Initial Wiring of Single Axis Robot

All of the materials finished arriving yesterday for the single axis robot. This is a work project, essentially building a low-cost semi-automated test machine. I won't get into the exact purpose, but the materials used and programming will be a great stepping stone into a home-built CNC mill / router.

Materials used:

• 36" ball bearing slide with belt drive system & stepper motor, from e-bay
• Stepper motor power supply: 16034PS 36V 4.2A, from mpja.com
• Stepper drive: Geckodrive G251 from kelinginc.net
• microcontroller: Arduino from hacktronics
• display: LCD arduino kit from hacktronics

I'm first going to build a prototype system- essentially just a rough out using an old shelf for a mounting panel and some electrical boxes from Home Depot. I'm going to wire everything up, and finish the code. Once I have the system running well, I'll purchase a nice enclosure and make it look like a real piece of equipment.

One interesting thing I found is that the stock knock-outs in the galvanized steel box cover fit the emergency stop panel mount diameter just perfectly.

New Project: CNC (anything)

John and I have been talking about building something new and fun- a 3 axis CNC mill. It's amazing where things have gone the last several years in affordable, easy to use electronics. There are literally thousands of examples on the web where people have built their own CNC machines for a very reasonable price. The neat thing about this project is that:

A) the project itself should be fun and a great learning experience
B) once built, it can be used to make all kinds of neat, high precision parts for other projects.

Personally, I think it'll be great for making custom wing cores and cutting out plywood components for aircraft.

The timing seems right, since I'm also just starting a project at work where I need to build a simple piece of test equipment which will provide me with practice directly appliable to the CNC mill.