EtherNC

This project began as a joint effort with a fellow former FRC student to undercut a common CNC router in the First Robotics Competition space. The Omio X8-2200L-USB is a mostly fantastic machine priced at ~$3500 after shipping and import fees, but its work area is slightly too small for many common parts, and it's rife with safety and reparability issues.

 We desired to beat the price and work area, while maintaining the same material removal rate (1cuin/min) and solving common issues.

The headlining feature is careful use of Ethernet cables and their connectors—properly known as 8P8C—to power the stepper motors. Most hobbyist grade CNC machine motor cables are very fragile with proprietary or even no connectors, making them a time-consuming chore to replace. The universal ethernet cable allows an operator to quickly take a spare and jump from the control unit to affected motor, allowing for almost no downtime, even if purpose-built spare cables aren't on hand. 

While this one prototype is still working away at filling my garage with metal shavings, the end goal of producing a better, budget-oriented control system to pair with common CNC router kits is on indefinite hold.  

The primary roadblock was troubleshooting an issue with the custom designed stepper drivers; these were repeatedly redesigned due to component shortages, and spares of the final prototype design were limited for the same reason. 

The method of using 8-conductor Ethernet cables and their connectors technically outside manufacturer specifications has been successful thus far. Connectors are examined regularly and show no signs of overcurrent damage, and the cables themselves remain within 2°C of room temperature.