Help with 5D firmware?

Is anyone else using this firmware? I've got a few issues with it.

I'm running a Darwin with a mix of Gen 3 electronics and Gen 2 stepper drivers, a Motherboard 1.2 and an Extruder Controller 2.2 with a stepper driven extruder.

My main issue is the step timing - I can rune G1E10F1000 fine, or G1X10F1000 fine, but if I run G1X10E10F1000 the speed drops right down to about 0.1 steps/s on the X, and the E never moves. Any ideas?

Also, I noticed in the code that there are some functions to adjust the extruder stepper PWM rate - is it possible to adjust that on the fly, without changing the default and recompiling?

Finally, is there any documentation on this firmware yet?

Thanks.

Wade

Hi Wade

Sorry I can't help you with this but I am close behind you building a new stepper driven extruder. Can you tell me something, does the 5D software have acceleration and deceleration on the axis moves or is it like the 3G firmware with abrupt starts and stops?

Also which firmware are you using? The latest mendel has the extruder stepper controlled by extra wires from the motherboard so I think they may have had issues with the RS485. It might be worth trying to email Adrian direct and ask your question.

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Regards

Ian

The idea of the 5D firmware (as I understand it) is to make it possible to implement acceleration and decelleration without it becoming a huge mess. Since each step is relative to all of the other ones, slowing down X or Y will slow down the others, plus the extrusion rate, without a lot of compliated fiddling.

My *assumption* is that this is also why they bypass RS485 for the extruder stepper for the 5D firmware - they need much finer control over the exact timing of steps in the extruder, which is not important for the other functions of the extruder controller board (maintaining the heat profile). I haven't dug into the RS485 logic yet, and don't understand how the timing/synchronization is handled there, so I can't be sure.

I *assume* this is also why you really can't use the 5D firmware with a DC motor for the extruder - you really need to precisely control the extrusion rate with a stepper, rather than deal with a closed-loop feedback system to control the extrusion.

Spaces.

If you send Gcodes without spaces between the parameters, the 5d firmware crashes.

Ie,

G1 X10 E10 works
G1X10E10 crashes

good to know.

EMT, I'm using the firmware from the Mendel directory on Subversion, from about 2 weeks ago. After recording some short moves, I can see that acceleration does work, but deceleration doesn't seem to be implemented yet. Still, it moves nicely at 3000 mm/min, which is pretty fast.

Here's a shot of the stepper timing with acceleration enabled. There's some blips, and no decel, but it basically works:



Wade

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2009 01:55AM by Wade.

What host software is usable? I've tried installing the 5D firmware onto a set of Motherboard and extruders and can't talk to it.

I used the 1.3 release of the host software from subversion, the reprap-host-linux-20090804.zip file, on Ubuntu 8.10. You can also use a serial terminal or gcdump if you just want to send gcodes.

[sourceforge.net]

Wade

Using this I can get the XYZ axis working ok. It's my extruder that I can't seem to get working. I've not plugged a stepper in, but I know what a stepper running looking like when it's running (ie the lights in the motor section will go nuts)

That firmware needs step and dir wires run separately. Don't ask. . Just look at the Mendel schematic.

Wade

Many thanks for info on acceleration and the space issue in G code.

Letsburn00

You do have the wiring correct? Some versions of firmware need 2 extra wires for the stepper. Look up Mendel schematics.

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Regards

Ian

The most recent 5D firmware with the gen 3 electronics require seperate stepper control lines for the extruder. They don't control the stepper over RS-485.

See the diagram at the top of this page: [objects.reprap.org]

That is assuming you are using gen 3 motherboard and gen 3 extruder controller, along with a stepper motor driving the extruder. You also have to have the RS-485 connection though, because all other communication (I believe) between the motherboard and the extruder controller goes over the RS-485 link.

If you use the MakerBot firmware ("3D", the stuff in the sanguino branch), then you only use RS-485, because they don't use a stepper for the extruder. While they don't have a concise diagram like the Makerbot guys have, this page says how to connect the motherboard and extruder controller (they just use the RS-485 link, the one that uses an ethernet cable): [wiki.makerbot.com]

Ok, I rechecked the system and got the fresh wiring in( for the D9 and D10 there are 3 ports, I've plugged into the one that isn't labelled + or -. Also, it seems that the ports for scl and sda are all the same). Final results were:

I got some sort of signal to the extruder board. Using the reprap host software I was able to tell the heater to turn on (though this made the entire system turn off. It was like I flipped the on-off switch back to off). But otherwise could get no effect out of the machine

letsburn00 - do you have a motherboard ver 1.1? If so, it might help to add the pulldown resistor on the power switch line. Have a look at the motherboard 1.2 changelog; I believe it's R18 that they added. You can just solder in a resistor to ground.

Secondly, I've found that having the extruder controller hooked up to the USB TTL cable and the motherboard at the same time can cause problems on the 5V line, shutting down either your computer or the power supply. Just make sure the extruder controller is unplugged before you plug in the TTL cable to program it.

Also, check your heater for shorts. Most power supplies are set up to automatically shut down if they detect a short.

Finally, you might need to add the big motherboard power resistor; some power supplies need it to run smoothly, although I haven't had to use one yet.

Wade

Hi

I have now got assembled Makerbot G3 electronics connected to a Stepper. I am using the Mendel Firmware. I have added the 2 extra stepper control wires.

I had to mod the Motherboard firmware to get it to switch the G3 power on.

Change to FiveD_GCode_Interpreter.pde

#if MOTHERBOARD > 1
pinMode(PS_ON_PIN, OUTPUT); // added
digitalWrite(PS_ON_PIN, LOW); // added
delay(2000); // added
rs485Interface.begin(RS485_BAUD);
#endif


This works. The axes move and the heater heats up and the temperature feed back is fine.

But the extruder stepper just sits there unlocked and does not respond to the host.

No LEDS on near the bridges.

If I pull off the 2 extra wires the some LEDs come on and the motor locks.

Any one any suggestions?

Pulling my hair out on this one!

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Regards

Ian

yes i know about it.Its flash fram regarding the movie in flash what you want to know please let me know.

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seo training

Hi

I have at last got the extruder running with a stepper motor..

The Trick?

Make sure if you are upgrading the Host that you delete all old reprap property files and you delete all old versions of the Host to avoid picking up the wrong version.....

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Regards

Ian

yes tell me what type of help you need i am much expert in it.i have more than 3 years experienced in this field tell me

What firmware are you running on your extruder board with the 5d firmware for stepper based extrusion?

Hi

I am using G3 electronics.

I am using the Mendel Firmware which is included in the big download here:-

[sourceforge.net]

There is a later version in the subversion files. You will only need this if you are using motherboard prebuilt from Makerbot. The later firmware included the patch above to power up the motherboard using makerbot connectors.

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Regards

Ian

I am attempting to wire up a Mendel running a stepper driven extruder. I have the prebuilt motherboard from makerbot. I have the big download from sourceforge (reprap-mendel-200911-06) , and see the extruder controller firmware, but no firmware labled for the motherboard. Is there a partictular firmware that I am supposed to use? Is the firmware for the motherboard the "5D gcode interpreter?" contained within said file. I was under the impression the interpreter was run on the computer before printing to convert the G-code to 5D.

I currently have RepRap firmware 1.2 installed on the motherboard.

I have all G3 electronics, and a rs485 connection between the motherboard and the extruder controller. I also have "SDA" and "SCL" on the motherboard wired to "D9" and "D10" on the extruder controller.

Does anyone have links to the exact firmware I need to install on the motherboard, and on the extruder controller? Do I need to tweak anything else perhaps in the reprap host software to get it to run?

I have been puzzling over this for days and am about to go crazy.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2009 12:05PM by swighton.

Hi

Using the mendel\firmware\FiveD_GCode

The firmware in the Extruder directory goes on the Arduino on the extruder board.

The firmware in FiveD_GCode_Interpreter directory goes on the Sanguino on the motherboard.

You will have to mod the Motherboard firmware to get it to switch the MakerBot G3 power on if your board uses the ATX connector.

Change to FiveD_GCode_Interpreter.pde

#if MOTHERBOARD > 1
pinMode(PS_ON_PIN, OUTPUT); // added
digitalWrite(PS_ON_PIN, LOW); // added
delay(2000); // added
rs485Interface.begin(RS485_BAUD);
#endif


There is a later version of the firmware in the subversion that has the patch.

[reprap.svn.sourceforge.net]

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2009 03:57AM by emt.

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Regards

Ian

Thank you very much! I will try it out tonight.

The fact that everything needs spaces was vaguely known to me, so I made sure it did. Except for one bit in my gcode that didn't have this: M104S200 (set temperature to 200C). This was causing problems in the sanguino firmware. Extrusion (E code) only went forward from that moment on! That was a nasty problem! Finally this seems solved. Now I can reverse again, critical to getting strong prints without needing cleanup.

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Regards,

Erik de Bruijn
[Ultimaker.com] - [blog.erikdebruijn.nl]