RE: EMC - a practical implementation?

["Stephen B. Patterson" <stevieb-at-chisp.net>]

At 08:00 PM 7/12/2000 -0400, you wrote:

The EMC software was recommended by an acquaintance as a possible new
software control environment for a new nine-inch diameter, indexing table
using a Lorentz-physics SEMA rotary electrical device design from Lynx
Motion Technology Corp. This gearless indexer will have a servomotor with
75 - 100 pound feet of holding and turning torque, turn at up to 540 RPM
and have a radial positional accuracy of as high as 2 arc-seconds.  The
project is designed to introduce high precision machining capabilities to
the hobbyist machinist.

While this machine tool accessory can easily be built by the average
home-shop machinist, I'm not sure that the suggested EMC control
environment is all that ready for this type of device.

Steve




>
>Steve,
>
>You say that you have read with interest, but have you actually setup an EMC
>machine and tried it? If you are looking at EMC for any reason and do not
>actually have the software setup and running it will be hard to make any
>real judgments about it's viability.
>
>I see you are in Denver. If you need help getting an EMC machine running let
>me know and I would be happy to help you.
>
>Tim
>[Denver, CO]
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Stephen B. Patterson [stevieb-at-chisp.net]
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 5:23 PM
>> To: Multiple recipients of list
>> Subject: EMC - a practical implementation?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> All,
>> 
>> We have read with some considerable interest the comments of 
>> those trying
>> out various "builds" of the software, and the various problems being
>> encountered.  Some of you should be aware that there is considerable
>> commercial interest from any number of parties (including ourselves).
>> 
>> However, the system as designed has little redundany and does 
>> not degrade
>> in a graceful manner.  Error checking is a joke - what does 
>> "error XX -
>> divide by zero" have to do with the implementation problems being
>> encoutered if it won't tell you what's wrong?
>> 
>> The truth is, "it doesn't matter whether the system performs well at a
>> machining task, as long as it is mathematically pure" would 
>> be extremely
>> funny if it weren't so maddening to those trying to implement 
>> the software.
>>  These problems tell us this system is a long way from even a 
>> hobbyist's
>> dream, let alone a practical solution to any machine control problems.
>> 
>> The essence of a good system design is it's ability to 
>> perform marginally
>> well in situations never dreamed of by the original architects . . . .
>> 
>> That is, from the start, the system architect designed in 
>> convertability,
>> redundancy, portability, adaptability, error recovery, limit 
>> checking, and
>> all fifteen known methods to implement predictive and 
>> graceful degradation
>> of performance.  And the systems testing suites were designed 
>> in advance so
>> that the tough, real-world problems that have already been 
>> solved by most
>> of the commercial machine control environments could easily 
>> be implemented
>> here. 
>> 
>> 
>> The impression we have is that this system being built by one 
>> or more ivory
>> tower types who haven't a clue as to the practical problems being
>> encountered by real-worl implementations.  What happened to 
>> the idea that
>> this software is easy to implement and easy to use?
>> 
>> We'll be watching.
>> 
>> Good luck, you'll need it.
>> 
>> Steve
>> 
>> 
>>                       Stephen Brent Patterson
>>                          RODI Power Systems
>>                  The ElectriHydraulic Company
>>                Stephens Steam Speeder Company
>>                                 
>> 
>>                                   
>> 4019 Perry St.	        Denver, CO 80212-2171 USA
>> 01-303-480-1439 Vox 8am-Noon  <stevieb-at-chisp.net>
>> 
>
                      Stephen Brent Patterson
                         RODI Power Systems
                 The ElectriHydraulic Company
               Stephens Steam Speeder Company
                                

                                  
4019 Perry St.	        Denver, CO 80212-2171 USA
01-303-480-1439 Vox 8am-Noon  <stevieb-at-chisp.net>