I believe there are videos of even faster ShapeOkos, but I can't find them right now.
Technology is advancing so quickly that if you blink... you miss out on 2 fads and a Sony product...
30 years ago, most stepper-driven machinery used direct-control of the H-bridges powering the steppers, and the MCU/CPU had to not just pulse the IO, but set up bit patterns for each pin, too.
These days, a StepStick or similar driver which is fed with a 'direction' and 'step' signal handles all the pattern-generation. It even handles microstepping...
That makes it much easier to control.
low inductance windings (ie high current bipolar motors - 1 ohm or less is common)
high supply voltage (overcome back EMF from motion and inductance, 80 to 120V is common for industrial drivers)
current control using chopper circuit.
careful control of resonance (various techniques, microstepping, mechanical or electronic damping).
Martin, that's probably a good thing. He didn't have much to be positive for this machine. The biggest issue would be maintenance/parts. He wasn't sure about the noise but said that should definitely be a factor.
So, by his comment "you get what you pay for" and this was dirt cheap, I think you won by missing out on it.
Comments
OK,
I was going on 30-35 year old technology.
I believe there are videos of even faster ShapeOkos, but I can't find them right now.
Technology is advancing so quickly that if you blink... you miss out on 2 fads and a Sony product...
30 years ago, most stepper-driven machinery used direct-control of the H-bridges powering the steppers, and the MCU/CPU had to not just pulse the IO, but set up bit patterns for each pin, too.
These days, a StepStick or similar driver which is fed with a 'direction' and 'step' signal handles all the pattern-generation. It even handles microstepping...
That makes it much easier to control.
low inductance windings (ie high current bipolar motors - 1 ohm or less is common)
high supply voltage (overcome back EMF from motion and inductance, 80 to 120V is common for industrial drivers)
current control using chopper circuit.
careful control of resonance (various techniques, microstepping, mechanical or electronic damping).
So, by his comment "you get what you pay for" and this was dirt cheap, I think you won by missing out on it.