Sneak Peek at the X-Controller

I too am watching this thread with “baited breath” and am seriously considering getting the X-Controller when it is announced as available to buy.

I just have a stock X-Carve 1000mm with ACME rod and stock spindle, but at some point I think I’d like a .8kw VDF air cooled spindle or something similar. If the X-Controller had the capability to run the machine plus upgrades in one neat package, then it looks very appealing to me.

I’m hoping there will be an email notification sign-up for this, much like when the new Dewalt mount went on sale?

We will do that. I’ll post a message here when we are done. It might happen before the end of the day if we can get by with amateur photography.

Done.

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@PJTX…Nice.

The page is now live. You can signup for notification. It is notification only, not a place in line or anything like that.

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From the product page at the link supplied:

This has about 3-4 times more motor power than entry-level controllers like the gShield.

Could you give a little more information as to how this was determined?

Four amps per phase is not 3 to 4 times 2.5 amps per phase. P = V * I with both running at 24 volts I don’t see how you came up with this number.

Also, if you have four motors with 4 amps per phase that would be 8 phases needing 32 amps. A 400 watt power supply can only deliver 16 amps at 24 volts.

The numbers don’t seem to add up.

Thanks for any info you can provide…
Larry

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Well, all the respect. This is brand new products over X-Carve build. I wish Inventables take a lesson from mistakes. Instead of using on hand inventory like 400 watt Power supply, I wish to see 800 watt power supply on it. Instead of keeping 3 axis control, I wish to see option for 4th axis stepper control, USB 3.0 support, serial connection in case someone stock with Mach control. I don’t think any of these cost more than $100 add on. At least this forum doesn’t overflow with another type of problems. If we’re speaking about upgrade, anyone willing to do it must be ready to spent some money for GOOD futures. Thanks for the dual Y axis control. It’s a big deal. That must be on X-Carve at the beginning. Yes probably difficult to keep both Y controller at the same level of current. I hope X-Controller have regulator for control outputs then people buy this controller don’t even have to play with those so called large dial pods. Just my opinion. Personally, I would be the 1000th customer for it. Patients pays for itself.

@LarryM That is probably more anecdotal than math based. The gShield cannot run at full power or it will overheat even with active cooling. The X-Controller stepper chips are actually rated for higher than 4 amps. You can safely turn the X-Controller pots up to full power without worrying at all about the temperature. The idle current feature also allows you to turn up the current a little higher than the motor current rating. The motors will run cool, but have have the extra torque when moving.

Microstepping motors rarely pull the full power. The original Shapeoko power supply for the gShield was only 90 watts. I have never felt one get hot. Try putting a current meter on the DC power. It is lower than you would ever calculate.

We have many units running right now and we love them. The rapids are faster and the motors never loose steps. We will be sending a lot out in the field for testing over the next few weeks to power users who will beat the heck out them. Stay tuned to see what they say.

Just signed up to be notified when it releases. Cant wait.

@BartDring
Ok, Bart. Thanks for the info.

I finally saved up enough money to get a 1000mm X-carve. I want to purchase it with the X-controller so should I wait until the x-controllers available and order all at once. Or could I get the X-carve minus the current motion controller kit and power supply and then just get the X controller when it comes out? Is there going to be a bundle savings on the X-controller? My thought is that I can get started building the x-carve, and it’s table while I am waiting for the X-controller to become available.

The X-Controller will be an option for X-Carve. We don’t know when it will be available. We are a little frustrated with our extruder on this project. We received sample extrusions off the tool that were perfect, but production parts are still in process.

Here is a another teaser photo of the inside of a unit with the sample extrusions.

As you can see, it has a massive heatsink. It is a bit overkill, but this plus the fan means you can run full current without worries… Just don’t smoke the motors now :smile:

That little loopback connector with the red wire allows us to test without the E-stop when the cover is not installed.

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I would buy this in a second.

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@BartDring

•Built in Grbl CNC Controller

Is the built in controller an Arduino Uno, or something else?

Thanks…
Larry

I bet it is based on the Arduino, but it looks to be 1 board so it probably closer resembles the TinyG

The goal on this one was to have it 100% grbl compatible. You can see a “Powered by Grbl” logo in the corner if you look carefully. With that said, don’t be surprised if grbl reveals some new tricks with this product :sunglasses:

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please be native pendant control. please be native pendant control. please be native pendant control. :smiley:

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Grbl is unlikely to have a complex pendant. It currently has three pendant like functions.

  • Cycle Start
  • Feedhold
  • Grbl Reset

There is a connector on the X-Controller to access those and we plan to “exploit” that in the future. These features are also accessible via software and can be very useful. Feedhold is actually faster than an E-stop because of capacitance in the power supply. E-Stop is safer in the true emergency.

Grbl Reset is an advanced feature that many people don’t understand. If you feedhold a job because a bit broke, you can clear the planner and restart a job a little before where the bit broke. The machine will not loose it’s place between jobs.

The way to do a full featured pendant is through the Gcode sender (Easel, Chilipeppr, UGS). A simple one could be made with an Arduino Leonardo as a keystroke sender. Chilipeppr has an awesome one using the Shuttle XPress.

Stupid question: What is “a complex pendant” and “native pendant control”?

I don’t think those have formal definitions. Here was my take on them.

  • Complex Pendant. This is a pendant that can do advanced thing like jog the machine and zero work offsets.
  • Native Pendant: A pendant that plugs directly into the X-Controller?
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