Despite of being quiet, we have not been resting all summer. The four axis motherboard for ION drive is only pending “proofreading” and last minute ideas before prototyping.

The solution here is to use PCI-express 8X connectors where extra pins may be used later for higher power drive. The first ION model has PCI-e 4X connector and plugs in 8X socket too.

ION motherboard design nearly ready for prototyping

The board has been designed to be ideal solution for CNC, 3D printing and custom motion control systems. Key features include:

• Carry up to 4 ION drives
• On-board regenerative braking resistor
• Each axis can have mechanical end switches and homing switch
• Motor holding brake drivers for each axis
• The first 26 pin ribbon cable connector is laid out so that it’s directly connectible to traditional CNC controllers (parallel port, SmoothStepper etc).
• The second 26 pin connector has extra I/O for drives and analog setpoint inputs for custom applications
• No separate break-out-boards needed
• Charge-pump input for safety
• E-stop switch input (safe torque off)
• PWM to 0-10V converter for VFD spindle
• Two relay drivers
• Argon compatible encoder connector pin-out
• RJ45 connectors for SimpleMotion V2 usage and configuration
• Address selector jumper: up to 4 boards can be chained in one SMV2 bus (total 16 axis)

Any further ideas welcome! There’s still time to add more in it :)