Ramps 32 bit alternatives?

I have a ramps 1.4 with a 2004 LCD and a small wifi router that runs USB/IP.

I have been looking for a new controller for my printer and future printers.

My Printer is a self built DELTA machine. The next one will be a core XY machine.


The next printer is going to have a larger build area than my current delta at 12x12x16 inches. The next one may be in the 24x24x24inch size or even larger. With that said I need a good 32 bit controller that can power it. I find the larger the machine gets the more difficult it will be to control and the slower the movement due to sheer space required to travel.

Here is my requirements. Please educate me.

6 stepper motors (going triple bowden on the next machine)
Must be able to drive a heated bed of some size >11AMPS, idealy around 20A continuous. Although I can use a SSR for this.
This is a big one, some sort of network connectivity, wifi/ethernet is prefered.
Must have some sort of low cost LCD to monitor progress 2004 LCD is fine by my needs. I dont need eye candy.
Must have some sort of provision for storage to print from either SD/onboard storage that is also accessible via network.

Any suggestions?


Price is a big concern as well. Looking to stay in the 100-150USD range with board/lcd combo.
Firmware support is also a big concern.

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Modicum V1 sold on e-bay user jaguarking11

If this is for the corexy printer, I don't think you really need to go 32 bits. It is the delta that has the need of a more powerful processor. But given your price range, you will probably not find a good 32 bit board and display combo. I hope I'm wrong and someone can point to one because I am looking for a 32 bit board myself.

For 8 bit processors, the RUMBA has 6 drivers on it. The board with no drivers install is about $85 from what I was seeing. It also looks like it might not be in production any longer.

There is the Azteeg X3 PRO 3D printer Controller that has room for 8 drivers and runs about $135.

There is also http://reprap.org/wiki/RADDS But as you can see there is debate on its opensource claim.

RepRap Arduino-Due Driver Shield, a sheild for Arduino-Due (32 bit)

6 Steppers: e.g. 3 axis and 3 extruders (2 of the driver sockets are fitted with 2pin strips)
6 High-current loads: e.g. 1 heatbed, 3 hotends and 2 fans
SD-Card(micro-sd-slot onboard, optional external SD-slot)
Standard LCD(5V) with 4x20 characters (HD44780 compatible)

Cost and avalability... I dont know.... I dont have one, just know it exsists

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2015 09:57PM by Dust.

It's a few $ beyond your price range, but the SmoothieBoard has been doing a great job in my printer for about 10 months. Among its many improvements over Arduino/RAMPS is that it's very easy to update configuration- just edit a text file and reboot the board. No compiling firmware to make a small change.

Some things are worth spending a few more $ to get.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

I would ask, if there´s a board suitable for bigger steppers. A big CoreXY could benefit from Nema23 sized steppers.
-Olaf

To meet your networking requirement, you need a Duet with RepRapFirmware. No other firmware provides a decent web interface, and no other board (with the possible exception of the Alligator - I haven't checked) offers a decent upload speed over Ethernet to the SD card.

RepRapFirmware is an excellent choice for delta printers. No other firmware AFAIK provides segmentation-free delta movement generation or fast delta auto calibration. It also supports CoreXY.

You can drive 1 extruder from a Duet 0.6, two from a Duet 0.85, three from a Duet 0.6 + Duet shield, five from a Duet 0.6 + DueX4, and six from a Duet 0.85 + DueX4.

Most Duet users don't feel the need for an LCD screen because you can use a tablet or smartphone instead, so there isn't a low cost LCD option. You can get a PanelDue colour touch screen for the Duet if you do want one. [Full disclosure: I designed and manufacture the PanelDue display control boards.]

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

You can use a raspberry pi with octoprint to deal with your networking needs.

Quote
dc42
To meet your networking requirement, you need a Duet with RepRapFirmware. No other firmware provides a decent web interface, and no other board (with the possible exception of the Alligator - I haven't checked) offers a decent upload speed over Ethernet to the SD card.

RepRapFirmware is an excellent choice for delta printers. No other firmware AFAIK provides segmentation-free delta movement generation or fast delta auto calibration. It also supports CoreXY.

You can drive 1 extruder from a Duet 0.6, two from a Duet 0.85, three from a Duet 0.6 + Duet shield, five from a Duet 0.6 + DueX4, and six from a Duet 0.85 + DueX4.

Most Duet users don't feel the need for an LCD screen because you can use a tablet or smartphone instead, so there isn't a low cost LCD option. You can get a PanelDue colour touch screen for the Duet if you do want one. [Full disclosure: I designed and manufacture the PanelDue display control boards.]

I was eyeballing your LCD a while back and understand its full of features. What are good US suppliers that could sell me a Duet 0.6 and Duet Sheild?

-Bruno

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Modicum V1 sold on e-bay user jaguarking11

Quote
jaguarking11
I was eyeballing your LCD a while back and understand its full of features. What are good US suppliers that could sell me a Duet 0.6 and Duet Sheild?

Sadly, there are no US distributors for the Duet 0.6 or the Duet shield. RepRapPro (who make the Duet 0.6 and the Duet shield) don't seem to be interested in distribution. OTOH, I know that Think3DPrint3D is looking for US distribution for the Duet 0.85 and the DueX4.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42

Quote
jaguarking11
I was eyeballing your LCD a while back and understand its full of features. What are good US suppliers that could sell me a Duet 0.6 and Duet Sheild?

Sadly, there are no US distributors for the Duet 0.6 or the Duet shield. RepRapPro (who make the Duet 0.6 and the Duet shield) don't seem to be interested in distribution. OTOH, I know that Think3DPrint3D is looking for US distribution for the Duet 0.85 and the DueX4.

Well this sucks for me. I may order from reprappro or think3dprint3d at this point. But 150euro for the board and the expander is a bit steep, hopefully worth the price.

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Modicum V1 sold on e-bay user jaguarking11

A Duet 0.6 + Duet shield from RepRapPro is GBP123.17 + shipping (as a customer outside the EU, you don't pay VAT). A Duet 0.85 + DueX4 from T3P3 is GBP125 + shipping (the headline price on their web site includes VAT). So very little difference in price. The 0.6 + shield is a little easier to use because the shield is a piggyback board. However, the Duet 0.85 + DueX4 supports 3 more drives (so you would have 3 spare drivers), and 2 more heaters and a second PWM fan (or 3 more heaters and no extra fan). Also the 0.85 board is improved compared to the 0.6 board. So my choice would be the 0.85 + X4. If you want to use a heated enclosure, you may be glad of having a spare heater/thermistor channel.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Was just trying to buy a Duet from t3p3. They only take PayPal and they (paypal) were wanting to charge over $40 more than what the current exchange rate is!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2015 01:35PM by ElmoC.

Quote
ElmoC
Was just trying to buy a Duet from t3p3. They only take PayPal and they (paypal) were wanting to charge over $40 more than what the current exchange rate is!

That doesn't sound right. I once pretended to be a US-based customer wanting to pay money to my UK PayPal account, to see what my IR boards would cost in US$. The rate that PayPal gave me was only slightly worse than the one given by xe.com. The current xe.com rate is GBP1 = US$1.51329.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2015 01:53PM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

The current rate PayPal is using is 1usd = 0.6 something Euro.

T3P3 is in the UK, so the prices on their web site (at least when I view it) are in GBP, not in Euro.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Just checking to see if you were paying attention. Yeah. That's it. Just had my symbols confused.

Dc42, I think you've finally talked me into buying a duet... I'm getting ready for another printer... So I'm going to try it out... Persistence does pay off...