Development of an Embedded CNC Control System

Computer Numerical Control is a technology made up of several blocks. The single most important of these blocks is the Control Unit, responsible for performing security checks, user interface, coordinating the motion, file handling and coordinating several peripherals usually used on CNC applications. Over the course of last years, embedded systems presented a huge improvement in processing power as well as easiness of use and application, given the advances in the open source and open hardware development community. The present paper presents the development process of a high-end embedded system based CNC controller, capable of operating including motion constraints up to the fourth order time derivative of position for each of the individual Cartesian axis.