OK, I guess I have delayed answering this about as long as I can.
Yes, there is going to be an Ethernet version of the SmartBOB series
of Mach4 compatible controllers. It will be called the PMDX-426.
Way back when, we thought we might be able to demo it at the
Cabin Fever show on 11 April 2015. Like many engineering projects,
things are not going as fast as we would like. The hold up is not
the Ethernet interface. We had that working on an earlier demo
board at Cabin Fever last year.
The current status is that we are struggling with how to package
so many functions (and therefore connectors) into the size of case
that we have been hoping to use. As a stepping stone we have
done a printed circuit board that is a mechanical test with all the
connectors. This mock up is planned to be with us at the Cabin
Fever show. It also has several new circuits we need to test
before committing them into the new design.
Our current projections are to have the first running units by the
time of the CNC Workshop in June.
The PMDX-426 will have full 24 volt compatible I/O, more I/O signals
than a PMDX-126, and includes an on-board VFD interface and lots of
other functions. The internal power supply and electromechanical relays
will still be included. There will be an expansion interface for even more
I/O, an operator's panel, and other future add-ons.
The target price is somewhere in the $300 to $400 range. This can
be compared to $411 for a PMDX-126, a PMDX-107 spindle speed
controller, and an Ethernet Smoothstepper, and that does not
count the ribbon cables and a power supply for the SmoothStepper.
