As you know from the previous update post, the raw GEN1 Parallel All-In-One CNC Controller Boards (click to check out the preliminary specs) are in hand. This post is just a very quick update to let you know that a small batch of the bare GEN1 boards are being put together with their electronic components to begin real-world testing of the GEN1 design in a CNC machine (specifically the boards will be tested with my Mantis CNC router). The pictures show a GEN1 board populated with most of it’s components as we prepare to begin testing. Some of the resistors are noticeably absent in the picture and that is because they have not arrived as of yet. Once the resistors are in, the first test boards will be finished and ready to begin operational testing (all GEN1 boards have been electrically tested and passed) using my Mantis CNC Desktop router.
Yay!!! I finally received the first batch of the GEN1 Parallel All-In-One CNC Controller Board (click to check out the preliminary specs). The illustration seen in previous updates was cool but a picture is worth a thousand words so here are several pictures of the first batch GEN1 boards including one of me holding a GEN1 so you can get an idea of the size. Next JT is going to populate a couple of these boards to begin functional testing (the entire 1st batch has been electrically tested by the PCB fab and passed) to make sure they work according to design. Once they pass testing, I will make them available to purchase in the TrackHacker.com web store. 
Another update to let everyone know about the progress of the GEN1 Parallel All-In-One CNC Controller Board (click to check out the preliminary specs). You know that the orders have been placed to have the PC boards fabricated and for the components to populate a couple of test boards well the components are due in either today or tomorrow while I found out from the PCB fab company that the GEN1 PC boards are slightly delayed. While no reason was cited, I think it was mostly to do with the delays from Chinese New Year (are PCB’s made outside of China nowadays?). Anyrate, their normal processing time to go from Gerber files to shipping the boards is usually 3 days and we’re looking at 5 or 6 days so not too bad really. So within the next week, we should have a small stock of GEN1 boards in-hand and at least 2 complete GEN1 controllers to put through the wringer. I will, of course, be posting the results of all GEN1 testing right here so keep checking back.
Just a quick update to let everyone know about the progress of the GEN1 Parallel All-In-One CNC Controller Board (click to check out the preliminary specs). We just placed an order to have the PC boards fabricated and an order was placed for the components to populate the board so within the next 7 to 10 days or so we should have a handful of bare PC boards on hand and a least 2 working GEN1′s for preliminary testing! How cool is that? If the testing goes well, I should be posting pictures and video of my Mantis running on the new GEN1 controller really soon and remember, the GEN1 is a stepping stone to the much anticipated GEN2 USB controller board! Keep checking back often!
So I mentioned a little while ago in a post about the upcoming FabricationStation CNC Router / CNC Engraver that TrackHacker.com was also coming out with our own CNC controller design. Our ultimate goal is to have an All-In-One board that has 3 or 4 stepper motor controllers built-in and/or a spindle control relay (3-axis will include relay) AND a USB interface! That is our ultimate goal so I am tentatively calling that the TrackHacker GEN2 USB All-In-One CNC Controller. That is a pretty ambitious project due to the nature of interfacing CNC hardware to a PC using USB but one that I feel the hobby CNC community would like to get their hands on. Many DIY CNC builders are building desktop sized routers and engravers so we think they could benefit from a small, all-in-one CNC controller that is well made, simple to use, and has a common USB hookup.
Well I have gotten some positive feedback and overall buzz about the upcoming FabricationStationTM Desktop CNC Router / CNC Engraver, particularly about my work on designing a new USB Opto-Isolated Breakout and 3-axis stepper driver all-in-one board (tentatively called the GEN2 CNC All-In-One). I think that will be the optional “upgraded” electronics for the FabricationStationTM , at least for a while anyway. That project has more far reaching implications since most everyone else is utilizing parallel port technology and/or separate driver and breakout boards. Anyrate, the purpose of this little post is to let all you TrackHacker readers out there know that work on the FabricationStationTM is still progressing and that I have all of the major, functional improvements worked out and in place like the much improved z-axis motor mount (no epoxy!), the XYZ axes table rods (linear rods) are now held in place with no epoxy and are removable, the z-axis has several more inches of clearance AND movement, and the y-table has been widened and the y-axis has more travel as well. All of this has been worked out and I am now working on producing the 2D assembly drawings and the assembly documentation. At this point I think I am going to offer the 2D plans (printed and on CD), the 3D models (multiple formats on CD), the illustrated assembly guide (printed and on CD), AND full size, cut paper templates (you can tape these to your material of choice and then just cut along the lines and drill right through the templates to get perfect results) as a package in the store (when I get that up and running). I will continue to offer the Track Hacker expanded Mantis 2D assembly drawings and complete BOM for free (click link then scroll down near bottom of the post to find the Mantis BOM and 2D plans).
I’ve been getting some positive feedback and requests to sell wood, hardware, and electronics kits for the Mantis CNC PCB Engraver which is awesome. I got enough that I decided I am going to go ahead and do that! I have my Mantis working now and ready to start fabricating PC boards for model railroading electronics projects, several model railroading molding projects and a bunch more stuff but that got me to thinking about the build process and all of the shortcomings and gotchas I ran into – I started thinking about all the things I would improve to make the machine more functional for what I want it to do – make all sorts of model railroad pike stuff, buildings, figures, PC boards, control panels, etc… I’m not knocking the Mantis and David Carrs design in any way at all – it’s a great little machine and I am very thankful for all of David’s hard work but I feel some changes needed to be made to make the machine more functional for us model railroaders, especially if I am going be selling these to the community in kits along with documentation, plans, etc… I’d really prefer that the design be a little more personalized and the best it can be. So I am breaking the design off on a new tangent. Here’s how I got started on this path.
Well, it would appear my Mantis is down and out for awhile! 
I was doing some test cutting with it – I seem to have the settings in Mach2 correctly adjusted and with a little Ports & Pins tinkering from JT, working predictably and repeatedly – last night when right in the middle of plunging the spindle into a copper PCB, everything just stopped. The 24VDC power supply to run the driver board and steppers was dead with now power LED on! 
At this point, let me take you back a couple of days prior to this event to give you a little history. Two nights ago, I was test jogging the Mantis around in Mach2 making sure everything was working fine – it was. I deactivated the steppers (hit the Reset e-stop button in Mach) but left the driver and PC powered while I was watching Hell’s Kitchen (yeah, I watch Hell’s Kitchen – sue me! lol). I started watching the evening news afterwards and fell asleep. needless to say, I woke up in the middle of the night and found that the Mantis and the PC were both off and would not come back on. I was too tired to figure out what had happened so I went to bed. The next morning, I checked around and found out that ALL of the AC outlets in my basement were out yet all the lights worked as did my TV. After getting home from work that night I did some poking around and found that the first AC outlet on that branch line out of the breaker panel is a Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor (GFCI) outlet. Thinking maybe it popped I tried resetting it. Nothing so I tired hitting the test button – nothing. It appeard like it wasn’t working. I’ve had these GFCI outlets go bad before so I suspected that was the case. I took the cover plate of f the GFCI outlet and did some testing with my multimeter and found that there was indeed 120VAC going into the GFCI but nothing out on the other end. So figuring that since this a new house (only two years old) it must be a bad GFCI outlet - I jumped out the outlet to reconnect the downstream outlets to the breaker panel. The next evening, I started doing the test cutting I mentioned above. So I unplugged and replugged the 24VDC power supply into the mains – nothing LED still out. I disconnected the Mantis from the parallel port and then replugged the power supply in and it worked! Continue reading »
Well, I promised, like two weeks ago that I would have a big update for you complete with videos now that my Mantis PCB Engraver is done – sorry the Thanksgiving holiday got in the way. I think it was worth the wait.
Just another quick update to let everyone know that I have been testing the Mantis, managed to damage and repair the Mantis and have a ton of new gotcha’s to add along with some cool videos of the mantis running. I will be updating really soon. Also, I am getting some feedback from readers that there is interest in buying Mantis kits – at least the wood parts, hardware, and the driver PC boards anyway. I am really, REALLY considering selling them but I need to hear from some more readers first to really gauge the interest. Please comment and let me know if your interested in buying precut Mantis CNC engraver wood kits and hardware. Check back in the next couple of days for the update and Mantis videos
