse information. > > Finally, in the late 60's or early 70's CNC with CRT > displays came out. > > So, the term "CNC" was used to distinguish the advanced > capabilities of having a computer IN the machine control, as > opposed to the limitations of the earlier NC systems. > > Jon > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
