Fingers crossed it'll cut ally

[ecat]

I'm guessing we are talking about standard RC parts here so, the servo tester most likely outputs a signal of 20ms period. The width of the pulse within this 20ms period determines the output of the ESC. Actual values and their relation to each other depend on the hardware used.

Can the ESC be driven from a 0 to 10v signal? Not directly. I'm sure there'll be something on the web to suit or maybe this is another job for a friendly PIC.

[blackburn mark]

if you guys dream up a simple way of of conecting to mack3 ill have some of that :naughty:

im thinking of basterdising a lazor rev counter... can anyone tell me... will i get away with removing the lazor diode and pickup and extending them out onto my z axis and put the lcd somwhere more sociable?

[irving2008]

if you guys dream up a simple way of of conecting to mack3 ill have some of that :naughty:

im thinking of basterdising a lazor rev counter... can anyone tell me... will i get away with removing the lazor diode and pickup and extending them out onto my z axis and put the lcd somwhere more sociable?

dont bother... the prpoblem with the laser diode ones is that they are sampling devices... press to read... as the laser diode cant handle continuous operation. Its a lot simple to do a slotted vane type approach and one of the many solutions discussed in Rick's Boxford 260VMC thread

[irving2008]

im sure a man like you could rustle one up in your dinner break :)

I'm guessing we are talking about standard RC parts here so, the servo tester most likely outputs a signal of 20ms period. The width of the pulse within this 20ms period determines the output of the ESC. Actual values and their relation to each other depend on the hardware used.

Can the ESC be driven from a 0 to 10v signal? Not directly. I'm sure there'll be something on the web to suit or maybe this is another job for a friendly PIC.

This is an easy job for a single 14pin PIC, two small potentiometers (to set min and max speeds), a diode, a couple of resistors and two capacitors. The diode/resistor/capacitor combo forms a charge pump that converts the fast PWM signal from MACH3 into a voltage which is sampled by the analog-digital converter in the PIC. The same A/D converter samples the settings of the two pots to determine high and low speed limits. The PIC then generates a PWM output that varies according to the incoming voltage from MACH3. A speed sampler could be included in the same device and closed loop functions could be added to maintain set speed against load... With a bigger 20pin PIC the rev counter display could be added... price of the PIC, about £1, total cost <£15 if built on stripboard or enough were built to make setting out a PCB viable. Basic software would take a few days... bit longer for the closed loop stuff...