[Rob K]

I'm in the process of building a cnc router. I had purchased a G540 to drive my 4 steppers (X1, X2, Y, Z). I want to add a rotary axis later, but the 4 drives on the G540 are spoken for. Was starting to look into usb controllers and now have found the KFLOP.

I'm thinking about controlling the G540 with a KFLOP and adding one individual stepper driver for the future rotary axis. What else can I do with the KFLOP?

Can I interface it with my own electroncs/software for manual control (ie no PC)?

Can I have encoder feedback on my steppers to detect missed steps?

What else can I do with the i/o and software capabilities?

Can I download and check out the software before purchasing the hardware?

I'm an engineer by degree (ME & EE) and would love to better understand the capabilities of the KFLOP. I've got 20 yrs experience writing C code and designing embedded systems. It would be really cool if I could do some custom stuff without having to design and debug my own complete module from scratch.

[TomKerekes]

Can I interface it with my own electroncs/software for manual control (ie no PC)?

Yes you can run stand-alone by either Flashing your own C programs into Flash or send RS232 motion commands from your electronics

Can I have encoder feedback on my steppers to detect missed steps?

Absolutely or run closed loop.

What else can I do with the i/o and software capabilities?

a lot :}

Can I download and check out the software before purchasing the hardware?

Yes, go to our download page. You can run our KMotionCNC program in simulation mode. We also include a C Compiler and Mini IDE you can go to our KMotion | C Program Screen and look at and compile example programs (but they won't run without hardware)

I'm an engineer by degree (ME & EE) and would love to better understand the capabilities of the KFLOP. I've got 20 yrs experience writing C code and designing embedded systems. It would be really cool if I could do some custom stuff without having to design and debug my own complete module from scratch.

Your background is perfect

[Fish4Fun]

Rob,

I am a fairly new user to the KFlop and still learning about all the cool things it can do, but I can assure you it will do everything you mentioned and a lot more, particularly wrt encoders and closed-loop operation. I found the documentation a bit convoluted, but once you begin to get a grasp on what the various terms mean it all begins to make sense, and once you realize "set up" is simply about creating an initialization script things get a lot easier.

The machine controller application (KMotionCNC) has some features I like a lot better than Mach3 (though there is a Mach3 plug-in for the KFlop). If you use KMotionCNC and don't purchase Mach3 it reduces the "real cost" of the KFlop from $250 to $75 (Mach3 sells for $175, KMotionCNC is "free", so $250 - $175 = $75). I plan to discuss KMotionCNC in my "How To" thread in this forum as soon as I get some time.

I hope if you decide to get one that you will consider contributing to my "How To" thread when you get things set up :-)

Fish

[Al_The_Man]

I'm an engineer by degree (ME & EE) and would love to better understand the capabilities of the KFLOP. I've got 20 yrs experience writing C code and designing embedded systems. It would be really cool if I could do some custom stuff without having to design and debug my own complete module from scratch.

Looks like you'll be the guy to go to for assistance in making the changes using C++ and VS2008
Al.