Eagle DRD File Parsing Engine

idbruce

Hi All

This may not be much use to a lot of you, but for those interested in CNC control and circuit board creation, here is an Eagle drill file parser.· I will post it in the object exchange with enhancements in a couple days.· Until then, here it is.· Metric support is not provided.· [noparse]:([/noparse]

Bruce

idbruce

Phil

Before you say it......· [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Yes I know.....·· Regular expression would have cut the code to a small fraction and been much easier and less time involved

Bruce

idbruce

Hello Everyone

The time has come to resurrect some old code.

I am currently working on my new design of the CNC PCB Drilling Machine, and when I get tired of working on it, like I am now, I will be dedicating much of my time to getting this code into much better shape. The code above will be revamped to include the PulseTheStepPin function from the attached code below, to enable the use of a pulsed step pin stepper motor driver, such as the G251X from Gecko Drive. In addition to that, I will probably alter the code to have conditional case statements instead if(s), as well as other changes.

Bruce

idbruce

Hello Everyone

My CNC PCB Drilling Machine is now much closer to a reality. At this point 60 holes have been drilled into the aluminum blanks and the parts are starting to shape up. I am starting to get a little excited and a little ambition has returned, because I know that very soon, I will have nice and new piece of automated machinery for making PCB prototypes very quickly.

I really have not put any time into revamping this code, except for giving everything the once over. However, during the machining processes, I have put a lot of thought into the software. I will share some of these thoughts with you now, just so you know where the software will be heading. Since the software will be based upon the hardware I want to have, I believe this will be my main topic of discussion, with the exception that I now want the driller to support several different types of drill files, instead of just Eagle, and I also want it to support the metric system.

Without making this too lengthy, I will simply mention the hardware or component with a brief discussion.

Drill Motor:

I am still thinking this one over. Harbor Frieght has a mini-grinder that would be very easy to adapt to the machine, but then the machine would require an external air supply and air solenoid. If I opt for using a Dremel, then I will use a solid state relay and a pushbutton to control on/off operation.

File System:

The machine will have a micro-SD Card Adapter to allow for quick change of the PCB drilling file.

Display:

The machine will have a 4X20 backlit LCD screen to display required drill changes, percentage of completion, errors, etc...

Piezo Siren:

The machine will have a piezo siren to provide audible indication that a drill bit needs changing, an error has occured, or the drilling process has been completed.

X and Y Zero Sensors:

I am still thinking this one over.

X, Y, and Z Stepper Motor Drivers:

I will be using three G251X stepper motor drivers from Gecko Drive to run my stepper motors, unless of course Peter decides to send me three of his little puppies for testing.

On/Off Switch:

This switch will be used to provide power to the Propeller chip.

Start Button:

A momentary switch to turn on transformer power and begin the drilling operation.

Transformer Power Relay:

When the Propeller first boots, the tarnsformer will not be powered up until the start button is pushed.

NEMA Type 1 Enclosure:

This enclosure will house all electrical components, as well as providing a base for three linear actuators and drill support.

Well there you have it folks, the outline for my PCB Drilling Machine, and the hardware it will support. There will be progress to this software in the near future. I will probably start on this once I order my missing parts and wait for them to arrive.

Bruce