These are exciting times.

Various efforts are underway to get LinuxCNC up and running on the small single boards computers like the Raspberry Pi, the beagleBone Black, the Arduino and other boards.

The basic idea is that because linux OS occupies a relatively small space, and those boards are not only cheap but low cost, it should be possible to make the computing bit of a CNC mill small and cheap.

Lots of work has been going on, and good results suggest we are almost there. The current solutions still require a good technical knowledge, but here are some examples to whet your appetite:

Raspberry Pi:

here

BeagleBoard:

here

Arduino:

here

That’s quite an old link, so refers to EMC, and it deals with construction of a pendant, rather than an implementation of LinuxCNC/EMC on the Arduino as a self-contained system.

More reports on these developments as they become more robust and more readily available.