LinuxCNC Documentation Wiki: Mesa Cards

1. Introduction

The [MESA Anything I/O] boards are FPGA-based, and can run with different firmwares.
Two drivers are supported by LinuxCNC. The older Hostmot-4 firmware /driver is most mature, but only works
with the 5i20 and is no longer actively developed. The newer HostMot2 driver works with all the [Anything I/O] boards.
HostMot2 is available in many different firmware configurations in LinuxCNC.

OEM website: http://www.mesanet.com/
Dealers in Europe: http://www.retrofit-plus.at or http://www.duzi.cz/shop_cnc/index.php?main_page=index&language=cz

2. LinuxCNC Supported FPGA-cards

Many of the MESA FPGA-cards use 50-pin connector that has 24 I/O pins, 24 GND-pins, and Power (GND+VCC).
As an example cards with three of these connectors have 3x24 I/O pins while the new 3x20 has six connectors for 6x24 I/O pins.

A bigger FPGA allows more complicated firmwares.

"Interface" below refers to how the FPGA-card connects to the PC.

5i20 200k FPGA, 3 50-pin connectors, 72 pins, PCI interface. 
5i21 400k FPGA, 1con. 68 pins, 12x RS422/RS485 10MB. PCI interface.
5i22 1.0M or 1.5M FPGA, 4 connectors, 96 pins, PCI interface
5i23 400k FPGA, 3 50-pin connectors, 72 pins. PCI interface
5i25 400k FPGA 2x DB25 connectors, PCI interface
7i43 200k or 400k FPGA, 2 50-pin connectors, 48 pins,  Parallel port interface
4i65 200k FPGA, 3 50-pin connectors, 72 pins, PC/104-Plus interface
4i68 400k FPGA, 3 50-pin connectors, 72 pins PC/104-Plus interface
4i69 400k FPGA, 3 50-pin connectors, 72 pins PC/104-Plus interface
3x20 1.0M, 1.5M, or 2.0M FPGA, 6 50-pin connectors, 144 pins PCI-E interface.

Notes:

The 5i20 is probably the most popular MESA card as it's been supported the longest.
The 5i21 is very new, LinuxCNC knows about it, but the rest is unknown at the moment
The 5i25 is pin-compatible with all parallel-port breakouts and the Gecko G540
7i43 integration Example Mesa EMC 2 Integration
To mount the 3x20 as a nomal PCI-E card in the PC a 6i68 'motherboard' is required.

3. LinuxCNC Supported Daughtercards

3.1. 50 pin Daughtercards (for all FPGA cards except 5I25)

7i33 4 channel analog servo interface with encoder inputs
7i37 Isolated I/O card
7i42 Breakout/FPGA protection card
7i30 Quad 100 Watt H-bridges for 4I27,4I34,4I65,5I20,7I60
7i40 Dual 400W  driver
7i29 Dual 2KW H-bridge for 4I27 and FPGA cards
7i39 brushless motor drive. 
7i44 8 channel RS-422 interface
7i47 12 channel motion oriented RS-422 interface
7i48 6 channel analog servo interface with encoder inputs
7i49 6 channel analog servo interface with resolver inputs
7I52 6 channel encoder + 6 channel RS-422 interface
7I52S 6 Channel encoder + 6 channel Step/Dir or PWM/DIR interface
7I53 12 channel encoder + 2 channel RS-422 interface

3.2. 25 pin daughtercards (for 5i25)

7i74 8 channel RS-422 interface
7i75 I/O protector
7i76 5 channel step/dir + 48 isolated I/O + spindle control + 1 RS-422 port
7i77 6 channel analog servo interface + 48 isolated I/O + 1 RS-422 port
7i78 4 channel step/dir + spindle control and 1 RS-422 interface

3.3. Smart Serial Daughtercards (connect via serial link)

Note that all the Smart Serial cards require a RS-422 interface daughtercard such as 7i44, 7i47, 7i52, 7i53, 7i74, 7i76, 7i77 or 7i78

7i64 24 in / 24 out isolated Smart Serial card. Can connect up to 32 of them for massive IO
7i66 16 input 8 output isolated Smart Serial remote I/O card
7i69 48 I/O TTL Smart Serial card
7i70 48 input isolated Smart Serial card
7i71 48 output isolated Smart Serial card
7i73 Control panel/pendant Smart Serial card 
8i20 2.2kW 3-phase Smart Serial motor drive. Mainly for brushless motors. Needs bldc comp.

3.4. Daughtercard support in development

7I65 supported in "master" (development branch). Generic SPI via custom components also now possible. 

7i32 Dual  1/2 to 3A stepper driver experimentally supported using a comp module:
http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ContributedComponents#Mesa_7i32_micro_stepping_motor_driver

when using these cards remember to set the pulse rate
 
Daughter card	Optimum PWM mode
 
7I33(T,TA)	PDM 6 MHz
7I30		Straight PWM ~20 KHz
7I40		Straight PWM ~20..50 KHz
7I29		Straight PWM ~20 KHz

4. Daughterboard / Firmware Relation

We'll use the 5i20 board as an example. Other boards are similar. 

With the 5i20 you can use the (firmware):
svst8_4im2 with 2 quad servo cards
sv12 with up to 3 quad servo cards
svst8_4 with up to 2 quad servo cards

the rest of the firmware for the 5i20 is not compatible with the quad servo card.
look at the pattern of the pins on one connector of say the sv12 firmware.
Configuration pin-out: 



    IO Connections for P2

    Pin#    I/O    Pri. func    Sec. func    Chan      Pin func    Pin Dir

     1       0     IOPort       QCount        1        Quad-B      (In)
     3       1     IOPort       QCount        1        Quad-A      (In)
     5       2     IOPort       QCount        0        Quad-B      (In)
     7       3     IOPort       QCount        0        Quad-A      (In)
     9       4     IOPort       QCount        1        Quad-IDX    (In)
    11       5     IOPort       QCount        0        Quad-IDX    (In)
    13       6     IOPort       PWM           1        PWM         (Out)
    15       7     IOPort       PWM           0        PWM         (Out)
    17       8     IOPort       PWM           1        Dir         (Out)
    19       9     IOPort       PWM           0        Dir         (Out)
    21      10     IOPort       PWM           1        /Enable     (Out)
    23      11     IOPort       PWM           0        /Enable     (Out)
    25      12     IOPort       QCount        3        Quad-B      (In)
    27      13     IOPort       QCount        3        Quad-A      (In)
    29      14     IOPort       QCount        2        Quad-B  
    31      15     IOPort       QCount        2        Quad-A      (In)
    33      16     IOPort       QCount        3        Quad-IDX    (In)
    35      17     IOPort       QCount        2        Quad-IDX    (In)
    37      18     IOPort       PWM           3        PWM         (Out)
    39      19     IOPort       PWM           2        PWM         (Out)
    41      20     IOPort       PWM           3        Dir         (Out)
    43      21     IOPort       PWM           2        Dir         (Out)
    45      22     IOPort       PWM           3        /Enable     (Out)
    47      23     IOPort       PWM           2        /Enable     (Out)

that pattern of pins is what the quad card needs.
on the sv12 all the connectors have the same pattern so all three connectors could use the quad card

5. Links

[pyVCP test panel for HOSTMOT-4 config]
Mesa m5i20 Halvcp test panel
In the development version of LinuxCNC pncconf can be used for testing of hostmot2 driven boards
[24 posn snap-on terminal strips for Mesa's products]
- it is a 24 posn connector from Weidmuller mfctr # 1620440000
- same from Arrow for $12.38 but out o stock as of 2007 09 14 http://app.arrownac.com
[DIY Optoisolator cards for the M5i20]
Commercial breakout boards: [brk2x25] [d-500013]