I didn't realize they had anything reasonable anymore. ISTR they went from cheap to not cheap over time.
Still kind of hard to navigate what you need from their website.
I still would not get into this unless one was confident/proficient in wiring and electrics, and it is still bound to be a project, but that sounds pretty reasonable.
A brief explanation of your experience might be useful to the OP
Sure.
The DIY options Centroild offers are:
• Acorn - a step and direction, open loop motion control board that interfaces with stepper motor drives. This is popular for cheap diy cnc hobby builds.
• OAK - a closed loop motion control board for AC servo motors. Iirc, this board still requires separate motor drives.
• All-in-one-DC - A closed loop motion control board with built in motor drives. This is designed to be a replacement for DC systems often found on older knee mills and lathes. All of the inputs and outputs are built right into the board.
No more finicky westamp or Glentek drives or separate PLC board with ice cube relays.
The operating software is (was?) free. You can download it from their website to get a demo and see how it looks.
The nice thing about it is that you can configure your control however you want based on price. You can buy everything from centroid or you can source your own; things like a keyboard, touchscreen monitor or the pc that runs the centroid software. I got my pc from a used computer place, I just sent them the hardware and configuration requirements provided by centroid and they set up a p.c. for me, I picked it up ready to go for $210.
Centroid requires 2000 line quadratiture encoders to be mounted to the motors. I bought them from centroid at $250 each. You can likely find them cheaper elsewhere.
The physical installation of this system was like climbing a mountain for me. I am not very electrically inclined but it wasn't hard just taking it one step at a time and I learned a lot in the process.
Once your cabinet is configured the way you want it, just follow centroid's step-by-step instructions to get everything set up and configured properly. It's easy as long as you do not deviate from the instructions. If you really get stuck, for $90 per hour, they offer live tech support through teamviewer where they remotely access your control through wifi. They can diagnose issues, tune your motors or do whatever. Other than remote access support, they have a free tech support forum where you can get help.
https://www.centroidcncforum.com
Here is the centroid sales page for All-in-one-DC
^^^their website looks like it's gotten a lot better.
Here is the downloads page. It has all of the instructions, manuals, tech bulletins, schematics, ect for centroid products.
https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_diy/centroid_manuals.html
A good source for information is Marty's cnc Garage youtube channel. He is one of the lead tech support guys on the centroid forum.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCTNt9IIjsk5HNwnjzer6GVQ
I'm not collecting a paycheck from centroid so I'll leave it there. I do not mind answering any specific questions though.
I tried to attach a pic of my cabinet but it's too large. I will resize it if someone wants to see it.
