Integration of real-time Ethernet in LinuxCNC

In recent years, open source software applications based on the operating system Linux have replaced previous proprietary software in many fields. However, up to now, the open-source software community did not come up with an appropriate CNC solution. Particularly, the requirement for real-time communication between system components has been a major challenge. The paper at hand presents a new approach for the integration of real-time Ethernet into LinuxCNC developed at the Institut für Maschinen- und Anlagenbau in Emden. For the first time, a CNC system entirely based on open-souce software has been realized that can compete with proprietary-embedded CNC.