I am in search of a finished arduino product if it exists. I need a board that will accept hpgl text file (plotter code) and move xy axis steppers and pen up/down solenoid. This is for a from scratch project so I can buy steppers to match the project if needed. Does anyone know of an available product available? HPGL is needed not gcode.
The translation of HPGL to gcode will be necessary. That is a software task, not a hardware task.
Do you have some hardware you are trying to drive, or are you looking for a complete CNC machine that operates on HPGL instead of m- and g-codes?
Yes I'm trying to develop an hpgl device 2 axis and solenoid for pu/pd. I was trying to find a standalone board of some kind that takes an hpgl text file and does the onboard motion calcs needed to move the x y steppers. Much in the same way pen plotters did. I need some flexibility in the way of resolution, scaling etc so I thought the very flexible arduino was the ticket? Is there a commercial firm or individual who can develop the code similar to gcode example but uses hpgl?
An Arduino can be used to read serial data, in the form of HPGL instructions, map them to M and G code, and output the M- and G- codes on another serial port. From a cursory look at the format of the HPGL data, and a vague recollection of M- and G- codes, I'd venture a guess that this would not be a difficult thing to develop.
I'm sure that there are plenty of people on the forum capable of developing such a translator, myself included. PM me if you don't get a better offer.
You could look at the products associated with the RepRap (3d-printer) project. These include up to 4 stepper drivers plus a heater output, and software that sounds like it would be pretty close to what you want to do, and they use CPUs that are Arduino-compatible (at one point they used actual arduinos.)
I also have had good experiences with the "EiBotBoard" designed by SchmalzHaus (EBB (EiBotBoard) ) and (theoretically, at least) sold by EMSL and Sparkfun. (although it's PIC based, and I think you'd need to add an external solenoid driver on the current version.) It doesn't directly support HPGL or CAM instructions, but has useful primitives for coordinating the two steppers...