Post date: Jul 7, 2014 11:49:42 PM
I finished installing the Gecko Drives, and my CNC mill is back up and running. As usual, I'd also say it's better than ever.
Two upgrades (since it was last running) make it better: First, it's now being controlled by a BeagleBone Black, which means real real-time stepping thanks to a dedicated real-time unit. No more software jitter! Less notable, but still exciting features are the use of a recent OS (Debian 7.4 instead of Ubuntu 10.04) and lower power consumption. No idea how relevant the PC's consumption was in light of the multiple amps going through the steppers, but now it's under 10 watts (for the computer, at any rate).
The second improvement is the stepper drivers. The Gecko Drives are so much better (at least in the 5 minutes of testing/playing I've done) than the previous cheapo board I was using! They have improved resolution (nominally, at least; 10 microsteps per full step vs 2 for the old board) and run quieter, smoother, and faster. Plus they hopefully won't blow up. I think they're worth the investment.
To aid them in not blowing up, I've "borrowed" a heatsink from an old Pentium II CPU. It's the perfect size to attach all three Geckos and should provide more than adequate heatsinking, especially since I'm running the drivers below the current specified as requiring additional heatsinking. Better to be safe than have another (much more expensive) driver blow up!
Pictures will show up whenever I get my hands on a decent camera.