Controlling your Reprap via Wireless or Even Over the Internet [Guide]

This is the outcome from a previous thread, but as I have made progress I thought it merited a more apt title.

I have managed to attach a HLK-RM04 module to the Aux-1 port on my RAMPs board and by using a Virtual Serial Port on my PC. This means that software that controls the Arduino normally via it's USB-Serial can with no modification now control the RepRap over a wireless network or by ethernet. With Port Forwarding you can even control it over the internet (Heavy Heavy Caution! advised)



I have written up a short guide that should give you an idea on what is involved. I will adjust or add to it based on feedback.

Click here to view guide!

And here is the kicker... The HLK-RM04 Modules start at around $11 in price. Even the Development Kit is around $27 including delivery!

This is awesome! I shall definitely be buying some of these

Had a quick look at the data sheet, it appears the RT5350 has one full UART and one "UART lite", but these are not exposed on the HLK module. The bga chip is not very DIY friendly, and I've no idea where to buy the chips anyway.

There appear to be other modules based on RT5350, so perhaps one of those will have alternative features.

That looks good. Only thing I find limiting about any of these 'remote' options though (including just plugging in a Raspberry Pi), is you're still limited by the serial baud rate - it's takes several minutes just to upload a few MB of gcode.

Yep i tend to agree. I managed to upload a print to the SD card using the wireless link and it worked well. There is no getting over the slowness though.

On the other hand being able to pre-heat the printer from the front room downstairs is quite handy. Checking status etc should be interesting.

Compared to a Pi though, this method is cheaper.

I don't think there is an easy answer to the speed problem. Of course, having an onboard MAC is the best, but that loses the advantage of a standard external module, which is to save a lot of development time.

An SPI interface would be an improvement over UART, but there is no standard for async data transfer over SPI. You would need to adapt firmware to the module (I believe the WizNet modules have SPI), and/or put SPI code into the module. If RT5350 runs OpenWRT, there is an opportunity there.

USB is also a possibility, USB 2.0 has a 480 Mbit/s data rate, but unfortunately USB comes with a lot of protocol baggage. I think you could drive the USB pipes directly, but then you would need to invent a new lightweight protocol. USB is half-duplex, so you at least need some master/slave handshaking.

Another possible there is a custom FTDI chip, they have some user programmable devices.

What about wireless SD cards? Anyone tried those?