Welcome to the community maintained website of the Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) Project

News

EMC on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

[Official announcement] of pre-built packages and a Live CD for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS "Hardy Heron".

EMC 2.2.5 Released

The latest version of EMC is EMC 2.2.5. View a list of bugs fixed in each release. Instructions for upgrading from 2.1.x to 2.2.x Instructions for upgrading from 2.2.x to 2.2.5

Board of Directors

The results of the Board of Directors voting have been released. See the list: 2007 board of directors.

EMC2 Fest 2008

EMC Fest 2008

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Table of Contents

• About EMC2 - Description
  • Screenshots - Various screenshots of emc2 and related programs
  • Videos - EMC controlled machines in action
  • Case Studies - example machines run by EMC
  • ContributedComponents - Components add new capabilities to EMC
  • ContributedHalFiles -- .hal files combine Components in useful ways
• Getting Started
  • Hardware Requirements - what kind of PC can you use?
  • Latency-test - real-time performance database
  • Installing EMC2 - how to get the software

• Documentation
  • [EMC2 User Manual (PDF)] [Manuel de l'utilisateur d'EMC2 (French)]
  • [EMC2 Integrator Manual (PDF)] [Manuel de l'intégrateur d'EMC2 (French)]
  • [EMC2 Developer Manual (PDF)]
  • [HAL User Manual (PDF)] [Manuel de HAL (French)]
  • [1] - The HAL Reference Manual in pdf format.
  • http://www.linuxcnc.org/docs/ - Home for automatically generated documentation
  • Authors - People working on the wiki (hint: we always need more)
  • Contributing to formal EMC documentation: BeyondWiki
  • QuickStart - A guide to get up and running.
  • ClassicLadder version 7.100 online docs.

• Communication
  • Mailing list for users: [EMC-users]
    • [Sourceforge archive] (unreliable)
    • [Gmane.org archive] (better)
  • Mailing list for developers: [EMC-developers]
    • [Gmane.org archive]
  • CVS commit mailing list: [EMC-commit]
  • CVS commit RSS Feed: [CVS-RSS]
  • Bug and Feature Trackers
  • IRC: #emc and #emc-devel on irc.freenode.net
    • #emc [IRC Archive]
    • #emc-devel [IRC Archive]
    • Try the [embedded Java client]
  • [CIA project statistics]
  • [Planet-EMC] feed aggregator.
  • Forums
    • [CNCZone EMC Forum]

• Configuring EMC2 - how to make it fit your needs
  • EMC2 Supported Hardware - hardware that works with EMC2
  • Stepper Drive Timing - Step and Direction timing charts
  • Homing and Limit Switch - Comparison of different Home and Limit Switch Configurations
  • Advanced Configuration:
    • Halui - How to use the HAL User Interface
    • pyVCP HAL visual control panel in Python
    • [motion] [io] - HAL connections to the motion and IO controller
    • Classic Ladder:
      • Sample HAL and ClassicLadder - examples how to use HAL and Classic Ladder
      • ClassicLadder
      • Basic Ladder Logic
    • Tuning EMC2/HAL PID loops
    • Use Eagle CAD Schematics editor to configure HAL
    • Running Multiple User Interfaces
    • Remote Pendants:
      • Hooking up a MPG Pendant
      • Using a joypad to move your CNC machine
      • A new approach for using joypads with EMC2
      • Simple Remote Pendant using Halui and Hal_input
      • Jogging with buttons on a pendant using Halui
      • Adding Custom MDI buttons
      • One Button Toggle for flood etc on pendents or pyVCP the easy way
    • Touch Probes:
      • Preventing probe crashes using HAL
      • Touch Probe - Using and building a Touch Probe
    • Tool Changes - Installing and Using the Manual Tool Changer
    • Screw Compensation - Using a comp file
    • Steppers with encoders - jlmjvm's story
    • m5i20 laser - Another example of using halvcp and M5i20 board
  • Internationalization - run EMC in your language
  • Suppliers - Parts and Raw Materials suppliers
  • Mechanical Spreadsheet - Spreadsheet to assist with choosing steppers
  • TweakingSoftwareStepGeneration - Spreadsheet to assist in setting up steppers

• Using EMC2 - how to properly use it
  • One-page [G-code quick reference] [PDF version] by Jeff Epler. [française (html)]
  • Understanding G-Code - A tutorial on writing your own G-Code
  • Simple EMC G-Code Generators - Facing, Pockets, Drill Patterns Etc.
  • Example G-Code Programs - Some examples of how to do things with G-Code.
  • Using Gedit to aid in creating Gcode
  • Advanced examples of using emc2:
    • GcodeInfo - Things you might want to know about G-Codes
    • Oword - G-Code Owords - loops, conditionals and subroutines
    • Mword - G-Code relating to M words
    • HAL Components - Custom realtime components, i.e. and2, or2, not, mux2 etc.
    • ElectricalDischargeMachining
    • Plasma - Examples of things relating to plasma tables
    • TrajectoryControl
    • Lathe Advanced Features
    • Rigid Tapping
  • Advanced extensions of emc2:
    • Laser Beam Compensation
  • ToolTable

• TroubleShooting - what to check if something fails

• EMC2 Development - development related resources
  • ClassicLadder ver 7.124 - new version includes userspace MODBUS
  • ContributedComponents - Components add new capabilities to EMC
• Misc stuff
  • Cam programs
  • List Of CAM References
  • Coders For EMC-Compatible CAM
  • Touch Probe
  • Stepper Formulas
  • Editors and tips for using:
    • Highlighting In Gedit
    • Highlighting in Vim
  • Fonts? - NGC Font info

Linux Distributions

[The EMC2 Live CD] is based on Ubuntu 8.04, includes EMC 2.2.5, and can also be used to install Ubuntu and EMC2 to your hard drive. After installing, you can easily upgrade to the latest version of EMC2 over a network connection

An entire special distribution of Linux is not needed to easily install and run EMC2; see [the instructions for installing the EMC2 packages for Ubuntu] 6.06 and 8.04. These packages are maintained by the EMC board of directors and are kept up-to-date (and provide a very easy upgrade capability) as new releases are made.

An [Italian version of the Live CD] (with version 2.1.5) is also available.

Specialized Linux Distributions

coolCNC is a "Live-CD" linux distribution, based on Puppy Linux, which contains EMC2 and the RTAI kernel patches. It is possible to install coolCNC to harddisk or to an USB stick. Download: http://cooltool.he.fdread.org/cncforum/ . Development information on the CncUser page.

EMC on Puppy Linux by Matt Shaver. Matt inspired by cncuser who created coolCNC, decided to try adding real time capabilities to Puppy Linux starting from scratch and documenting the process. The emc puppy page has the details with updates as progress is made!

Why won't EMC run on Windows?

1. EMC runs in real-time, to give smooth motion. This is critical to accuracy and machine life. Hard real-time is not available on Windows in a price range many can afford... especially those interested in using a PC-based control.
2. EMC is intended to control machine tools. Machine tools are DANGEROUS and reliability/consistent behavior is extremely important. Compared to Windows, few viruses affect Linux. Even without consideration of viruses, Linux is far more stable.
3. The above also apply to virtual machines (i.e. VMWARE) and emulators. It may be possible to trick EMC to run on a virtual machine but do so at your own risk!

The future of EMC

Glossary

EMC1

EMC1 is the old version of emc. It is much less flexible and is no longer being actively developed. About EMC

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