HOME
FEATURES
HARDWARE
DOWNLOAD
VIDEO TUTORIALS
LICENSE
WHY FREE?
CONTACT
|
Please note: Due to vacation close-down from May 29th to June 14th there will be only very limited e-mail support
and long response times to any request.
|
ETHER DREAM™ SCANNER CONTROLLER CARD
Pleae note: Ether Dream related development has been stopped, no more new features are added during normal releases.
This page is available for reference of existing users. Please consider using
ETH6608 controller card as an alternative to Ether Dream
 Beside several common scanner controller cards (like Scanlab™ RTC3/4/5/scanalone,
SCAPS™ USC-1/2, RayLase™ SP-ICE2™) BeamConstruct supports the Ether Dream™ scanner controller board.
This is an extremely low cost 3D
ethernet scanner card which provides all major functions and
signals that are necessary for common laser marking applications at an single unit list price of less than US$ 250!
Originally the Ether Dream™ board is an ILDA controller. But when you upgrade it using a special firmware you enable
it to support enhanced laser marking capabilities. After this upgrade the Ether Dream™ scanner controller offers the following features:
- 100 MBit Ethernet connection
- USB 1.1 / 2.0 connection
- XYZ grid correction with direct support for most relevant correction file formats (ScanLab™ .CTB, Raylase™ .GCD,
SCAPS™ .UCF)
- 10 microseconds cycle time and micro vector resolution
- analogue X, Y and Z output channels for 2D and 3D marking applications (differential and direct outputs)
- digital IOs
- optional mark start by external trigger signal
- power control via two 12 Bit DACs or via 8 Bit digital laser port
- wide range power supply
- static marking on-the-fly in X and Y direction
- wobble with freely definable frequency and amplitude
- bitmap marking (greyscale and b/w images)
- full support for all parameters that are essential for laser marking (mark delay, jump delay, in-polygon delay,
laser on delay, laser off delay, jump and mark speed, ...)
- Micro-SD card slot for stand alone operations
- slim and handy size of about 125x75x20 mm
To get the board please follow these few steps:
- Check out the scanner controllers users manual (or the German translation) for its wiring, features, functions and capabilities
- Order the board at the hardware vendors website: http://www.ether-dream.com
- Replace its default firmware by this one here using the EDWatcher-application that comes
with the OpenAPC software package
- Connect the board according to the manual and start marking!
RESSOURCES
Usage, configuration, features and functions of the Ether-Dream-plug-in are described within the
general users manual. Beside of that you can find some Ether Dream™ specific ressources here:
- The homepage of the vendor of the board for all general hardware-related, payment and shipping questions: http://www.ether-dream.com
- The firmware that upgrades the board to a industry grade scanner controller card:
ed_firmware_1_07.bin (update of the firmware is possible by using the EDWatcher-tool out
of the OpenAPC main software package)
- The manual that describes the boards functions, capabilties, signals and wiring after you upgraded the firmware as described
above: ed_manual.pdf (German translation)
Ether Dream™ hardware and design is © by Jacob Potter, please refer to http://www.ether-dream.com for more details
|
