Re: digital servo controller to offload the Parallel Port?

[John Griessen <john_g-at-cibolo.com>]

> >On Wed, 2002-12-18 at 13:11, Jon Elson wrote:
> >>Why do you want to add more computers?  It only adds to the
confusion 
> >>factor.
> >
> >Oh... one good reason is to allow for safety shutdowns, and also have
> >everything handled by messages and all the

> >
> I have completely hardware estop circuitry, 
[jg]Is having it be only hardware best?  Would reconfigurable on the fly
local fast control loops be better?  That's the kind of approach that is
possible with building blocks like FPGA/memory/8051micro on one chip for
$5....

> If you really think you can make a stepper controller 

with . . . and still make money at it - then go to work! 
>  I'm basically selling these
> at cost . . .
> 
> Jon
[jg]I have no plan to compete with your system.  Anything 
I made would probably solve a different problem.  I 
wasn't meaning to imply emc needs to become a decetralized system either
-- just asking who was interested in digital servo loops and position
encoders.  I can imagine finding interested testers for a control system
project here, and maybe some collaborators in open source
hardware/software development for motion control modules, (not entire
systems).  I like the kind of simplicities that can come from
multiprocessor object oriented hardware approaches to control.  Yes, I
said simplicity!  Yes, the hardware may be more complex as in multiple
processors, but the overall task of HW/SW/system is reduced complexity
and more flexible because of decentralized approach.  

John Griessen