Hello, I hope this is the right subforum. I'm thinking of getting an ARCO system and since I'm very new to the hardware side of things I'll be getting the BlackBox Motion Control System so that I'm confident everything will work together. My question before I get started is can I control the system from a PC in relatime? To give an example: I have a digital pad and have this idea me drawing on the pad and the laser burner copyies my drawing in realtime. I'm a dev and I know I'll need to write all the software side of that myself. I'm just checking before I invest the money, is it possible, in way or another, to stream commands to the device in real-ish time through some library or API? Thanks.
Yes. The interface to the BB is a USB/serial connection, and you just send it Gcode commands. The Gcode commands tell it laser power and direction to move and how fast. The BB runs GRBL firmware, and you can read all about it at Home · gnea/grbl Wiki especially the "GRBL v1.1 Interface" section will get you going. But first get the ACRO and get it working (with openbuilds CAM and CONTROL) and then do your custom software (-:
Hi David, Thanks for the information! You're absolutly right about getting it working first, I just wanted to check I'm buying the right thing for my future ideas too.