:lang: en
:toc:

[[cha:stepper-quickstart]]
= Stepper Quickstart

This section assumes you have done a standard install from the Live
CD. After installation it is recommended that you connect the computer
to the Internet and wait for the update manager to pop up and get the
latest updates for LinuxCNC and Ubuntu before continuing.

== Latency Test

The Latency Test determines how late your computer processor is in
responding to a request. Some hardware can interrupt the processing
which could cause missed steps when running a CNC machine.
This is the first thing you need to do.
Follow the instructions <<sec:latency-test,here>> to run the latency test.

[[sec:sherline]]
== Sherline(((Sherline)))

If you have a Sherline several predefined configurations are provided.
This is on the main menu CNC/EMC then pick the Sherline configuration
that matches yours and save a copy.

[[sec:xylotex]]
== Xylotex(((Xylotex)))

If you have a Xylotex you can skip the following sections and go
straight to the <<cha:stepconf-wizard,Stepper Config Wizard>>.
LinuxCNC has provided quick setup for the Xylotex machines.

== Machine Information

Gather the information about each axis of your machine.

Drive timing is in nano seconds. If you're unsure about the timing
many popular drives are included in the stepper configuration wizard.
Note some newer Gecko drives have different timing than the original
one. A http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/[list] is also on the user maintained LinuxCNC
wiki site of more drives.

[width="100%",options="header"]
|===
|Axis | Drive Type | Step Time (ns) | Step Space (ns) | Dir. Hold (ns) | Dir. Setup (ns)
|X    |            |                |                 |                | 
|Y    |            |                |                 |                | 
|Z    |            |                |                 |                | 
|     |            |                |                 |                | 
|===

== Pinout Information

Gather the information about the connections from your machine to the
PC parallel port.

[width="100%",options="header"]
|===
|Output Pin | Typ. Function    | If Different | Input Pin | Typ. Function | If Different
|1          | E-Stop Out       |              | 10        | X Limit/Home  | 
|2          | X Step           |              | 11        | Y Limit/Home  | 
|3          | X Direction      |              | 12        | Z Limit/Home  | 
|4          | Y Step           |              | 13        | A Limit/Home  | 
|5          | Y Direction      |              | 15        | Probe In      | 
|6          | Z Step           |              |           |               | 
|7          | Z Direction      |              |           |               | 
|8          | A Step           |              |           |               | 
|9          | A Direction      |              |           |               | 
|14         | Spindle CW       |              |           |               | 
|16         | Spindle PWM      |              |           |               | 
|17         | Amplifier Enable |              |           |               | 
|===

Note any pins not used should be set to Unused in the drop down box.
These can always be changed later by running Stepconf again.

== Mechanical Information

Gather information on steps and gearing. The result of this is steps
per user unit which is used for SCALE in the INI file.

[width="100%",options="header"]
|===
| Axis | Steps/Rev. | Micro Steps | Motor Teeth | Leadscrew Teeth | Leadscrew Pitch
| X    |            |             |             |                 | 
| Y    |            |             |             |                 | 
| Z    |            |             |             |                 | 
|      |            |             |             |                 | 
|===

* 'Steps per revolution' - is how many stepper-motor-steps it takes to turn
  the stepper motor one revolution.
  Typical is 200.

* 'Micro Steps' - is how many steps the drive needs
  to move the stepper motor one full step.
  If microstepping is not used, this number will be 1.
  If microstepping is used the value will depend on the
  stepper drive hardware.

* 'Motor Teeth and Leadscrew Teeth' - is if you have some reduction
  (gears, chain, timing belt, etc.) between the motor and the leadscrew.
  If not, then set these both to 1.

* 'Leadscrew Pitch' - is how much movement occurs
  (in user units) in one leadscrew turn.
  If you're setting up in inches then it is inches per turn.
  If you're setting up in millimeters then it is millimeters per turn.

The net result you're looking for is how many CNC-output-steps it takes
to move one user unit (inches or mm).

.Units inches
====
............................................
Stepper         = 200 steps per revolution
Drive           =  10 micro steps per step
Motor Teeth     =  20
Leadscrew Teeth =  40
Leadscrew Pitch =   0.2000 inches per turn
............................................
====

From the above information, the leadscrew moves 0.200 inches per turn.
- The motor turns 2.000 times per 1 leadscrew turn.
- The drive takes 10 microstep inputs to make the stepper step once.
- The drive needs 2000 steps to turn the stepper one revolution.

So the scale needed is:

image::images/step-calc-inch-math.png[align="center"]

////////////////////////////////////////////
latexmath:[
\frac{200 motor steps}{1 motor rev} \times
\frac{10 microsteps}{1 motor step} \times
\frac{2 motor revs}{1 leadscrew rev} \times
\frac{1 leadscrew revs}{0.2000 inch}
= \frac{20,000 microsteps}{inch} ]
////////////////////////////////////////////

.Units mm
====
............................................
    Stepper         = 200 steps per revolution
    Drive           =   8 micro steps per step
    Motor Teeth     =  30
    Leadscrew Teeth =  90
    Leadscrew Pitch =   5.00 mm per turn
............................................
====

From the above information:
- The leadscrew moves 5.00 mm per turn.
- The motor turns 3.000 times per 1 leadscrew turn.
- The drive takes 8 microstep inputs to make the stepper step once.
- The drive needs 1600 steps to turn the stepper one revolution.

So the scale needed is:

image::images/step-calc-mm-math.png[align="center"]

//////////////////////////////////////////////
latexmath:[
\frac{200 motor steps}{1 motor rev} \times
\frac{8 microsteps}{1 motor step} \times
\frac{3 motor revs}{1 leadscrew rev} \times
\frac{1 leadscrew revs}{5.000 mm}
= \frac{960 microsteps}{mm} ]
//////////////////////////////////////////////

// vim: set syntax=asciidoc:
