>On the other hand, real-time control on a cheap microcontroller is
>not as easy as it seems.
That's the least of the issues. The major bottleneck is in the CNC
software. Most of it is written for open loop stepper setups using the
tradional I/O control port of choice. This therefore influences
hardware design. Even though there is USB ready CNC software out there,
why build in a USB interface when most are using the parallel port. Let
the user get an adapter instead.
What desktop CNC needs is an IBM of sorts to create a standard that
both the hardware and software guys buy into. Somehow, a computer in
every home (or room) is easier to visualize than a CNC setup so we're
probably a long way from seeing anything like that.
--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Phil Mattison" <mattison20@...>
wrote:
>