Thanks for your comments James, I'm happy to go ahead and post the code.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Cheers

Darrin, that is a lot of code you have done.
I think this is a huge step for the arduino/netduino community.
The electronics part of CNC is the most expensive, and most proprietary it seems.
To fill that gap with a $35 device that works on USB and C# is unreal.
Maybe you only post a free version of the code, then refine it and sell the version that has acceleration or whatever additional in it. You deserve some hobby money in return somehow.

Thanks for your comments James, I'm happy to go ahead and post the code. I've wanted to setup a source code repository for it but haven't had the time so I'll just post the zipped up projects with this reply.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Cheers

Right on, can't wait to get into it.
Thanks a bunch.

Darrin, anytime you can post the code is appreciated. I'd like to start learning G code better so I can make a simulator in autocad. If anyone ever needs help with Autocad, its what I do for a living, so happy to help (for free...). I'd like to further Darrin's work though, not make my own parser.

Overall Goal: To create a netduino controlled turret system to fire nerf darts or other items of my choosing at my wife if she comes into my office.

Background: I have absolutely zero development, electrical/mechanical engineering experience. I do have a lot of disposable time and income to toss around and want to test my ability to learn new things. Learning new things is the real goal of this experiment.

Plan: Using the Kinect's SDK and wireframe tracking ability, write a C# application to track the X/Y/Z positions of a person entering the device's field of view. Specifically the center of mass. Use this data to magically talk to the Netduino over ethernet. Ideally, I'd like to quickly send the X/Y/Z of the target to the Netduino and have it move stepper motors to reposition the turret. This is obviously a long ways away from what I can do now.

Progress: Little. I've acquired my Netduino / Kinect / some small servos. I've pieced together an application to echo out the X/Y/Z of the center of the target. I've also written a shabby little app to move a servo in a wiper fashion just to see if I could do it. My total coding experience is probably 2 weeks at this point.

Basically I'd like this thread to turn into a blog of my progress of both the project and my experience of learning how to develop without formal education.

dang, then switch out the nerf for taser gun leads and you have some serious security.
or figure out the height of the person and match it to a lookup list to guess the name, then issue a message to that person from God in hidden speakers.

Hey, this looks awesome.. and it's written in c# too from what I can gather. Thanks for the link, this could integrate nicely with the motion control software I've written!

wow, so excited to see a netduino based cnc.
I am a civil engineer and write software for designing, producing plans, and making 3d models in autocad.
I have actually written my software to run on a cheap clone, bricscad, but essentially I have all kinds of geometric functions written in c# that could be useful to you guys.
I want to make a 3 axis cnc that has feedback on positioning. So we could make a sensor that counts turns of the lead screws, and feeds back position so often, checking if we are where we should be.
We could also add many cool things like manual jogging and arbitrary zeroing in space.

Autocad has a .net API, so I could even have it show where the tool was as the cutting happens.
I guess the biggest thing is a USB based controller with code done in C#.
And you guys have written the g code parser! whoo-hooo, kid in a candy store here.

I even have tools that let .net talk to a language called autolisp that acad uses. This will be neat as there is an autodesk developer network leader named Kean Walmsley that does the Through the Interface blog.
He has interest in using .net with information providing devices to do things in acad.
Lots of talent out there to hook up with this so thanks for sharing your work so far!