Name that Ware, March 2020

The ware for March 2020 is shown below.

XMOS! There’s a chip that brings back some memories.

Fortunately I still have some weird and miscellaneous gear hanging about my lab that I can take apart to keep name that ware going, without having to leave my home. That being said, I am definitely welcoming guest ware submissions! Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy in these strange times.

10 Responses to “Name that Ware, March 2020”

  1. Wouter says:

    Eish Bunny that could be anything :-) From the X motor and Y motor labels, an X-Y plotter or (because of the connectors) CNC controller?

  2. Ehko says:

    Maybe a controller board for a 3D printer ? The silkscreen of the bottom board mentions a X-Motor and a Y-Motor.

  3. Wouter says:

    OK I’m going to take a wild guess that the XMOS chip interfaces to a camera and that it’s a PTZ controller… but that is a complete guess with no basis in fact.

  4. Daniel says:

    I think this is Synapticon motor controller – probably connected to some form of automation robot.

  5. pelrun says:

    I can’t identify it definitively, but I think it’s specifically a laser cutter motion control board, as opposed to the other types of CNC. There’s only two axes of motor control, and the labelling on the connector at the top right seems very similar to what you get from any number of generic laser power supplies – 24v for motors, 5v for logic, L and P for laser power control.

    • Daniel says:

      I think you may be right with this – my guess is that it is a VersaLaser VL-200 (or possibly VL-300) from Universal Laser Systems, Inc

      The TI part LM3S9B92 looks to be a motor control micro of about the right age. An ARM Cortex-M3 with loads of peripherals. It came with “StellarisWare” pre-loaded into the ROM. Peripherals included 10/100 Ethernet, CAN, USB Host/OTG/Device, the usual array of serial interfaces, plus 8 PWM outputs to to motor control. Datasheet here: https://www.egr.msu.edu/classes/ece480/capstone/spring10/group07/480STUFF/spms180d.pdf

      I hadn’t heard of XMOS before, but it looks like this is their “L Series” part which in contrast doesn’t contain any peripherals on the MCU, but instead runs multiple cores which you can implement peripherals in software

  6. Bob Parker says:

    How do we submit a guest ware? I have one that you might find interesting.

  7. miguel lopez says:

    Gotcha!

    It is the control board of a Retina Engrave Laser engraver/cutter.

    The software manual, with a photo of the board, is here:

    https://wiki.chaostreff-dortmund.de/_media/projekte/fsl_retinaengrave_software_manual.pdf

    Confnned greets.

  8. Sjur Herman Zeiner-Gundersen says:

    if you pass 20volt through the the transistor at a angel of 16 percents then you will get a great beam of power in a form of a consistent laser.