[sudo-discuss] help sudoroom have a CNC machine!

[Jake]

sudoroom needs a CNC milling machine!  well guess what, we already have 
one (no i don't mean the robot)

i'm talking about the big heavy CSAM thing that is sitting on the border 
between sudoroom and CCL.  It was made to image ICs in their package with 
ultrasonic probing, but nobody cares about that and it's a really nice big 
3-axis platform anyway, so we might as well throw a rotary cutter on there 
and have a nice CNC mill/router.

what's missing?  Turns out it's just software.  The software that came 
with the ancient computer is very specifically written for raster-scanning 
integrated circuits with the ultrasonic probe (which works).

but we need software to take G-code and drive a cutting tool around on 
pieces of wood, so we can carve words into wood planks or whatever.

the motor controller for this machine is controlled by an ISA card inside 
the computer.  It is controlled through "ports" accessed by the CPU.  If 
we are unable to find software to take G-code and drive this ISA card (and 
i'm sure it's possible to find such software) we could just write our own 
software, to run in linux or DOS or whatever.  The computer is a 386.

Please try to find software for operating a CNC machine with this setup:
Parker Compumotor PC-23

here is the manual for the hardware we have, which lists lots of software 
stuff:

http://spaz.org/~jake/bxi/pc23_ug-servodriver.pdf

I haven't imaged the hard drive on the computer there, so i don't have 
everything backed up, and i haven't looked to see if there is handy 
software for driving the machine from G-code, but i doubt it's there.  The 
software that's there can move the machine around, but only for scanning 
CSAM.  If you want to play with it, let me know.  We can meet up at sudo.

-jake

someone has been here before:
http://www.programd.com/62_0e8487061f6729ba_1.htm