DDCSV1.1 4 Axis controller

[Joules]

Look what turned up this morning, it wasn't expected for a couple more weeks at least.



It's just been unboxed, not powered up and checked over yet.

In the mean time I had bought...



The BBC micro:bit and dual DC motor controller to have a go mocking up a smart power feed for the mill.  I haven't programmed seriously since my early 20's, and that was 6502 assembler code.  I watched a few videos of kids programming these things and got utterly frustrated with "OLD GUY" syndrome not even being able to make the development kit work via bluetooth      Programmer I am not, but I do have a task and target in mind so it shouldn't be that hard     Kid's can do it.

[John Rudd]

Looks interesting....I luv new bits of hardware kit...
I'm not a programmer either....
but I managed to get a bluetooth transceiver to work with my Lenovo Android....


Its for Yuri's dro project when I get round to making a pcb for the hardware

Watching with interest to see how this developes....( no pun intended....)

[nrml]

Here are some pictures of the inside of mine. I still haven't powered it up yet. Just had a peek inside even though I didn't really understand what I was looking at. The build quality of the board is excellent. I'll let the knowledgeable people comment on the choice of components.

[Joules]

It's alive....



My cheap 24v PSU works as well, I've had it a while but never powered it up.  I did check the voltage out before hooking up just so there were no nasty surprises.



I like the display, for a lathe or mill where it's in your face the display is fine.  On a large router it's finding somewhere for it to live, where it isn't going to get knocked loading the machine, but easy reach for viewing and button pushing.   Hmmmm, pendant is on my wish list.   For the price, I hope to be very impressed once I get it cutting.

LOL nrml, I pulled mine apart as a speck of dust was between the LCD screen and the front plastic screen, but wasn't going to own up to pulling it apart yet.  I also removed the bleeper tag as my hearing isn't what it used to be.  I can hear it now    

[Pete.]

Would you run us through the basics of how you would utilise this piece of kit please? I can see/read up on what it is, but how is it used?

[Joules]

Do you mean end use, or how to install on existing equipment ?

For me, I am replacing a bad controller and LinuxCNC PC with the above for a CNC router, if that works out for me I will be looking at doing a manual mill conversion to CNC  for use in the workshop.  I am no expert at this and learning like most others here.

[Pete.]

I mean how do you input stuff into the device to get it to do the stuff you want it to do. Do you load files into it by sd card or is all the inputting done on the buttons?

[Joules]

Got you....   Input is via a USB flash drive (memory stick, second picture) you generate g-code in a 3rd party application, or even write it in a text application.  Look at the display picture and you can see the second screen option on the bottom is File Page, this is where you select your job from.  Not sure if you can modify the g-code on the device from the front panel like you can on the other controller.  You have manual control from the front for jogging the machine to position and home/zero, switching the spindle on and off if it's controlled from the controller.  Thats about the depth of my understanding for now.

[raynerd]

Just asking...what is the benefit of this over a pic with Mach3 or Linux cnc? (If my understanding is correct, that is what it is replacing)

[nrml]

No PC involved for machine control.
No need for sourcing obsolete PCs and testing for latency(if you don't have any lying around).
No breakout boards or adapters.
Compact.
You can do all the CAD and CAM work in a comfortable place and transfer it to the machine on a USB stick.
Much cheaper than a Mach 3 licence plus all the necessary hardware.

[PK]

Yeah, and there are a few flavors of these things around too.  I'm getting reasonable step rates (ie >50KHz) out of mine. It'd be good to see one with an Ethernet interface. Our laser cutter controller at work has one and it's quite convenient to be able to just push a file onto it..

PK

[nrml]

That's exactly what I was thinking too. I've been thinking of having a Raspberry Pi permanently hooked to the USB Port to network the device. I don't know if it will see the Pi as a storage device or not.

[Will_D]

Here's the 91 page manual:

robokits.download/datasheets/DS_DDCSV1_EN.pdf

[John Stevenson]

Been looking at these as a cheap alternative to old PC's and license fees.
Just had a quick look at the manual and it's very clear except how to get the 0 - 10v out for speed control ?

Can anyone compare this unit with this one. ?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-axis-3-5-Inch-LCD-Screen-CNC-controller-lathe-mini-milling-machine-servo-USB-stepper/32324927105.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_10,searchweb201602_5_10057_10056_10055_10049_10017_405_404_10059_10058_10040_10060,searchweb201603_6&btsid=00101d51-e9e1-4749-bea1-9cb7ad4661ea

I am days away from pulling the plug of a more expensive 2 axis lathe controller.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/EMS-free-New-Version-English-Panel-shipping-2-Axis-CNC-controller-for-lathe-and-grinding-machine/1961245550.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_10,searchweb201602_5_10057_10056_10055_10049_10017_405_404_10059_10058_10040_10060,searchweb201603_6&btsid=35fcd8ff-c46d-4fa4-aee5-15273fe238ba

The unit Joules has won't do threading, this one will plus it does face threads, tapered threads, multi-start threads and run a tool changer.

At £425 odd pounds it's less than a decent PC, monitor, windows license, Mach 4 license and an external controller.

Main thing is it works as is and isn't a work in progress by 3 different companies who won't talk to one another.

[nrml]

If I am reading the TC55H advertisement right, it seems to suggest that the maximum number of lines of code it can handle are 1000. The DDCS doesn't seem to be limited in this regard.

The DDCS seems to have an ARM9 processor for device control and a separate FPGA chip to feed the G code to the machine. Most of the other flavours of these control boxes don't seem do it that way.

[Brass_Machine]

So, does this thing replace just the PC portion of a CNC setup? Or does it come with the motor drivers too?

Eric

[PK]

It replaces two elements of the system:
The PC (and machine control software)
The isolation between the machine controller and the drives.

You really want your motor drives to be separate from the machine controller for any, non trivial, cnc build.

[DMIOM]

I mean how do you input stuff into the device to get it to do the stuff you want it to do. Do you load files into it by sd card or is all the inputting done on the buttons?

With one of these http://madmodder.net/index.php/topic,11387.msg135880.html#msg135880 of course! 

Dave

[Joules]

OK, second look at this unit, I deciphered the 0-10v spindle out, not got round to hooking up a stepper or two yet.  I am however puzzled by the display showing two sets of co-ordinates, this doesn't seem to be covered in the manual.  I suppose one is absolute and the other relative ???  or something like.



Changing from metric to imperial doesn't seem to be an option.  It's metric only ???  I also found a rounding anomaly in the 0.01 count increments, it stepped by .009 the first and third manual increment.  The tool path display is a nice touch, lots more playing before any serious work can be done though.   Fair points raised by John, but tapping by CNC is miles down my list of requirements.  Mostly 2D profile cutting at differing Z settings than full blown 2.5D work.

p.s   My lack of knowledge on G54 offsets ???    The button beeps got tiresome quick, fortunately a single setting turns it off.  LOL

[awemawson]

G54 work offset showing as asserted (it's modal), so perhaps your two set of co-ordinates are work and machine ?

[John Stevenson]

 Metric is G21, imperial is G20 in the code.
You normally have an initiation line at the start of a program that sets the defaults and resets any modal commands. Can't see any commands in the g code list to cancel them though.

Also no tool length offsets so need to be careful with Z zero

[Joules]

Cheers John, G20-21 was what I was thinking of, in a fashion.   Lower down my Parameter page, 32 tool offsets are available.  However with the router having an ER collet, I end up zeroing each tool prior to a job.  I may make a tool sensor this time for auto length setting.  When I finally move to a mill, one of this lot will have sorted it out and I can just follow the pack....



Very different to the SMC4-4-16A16B, no direct gcode editing on this unit, so it's back to the PC for editing.

[Joules]

My first motor test using an ancient stepper for testing.  This is also the first test of these really cheap stepper drivers.   What I hadn't realised was this controller doesn't have an enable line, I was going to use this to trigger my cooling fans for the stepper drivers.   Never mind plan B & C will sort it out.



The jury is still out on this controller as I can't tweak the g-code directly at the unit, so still need to go back to the PC to mod the code.  Unlike PK's controller, I do however like the USB flash drive on a short extension cable and easy operation of this unit.   Once I have a box made up to house all the parts it will be time to wire up the CNC router and see if it's all been worth it.

The stepper drivers are rated for 24VDC and upto 3A per phase, and cost a measly £9.00 each, so they should be good for a small mill.  Or NEMA23 3.1nm sized motor without issue, it can go higher but I would leave some headroom with these drivers.

[PK]

The large screen is a plus on your unit too!
The 'tweak the code' function on mine gets old pretty quick if you have to do anything more than change a feed rate...

Mine does have an enable line, though it's wired through the DB25's on the back rather than the terminals for step and dir..
Could you use some combination of an M code triggered generic output and an extra switch block on the E-Stop circuit?

[Joules]

Cheers PK, yeah I can use the coolant control for fan operation.   I guess we are in early days with these new controllers, lots of little niggles, that I'm sure will get resolved over time with newer units.  I can't fault it as is, for the price.  Shame we don't have access to files that appear in the manual (userVar.set) and where we are on firmware updates.  Some hacking and modding is in order     cos thats what we do....