Buying a PC specifically for OpenPnP

[Fernando Corona]

Hello all,

I'm in the process of switch from using my personal laptop to requesting a dedicated PC for the PnP machine I've been working on. What is the ideal specs for a PC to run openpnp efficiently. I searched the Google Groups but couldn't find any discussion of what PC specs are recommended. 

These are the specs of the laptop and the only issue I've ever noticed was a lag when connects to the Duet3 6xd board and when it goes to pickup a component and moves all the axes at the same time, using the advloosepartfeeder. 

Processor: Intel Core i5-6200 CPU @ 2.4 GHz

RAM: 8GB

OS: Win 10

SSD: 250 GB

Any suggestions are appreciated thanks 

Fernando. 

[bert shivaan]

Hi Fernando,

This question comes up from time to time. Generally speaking openPNP will run just fine on most any computer. In fact it is my practice to buy myself a new hot lick wiz bang machine, then turn my old computers over to machine controls like openPNP or LinuxCNC.

Having said that, the biggest issue seems to be having enough singular USB controllers. Fo me most of the time this means adding a card to gain more controller chips. So a computer that can accept a USB card is paramount.

Otherwise I would go for not new myself. openPNP is not actually resource hungry on its own. You may have been running into speed issues going through the USB port.

I would also consider if you are up to the task, convert the new "old" machine to linux. Generally speaking it is much better on older machines than winblows is.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OpenPnP" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to openpnp+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/CAEqVWH3Oq5jdhrYm9wWU-w5W-foPeDHcf3Sxv7FTATpiM2e9yg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Paweł Teresiński]

What do you guys think about Thin Clients? Lenovo Thincentre  M93 Tiny Desktop, Intel Core i5-4670T 2.3GHz, 16GB DDR3, 256GB Solid State Drive, WiFi, Win10Pro for example?

It is small, can be hidden under the machine. 

[jbasia]

If you have old working PC hardware around I would try that first. 
My Chinese PnP runs on a AMD 7850 (~2009) 4Gb RAM with Win7 - and there was no software issue. It had vision too (OpenVC I guess) and I didn't notice any issues.

I will start with exactly that hardware to re-make that PnP with OpenPnp and will see how far it goes. Eventually Win7 will go and some type of Linux will be used. If then I run into issues I will upgrade the hardware (to some 2nd hand stuff). I would not use Windows 10 though. Nothing wrong with Windows 10 but I believe it needs more hardware resources than Linux (for me that PC would be PnP/CNC only and have no other use)

[Jim Young]

Like cncmachineguy said, having enough USB controllers is important. Each camera should be on it's own USB controller, so depending on the internal architecture of the system, you may need to be able to add a PCIe USB card. Most thin clients have fewer available PCIe slots than a normal desktop system. I would go with nothing less than 8GB of RAM. Also, you can't really skimp on CPU power, as OpenPnp does a lot of video processing, which as far as I know, is all on the CPU.

Me, I'm running OpenPnP on a Dell workstation with Windows 11. Performance is excellent.

[bing luo]

My computer has two USB interfaces. I use one USB interface to connect the bottom camera. and the other USB interface to connect a 1:4 USB HUB. The USB HUB is respectively connected to a top camera, a smoothie motherboard, a MEGA2560 feeder control board, and a mouse. No problem.

So if you have more peripherals, you can connect all USB interfaces of the computer to USB HUB respectively, so that you can get enough USB interfaces. The only principle to follow is not to connect two cameras to one USB HUB. The data stream of other serial peripherals is too small to make your USB unable to carry.

[Clemens Koller]

Hi, Fernando!

> Processor: Intel Core i5-6200 CPU @ 2.4 GHz
> RAM: 8GB
> OS: Win 10
> SSD: 250 GB

This seems just be about a minimal just working configuration.
I would prefer to go for 4+ real CPUs (8 Threads). A SSD is not necessary
for OpenPnP but it's generally a very good idea for an overall good system
responsiveness. In case you use USB cameras, you should make sure that the system has
enough fast and independent (root) ports. Avoid using USB Hubs.
I recommend using Linux - less random hazzle and noise (aka Windows Updates) get
introduced from the outside, you cannot control so well, generally, IMO.

Regards,

Clemens

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OpenPnP" group.

> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to openpnp+u...@googlegroups.com <mailto:openpnp+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/CAEqVWH3Oq5jdhrYm9wWU-w5W-foPeDHcf3Sxv7FTATpiM2e9yg%40mail.gmail.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/CAEqVWH3Oq5jdhrYm9wWU-w5W-foPeDHcf3Sxv7FTATpiM2e9yg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Wayne Black]

I'm interested in this topic too. I just purchased the above-mentioned Lenovo m93 for a cnc mill that uses a Centroid Acorn controller. M93 meets the single core thread speed for Acorn, but that controller does not use vision. That said,openpnp has been running just fine on an old i3 laptop, hard to imagine the i5 M93 would have any issue. It would be nice if the M93 works because of the size and super inexpensiveness.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to openpnp+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/openpnp/42f5f2d2-cff5-52e2-aa00-bc5c857b0f5a%40gmx.net.

--

Wayne Black

Owner

Black Box Embedded, LLC

black...@blackboxembedded.com

1.831.682.4964