ShopBot Dictionary
Like all technology, ShopBots and CNC in general has it's own jargon and terms to describe things. Here are a few you'll probably run across:
CLOSED LOOP: A
system describing communication between a Motor, in our case a stepper
motor, and it's driver. This makes the Tool constantly aware of it's
location. The original Cable Drive ShopBots used optical encoders for
feedback, but closed loop feedback is built in to the AlphaStep system.
CONTROL SOFTWARE: The
ShopBot control software is the program that you install on your
computer that communicates with your ShopBot's Control box. It is NOT
one of the programs that you would use to design your project or create
part files to cut the pieces (like Part Works or Aspire), but it IS the program
that you use to cut your Part File or to view your Part File in Preview
Mode.
FIRMWARE: Firmware is a program that is installed into the
micro-controller of a piece of hardware like your ShopBot Control Box.
It's different from most programs like the ShopBot Control Software
because the user doesn't usually interact with it and might not even be
aware that it exists. One example of firmware is the BIOS that runs the
lowest-level processes in your computer and is installed on a chip on
the motherboard.
MICROSTEPPING: Although steps are defined and fixed for a
particular motor, some motor drivers can divide them into smaller units
in a process known as microstepping. Microstepping smooths the motion of
a stepper motor.
STEPS: A stepper motor's movement is broken down into
individual small movements. Each one of these movements is called a
"step", and is the reason that we can make precise movements with CNC
tools.
UNIT VALUES: The setting in the ShopBot Control Software that
defines how many steps to move for a unit of distance, distance being
either an inch or a mm depending on current setting. For example, if the
tool Distance setting is Inches, a Unit Value of 1800 would indicate
that exactly 1800 steps are required in order to move the axis one unit of motion...and 1 inch or a millimeter.
VFD: Short for Variable Frequency Drive, this is the box that powers and controls a spindle. It uses the frequency of your electrical service as it's reference for speeds, which is 60 htz in the US and 50 htz in many other countries
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