Centroid Acorn CNC Controller

[Ger21]

99% of DIY CNC users don't use Cutter Comp, because they have their CAM software do it. That's why UCCNC didn't have it.
But, as I said, it's being developed, and should be available soon. (I've seen some screenshots of a comped toolpath).

I didn't say you can't have the features of a 25 year old control for $300, I meant a current $10K control.
Yes, hobby controls can do a great many things that high end commercial controls can do, for a fraction of the price.

As for the Lookagead. There's a lot more to it than just how many lines it looks ahead. Different controls have different methods to determine how they follow the commanded path, and how much they are allowed to deviate from the path. The trajectory planner can make or break a control.
If I had to guess, I would expect the Centroid planner to perhaps be a bit better than UCCNC's, because it's been around a LOT longer, and it's been known as a higher end control. But I also know that UCCNC's planner is much better than Mach3's.

[Bravin Neff]

99% of DIY CNC users don't use Cutter Comp, because they have their CAM software do it. That's why UCCNC didn't have it.

It makes sense. Its probably a function of how one uses a machine, what one cuts and one's expectation. If you run into material you haven't cut before, or a geometry that forces you into to a setup that isn't ideal, and the tool deflection creates an outcome out of tolerance, you can either lie about the cutter diameter in cam, re post and rerun it. Or make a quick radius comp and rerun just that section. I think the latter is baked into most machinist's habits. The former has become perfectly reasonable beccause cam has become nearly ubiquitous at all levels, even in the home.

As for the Lookagead. There's a lot more to it than just how many lines it looks ahead. Different controls have different methods to determine how they follow the commanded path, and how much they are allowed to deviate from the path. The trajectory planner can make or break a control. If I had to guess, I would expect the Centroid planner to perhaps be a bit better than UCCNC's, because it's been around a LOT longer, and it's been known as a higher end control. But I also know that UCCNC's planner is much better than Mach3's.

Interesting. I played around with both mach3 and UCCC, and I couldn't get along with mach3 at all. Not sure why, but UCCNC seemed way better thought out. I could make things happen immediately. Speaking of lookahead, for my day job I sell Okuma machines, and its amazing how they do it. The look ahead is infinite... the entire program is calculated. The other part is that the tolerance is adjustable, both by a dialog page or in the g code itself. Giving the cutter path more tolerance makes it more aggressive in corners and cycle times speed way up. Think roughing a mold, where 0.020" is left everywhere. There's no reason to hold tight tolerances, and time is money. Then for finishing passes you tighten up the tolerance and the acc and decs get less aggressive accordingly.

[Ger21]

On big, expensive machines, the controls are often tailored to the machine. Where a hobby control like UCCNC is a general purpose control, used by many different types of machines. So what you end up with is something that works well on most machines, but could always be a bit better. CNC Drive is planning on working on a new trajectory planner soon, with S Curve acceleration, which will be very nice for machines capable of high speeds.

My day job is running big Italian routers, in the cabinet industry. The controls on these machines are tailered to both the machine and application. So while I can easily cut cabinet parts at 1500ipm, any type of 3D work is a real struggle for the machine we have.

[m_c]

What exactly is macro B?
Just the ability to have variables, and do calculations within the code?
If it is, Dynomotion KMotionCNC can do it, as they include some examples

It's something I've never had any dealings with, as most stuff I do on the lathe I just write manually, and the mill gets done using CAM.

[Ger21]

Most controls can do some parametric g-code. But it appears that Macro B gives you access to just about every thing the control is doing, through variables.

[Bravin Neff]

Most controls can do some parametric g-code. But it appears that Macro B gives you access to just about every thing the control is doing, through variables.

Yes, macro b isn't just variables, though it is that too. It also is access to system variables (eg., on a 2 pallet HMC, you can query: what pallet is currently inside?). Also, variables #1-#99 reset on power cycling, but #500-#599 do not. That is very useful for certain times you want information to survive regardless if power is interrupted. Access to just about everything in the control, and you can also have external I/O write to macro variables, depending on their state.

In the old days, people did their entire robot interface and gauging interfacing through m-codes and variables.

[Bravin Neff]

Even to this day, if you buy a CNC machine that has a fanuc control (or one like it, like the Haas and Mitsubishi controls), and you want a Renishaw or Marposs probe, all the routines are written in macro b, and all the calculations and intermediate steps are just clever use of the variables.