Nick talks to Matt Hertel of Pocket NC about their low cost FR4 3-axis milling machine, as well as their 5-axis model.
Hello my name is Nicholas Powers with Arrow Electronics and I’m here with Matt Hertel who is the idea originator behind the Pocket NC, which is one of the first desktop five access CNC machines, it’s a very impressive machine. We’re here now with your FR4 Machine Shield, what is this?
MH: The FR4 Machine Shield is a concept machine for people who what to work with computer numerical control and don’t have a lot of extra cash or the know how to build the framework. The machine shield can be used for controlling a microscope or a pen to draw circuits or a Three-D printer, we’re also working on things like a pick and place head for it or a two watt laser. It’s a machine for moving around items in three accesses.
NP: I want to chat a little bit about the Pocket NC.
MH: Breathless 3 phase DC Motor, we really like the Breathless 3 phase motors because they’re super quiet. A lot of people get a machine and want to make something in their basement and the only time they can work on it is the middle of the night. They don’t want to wake up the whole house, I’ve got an eight month at home so I know. The nice thing about the Breathless 3 Phase is that when it’s not cutting it’s about 30 decibels. It’s a whisper. You might get up to 60 or 70 decibels. It’s not going to be a high pitch noise that’s going to cause problems in the office. It makes a great tool for people who are in an environment with other people around.
NP: You were showing me the driver IC’s for the Breathless 3 Phase motor. They’re pushing 3 amps?
MK: Yes, the Breathless 3 Phase motor is a 2 amp motor and the drive is a super-efficient drive and does back EMF2 amp continuous, 3 amp peak and we’ve never seen the board reach over 80 degrees. It makes it a really nice drive on a machine like this. Nobody is getting burned, it’s very efficient, and you don’t have a problem with the spindle turning off.
NP: Being at Maker Faire from an engineering perspective, what are you most excited for in the future of engineering?
MH: We’re excited about people coming up with these ideas. We’ve seen a lot of awesome things raspberry pie, cameras and sensing. Pick and place is one of my favorite ideas that can be done. We have all the design files out there so anyone can download it, change it, upgrade any bit of it and also be able to work with BeagleBone and Raspberry Pi or the Arduino. It allows people that want to work with machine movement modify and make things as they please.
NP: Thank you so much Matt we appreciate it. I’m Nick Powers with Arrow Electronics and we’re looking at the Pocket NC, FBAR4 Machine shield. I hope you enjoyed.