Run Self-Sourced Ultimaker 2 with RAMPS/Marlin?

Hi Reprappers!

I am having a hard time purchasing Ultimaker's Mainboard 2.1.1 for the Ultimaker 2. Sales support has been very nice, but my ticket has been open nearly a month so I don't think they can help me, or don't want my business. Even though the printer is open source, it's not going to work very well without electronics haha. My question to the reprap universe is this: If I built a complete Ultimaker 2 (XY gantry, Z stage) is it possible for me to control it with a RAMPS 1.4 board instead of the Mainboard 2.1.1 from Ultimaker? Is it possible to control with Ultimaker 2 with the Ultimaker Original Arduino shield? I'm assuming the answer to both of these questions is yes, so how would the performance be affected? I can fabricate the rest of the materials for the build, and any additional help is appreciated.

Cheers,
Kyle

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Kyle R
If I built a complete Ultimaker 2 (XY gantry, Z stage) is it possible for me to control it with a RAMPS 1.4 board instead of the Mainboard 2.1.1 from Ultimaker? Is it possible to control with Ultimaker 2 with the Ultimaker Original Arduino shield? I'm assuming the answer to both of these questions is yes, so how would the performance be affected?

Your assumption is right, stepper motor is stepper motor and as such you can use any controller which is capable of driving stepper motors. Same for extruder, heaters, thermistors. Performance is mostly affected by the type of CPU on that controller (ATmega vs. ARM, clock frequency) and the firmware in use. Typically, you can run all firmwares written for ATmegas on all ATmega based boards, it's just a matter of adjusting the pin layout.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Thanks for your insight. I really like the look of the Ultimaker 2; I wish I could get the electronics from the source, but I think I'll be able to find a fork of Marlin and a shield combination that will work. Cheers!