Integrated Controller

My current setup for the control board (QUBD Printrboard) is to run it from a PC via USB/Serial. I happen to have many PCs laying around the house, so that's not really a problem for me to dedicate a PC for this. The QUBD Printrboard (red one) supports an SD card. So, technically I could dump my gcode to that, sneakerware it over to the printer and load it up. However, I am really lazy and don't like the sneakerware part (In fact, I'm so lazy I'm trying to figure out a way to automate unloading of the printing platform). I have the PC set up to use remote desktop so I can access it pretty much from any other PC in the house.

That got me thinking about building a dedicated integrated controller using a mITX motherboard along with SFX power supply (there are cases for both of these on thingiverse). The power supply would supply power to both the mITX board and the controller. I currently use an inexpensive, jumpered ATX power supply to replace the one sent with the TwoUp, so I know this is a viable solution. I would replace the printrboard with smoothieboard or possibly alligator. With these three components in a single case, I could mount this to my (yet to be built) H-bot printer that I'm planning. This would allow me to run Repetier Host right on the printer. I could connect any number of screens (including a touch screen) to the video port on the mITX board. I could run the unit remotely or have a dedicated keyboard/mouse.

I think this would be a most flexible solution as it would allow me to download, rip, and run files right at the printer rather than monkey around with mini SD cards or tying up my main PC for the printer via a long usb cable. My goal is to keep costs around $500 for the whole setup.

Has anyone tried this or know of anyone who has?

Quote
RickRap
My current setup for the control board (QUBD Printrboard) is to run it from a PC via USB/Serial. I happen to have many PCs laying around the house, so that's not really a problem for me to dedicate a PC for this. The QUBD Printrboard (red one) supports an SD card. So, technically I could dump my gcode to that, sneakerware it over to the printer and load it up. However, I am really lazy and don't like the sneakerware part (In fact, I'm so lazy I'm trying to figure out a way to automate unloading of the printing platform). I have the PC set up to use remote desktop so I can access it pretty much from any other PC in the house.

That got me thinking about building a dedicated integrated controller using a mITX motherboard along with SFX power supply (there are cases for both of these on thingiverse). The power supply would supply power to both the mITX board and the controller. I currently use an inexpensive, jumpered ATX power supply to replace the one sent with the TwoUp, so I know this is a viable solution. I would replace the printrboard with smoothieboard or possibly alligator. With these three components in a single case, I could mount this to my (yet to be built) H-bot printer that I'm planning. This would allow me to run Repetier Host right on the printer. I could connect any number of screens (including a touch screen) to the video port on the mITX board. I could run the unit remotely or have a dedicated keyboard/mouse.

I think this would be a most flexible solution as it would allow me to download, rip, and run files right at the printer rather than monkey around with mini SD cards or tying up my main PC for the printer via a long usb cable. My goal is to keep costs around $500 for the whole setup.

Has anyone tried this or know of anyone who has?

I would suggest you look into Octoprint, it is a print server that run's on Raspberry PI hardware and does exactly what you want.

Doug

I suggest you replace the printrboard with AZSMZ Mini.

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Quote
cxandy
I suggest you replace the printrboard with AZSMZ Mini.

Or a Duet. It does everything the alligator board does except for the unnecessary second USB port, but is more mature (it's been shipping for well over a year) and costs less. It supports an add-on colour touch screen, the PanelDue.

I haven't used the AZSMZ Mini, but it looks to me that it could be a good choice if you are on a budget. It lacks the Ethernet port (which you don't need in your proposed setup) and the software control of stepper motor current (which I think no 3D printer should be without - just look at all the posts on these forums related to wrong stepper motor currents and how to adjust them).

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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].

First you can try OctoPrint on any one of your PC's. That's a $0 expense and it takes just a few minutes to download and install, the learning curve is about 1 hour, and you'll see for yourself what it's all about.

Next, install OctoPrint on an OctoGoatBox based on a RPi V2. That`s around $ 60 and it replaces the PC with a small box slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes.

I vote for sneaker-netting SD cards to the printer.

I know it's a PITA - my CAD machine and printer are on different floors in my house - but printing from a local SD card is the most reliable way to print, and as you already know, 3D printing can be a pretty unreliable process. Adding an external controller increases the unreliability. Besides the usual computer reliability issues (though machines running linux and variations like octoprint are probably not too unreliable), you still have to worry about power supply and cable integrity/reliability. It also makes trouble shooting that much more difficult- was it a printer or controller problem that screwed up that last print?

You have to be at the machine to remove the last print, change filament, and clean/level/zero the bed (most people don't have autoleveling yet), so why not just plug in an SD card while you're there anyway? Until the bed can clean/level/zero itself, you can remotely change filament, and remotely remove the printed part, it seems to me that the remote stuff is of little practical value. It's mighty impressive to show others that you can monitor a print in progress via a web site, and it can be useful to be able to stop a failed print before it uses a lot of filament, but beyond that, meh. For me those capabilities are not worth the increased potential for trouble.

I recently put a smoothieboard into my printer. It has an on-board SD card slot that is accessible from a network (wired, not wireless), so theoretically, I could dump a gcode file to the card via the network then start/stop a print via the network. There isn't any remote monitoring so a networked camera could be added to essentially duplicate the functionality of octoprint without adding an additional controller. That would eliminate the sneaker netting, but I'd still have to clean the bed, remove the print, and change filament by going to the printer.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2015 10:14AM by the_digital_dentist.

My issue with the SD card is that it's a pain if you are making a lot of changes to a design. More than once I've had to stop a print after realizing a design flaw (or that I sliced the model outside of the printing area). With SD card, I'd have to go back to my CAD machine and copy changes to the card. With my current setup I just scrape the bed clean (I have my system setup to home after cancelling), I can go back to my CAD machine, make changes, slice, remote into the controller, load gcode and start printing.

I have a NAS where I store all stl and gcode. I can generate gcode on my CAD machine (SolidWorks), upload to the NAS (or copy directly to the PC controller if I want, but would rather not) then simply load the gcode into Repetier and go. My CAD machine has a lot more balls for slicing than the controller PC. However, I wouldn't mind having the ability to slice on the controller PC.

I like the Raspberry PI idea and considered it, but I guess I'm just too much of a Windows fanboy. I know that's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, but I've been a Windows developer for 15 years and a PC builder since the early 90s and I'm comfortable with the platform.

As for reliability, I haven't had any issues with my current setup being on for weeks at a time.

I'll check out Octoprint and Raspberry Pi

Quote
RickRap
My issue with the SD card is that it's a pain if you are making a lot of changes to a design. More than once I've had to stop a print after realizing a design flaw (or that I sliced the model outside of the printing area). With SD card, I'd have to go back to my CAD machine and copy changes to the card. With my current setup I just scrape the bed clean (I have my system setup to home after cancelling), I can go back to my CAD machine, make changes, slice, remote into the controller, load gcode and start printing.

I have a NAS where I store all stl and gcode. I can generate gcode on my CAD machine (SolidWorks), upload to the NAS (or copy directly to the PC controller if I want, but would rather not) then simply load the gcode into Repetier and go. My CAD machine has a lot more balls for slicing than the controller PC. However, I wouldn't mind having the ability to slice on the controller PC.

I like the Raspberry PI idea and considered it, but I guess I'm just too much of a Windows fanboy. I know that's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, but I've been a Windows developer for 15 years and a PC builder since the early 90s and I'm comfortable with the platform.

As for reliability, I haven't had any issues with my current setup being on for weeks at a time.

I'll check out Octoprint and Raspberry Pi

Also have a good look at the Duet especially DC42's or Zombiepantslol's fork's as they have excellent web access were you can copy the Sliced files to the SD card over the Web and then control the printer from it.

I didn't think I would ever want to do it that way but now I am Sold on the idea (and they are so easy to configure and setup no fiddly pots on driver boards to worry about any more.

Doug

This all sounds like an argument to have the CAD machine next to the printer, not for an external controller that allows remote start/stop. As you say, you have to clean the bed off before you can restart the print.

Quote
RickRap
My issue with the SD card is that it's a pain if you are making a lot of changes to a design. More than once I've had to stop a print after realizing a design flaw (or that I sliced the model outside of the printing area). With SD card, I'd have to go back to my CAD machine and copy changes to the card. With my current setup I just scrape the bed clean (I have my system setup to home after cancelling), I can go back to my CAD machine, make changes, slice, remote into the controller, load gcode and start printing.

I have a NAS where I store all stl and gcode. I can generate gcode on my CAD machine (SolidWorks), upload to the NAS (or copy directly to the PC controller if I want, but would rather not) then simply load the gcode into Repetier and go. My CAD machine has a lot more balls for slicing than the controller PC. However, I wouldn't mind having the ability to slice on the controller PC.

I like the Raspberry PI idea and considered it, but I guess I'm just too much of a Windows fanboy. I know that's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, but I've been a Windows developer for 15 years and a PC builder since the early 90s and I'm comfortable with the platform.

As for reliability, I haven't had any issues with my current setup being on for weeks at a time.

I'll check out Octoprint and Raspberry Pi

Quote
the_digital_dentist
This all sounds like an argument to have the CAD machine next to the printer, not for an external controller that allows remote start/stop. As you say, you have to clean the bed off before you can restart the print.

Quote
RickRap
My issue with the SD card is that it's a pain if you are making a lot of changes to a design. More than once I've had to stop a print after realizing a design flaw (or that I sliced the model outside of the printing area). With SD card, I'd have to go back to my CAD machine and copy changes to the card. With my current setup I just scrape the bed clean (I have my system setup to home after cancelling), I can go back to my CAD machine, make changes, slice, remote into the controller, load gcode and start printing.

I have a NAS where I store all stl and gcode. I can generate gcode on my CAD machine (SolidWorks), upload to the NAS (or copy directly to the PC controller if I want, but would rather not) then simply load the gcode into Repetier and go. My CAD machine has a lot more balls for slicing than the controller PC. However, I wouldn't mind having the ability to slice on the controller PC.

I like the Raspberry PI idea and considered it, but I guess I'm just too much of a Windows fanboy. I know that's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, but I've been a Windows developer for 15 years and a PC builder since the early 90s and I'm comfortable with the platform.

As for reliability, I haven't had any issues with my current setup being on for weeks at a time.

I'll check out Octoprint and Raspberry Pi

At the moment, my CAD machine is fairly close to the printer

But it may not always be that way.

Maybe I'll be more comfortable in the future without having a UI at the printer (Repetier has very nice preview features as well as showing the tool path in progress). Having a robust GUI (vs. a fiddly LCD screen) is much more convenient. Case in point: I'll take a full-size keyboard over a 'smart' phone keyboard any day.

Duet use ATMega (Arduino). Smoothieboard uses ARM processor. Maybe Smoothieboard is more expensive than Duet, but for me the cost difference is minimal and worth it for the benefits.

Quote
RickRap

Quote
the_digital_dentist
This all sounds like an argument to have the CAD machine next to the printer, not for an external controller that allows remote start/stop. As you say, you have to clean the bed off before you can restart the print.

Quote
RickRap
My issue with the SD card is that it's a pain if you are making a lot of changes to a design. More than once I've had to stop a print after realizing a design flaw (or that I sliced the model outside of the printing area). With SD card, I'd have to go back to my CAD machine and copy changes to the card. With my current setup I just scrape the bed clean (I have my system setup to home after cancelling), I can go back to my CAD machine, make changes, slice, remote into the controller, load gcode and start printing.

I have a NAS where I store all stl and gcode. I can generate gcode on my CAD machine (SolidWorks), upload to the NAS (or copy directly to the PC controller if I want, but would rather not) then simply load the gcode into Repetier and go. My CAD machine has a lot more balls for slicing than the controller PC. However, I wouldn't mind having the ability to slice on the controller PC.

I like the Raspberry PI idea and considered it, but I guess I'm just too much of a Windows fanboy. I know that's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, but I've been a Windows developer for 15 years and a PC builder since the early 90s and I'm comfortable with the platform.

As for reliability, I haven't had any issues with my current setup being on for weeks at a time.

I'll check out Octoprint and Raspberry Pi

At the moment, my CAD machine is fairly close to the printer

But it may not always be that way.

Maybe I'll be more comfortable in the future without having a UI at the printer (Repetier has very nice preview features as well as showing the tool path in progress). Having a robust GUI (vs. a fiddly LCD screen) is much more convenient. Case in point: I'll take a full-size keyboard over a 'smart' phone keyboard any day.

Duet use ATMega (Arduino). Smoothieboard uses ARM processor. Maybe Smoothieboard is more expensive than Duet, but for me the cost difference is minimal and worth it for the benefits.

Actually the Duet is an ARM CPU same as the Smoothie

from the REPRAPPRO item

Product Description

The Duet is an open source 3D printer controller board, which offers a range of improvements over traditional 8-bit AVR based control boards.

Key features include:

Hardware:
•32 bit ARM microprocessor as found on the Arduino Due, running at up to 84MHz
•12-35v DC power input
•4 x A4892 stepper drivers, providing up to 2A per coil and 32 microstep control
•3 x High current PWM outputs to drive heaters and fans

It is the same processor that is found on the Arduino DUE board granted but is still a Arm 32 bit 84 MHz cpu

don't get me wrong the Smoothie is also a very nice board (I Have one for my CNC) but the Web Interface on the DUET is far superior at this time!

Doug

Quote
the_digital_dentist
I recently put a smoothieboard into my printer. It has an on-board SD card slot that is accessible from a network (wired, not wireless), so theoretically, I could dump a gcode file to the card via the network then start/stop a print via the network.

It is also worth mentioning that Smoothieware also presents the on-board SD card as a removable USB drive over the printer's USB cable. I have an ancient palmtop PC sitting next to my printer hooked up via USB, feeding 5V to the controller via USB but also there for copying files from NAS to SD card via USB. It runs Pronterface or Repetier for entertainment purposes, but I do everything from the GLCD panel on the printer.....

Thanks for clarifying Doug

Quote
vreihen
It is also worth mentioning that Smoothieware also presents the on-board SD card as a removable USB drive over the printer's USB cable. I have an ancient palmtop PC sitting next to my printer hooked up via USB, feeding 5V to the controller via USB but also there for copying files from NAS to SD card via USB. It runs Pronterface or Repetier for entertainment purposes, but I do everything from the GLCD panel on the printer.....

I do a similar thing with the Duet, except that I upload the files to the SD card over Ethernet, and I use a colour hi-res touch screen (PanelDue) instead of a GLCD.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2015 05:48PM 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].

I just installed the GLCD panel and haven't used it to run a print yet. I have been using the USB connection and running Pronterface (hating every minute of it) to run it. I have yet to try "playing" from the uSD card on the smoothieboard, either under USB or networked control. I don't have a network drop in my work room- a situation I need to fix real soon. I have inserted an SD card into the GLCD socket and it isn't seen- I think I have to change an option in the config file to get it to read from the GLCD SD card slot.

Yes I don't like Pronterface either, especially the user interface. The web intertace provided by the Duet firmware is far superior, and I use that when I am not using the touch screen.

The other problem with printing via Pronterface is that when you print over the USB interface, it can't keep up with the speed of the printer when there are lots of short moves in the gcode. This is especially true if you are using Arduino Mega to control the printer, or some other electronics that uses a USB-to-serial converter, instead of a board with a native USB port in the microcontroller. The problem is that this arrangement has no flow control, so Pronterface has to wait for the "OK" response to each command before it knows that it is safe to send another. You can see this easily if you try to move the head in a large circle comprised of very fine segments. But Pronterface does allow you to upload files to the SD card and print from there, so you can avoid this issue. I've not tried any other USB host programs such as Repetier or Octoprint, so I don't know if they manage to overcome the problem or not.

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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
the_digital_dentist
I have inserted an SD card into the GLCD socket and it isn't seen- I think I have to change an option in the config file to get it to read from the GLCD SD card slot.

This is what my config file contains for the Uberclock RRD GLCD interface:

# setup for external sd card on the GLCD which uses the onboard sdcard SPI port
panel.external_sd                     true              # set to true if there is an extrernal sdcard on the panel
panel.external_sd.spi_channel         1                 # set spi channel the sdcard is on
panel.external_sd.spi_cs_pin          0.28              # set spi chip select for the sdcard (or any spare pin)
panel.external_sd.sdcd_pin            0.27!^            # sd detect signal (set to nc if no sdcard detect) (or any spare pin)

When it is working, you will see two top directories when you open the file list from the GLCD menu.....

The only thing that I use Pronterface for (other than the programmable calibration buttons) is to "@PLAY /sd/file.gcode" and then walk away.....

I'll take a look at it. Thanks.

You should be able to select "play" from the LCD panel and not use pronterface at all...

Raspberry Pi + Octoprint looks like the way to go:

[www.youtube.com]

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the_digital_dentist
You should be able to select "play" from the LCD panel and not use pronterface at all...

I do both, and occasionally even use Pronterface's SD card function. The deciding factor is the filename I wish to print. Longer names look ugly on the LCD, and sometimes all look the same when they get real long. Those are the ones that I "@PLAY" from Pronterface. (The "@" in front of the command is required to tell Pronterface that it should pass the command through raw without trying to make sense of it as a G-code.) I should shorten my filenames or change over to a naming scheme based on job numbers, but I'm only doing work for myself and it seems like a waste of time.

The important fact is that the file is always on the SD card when I'm printing.....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2015 02:37PM by vreihen.

I added the stuff you posted to the config file and it works fine. I seems that the board can't read files a couple folders deep- probably due to path length getting too long.
I have disconnected from the computer until i need to update the firmware/config file again...

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AndrewBCN
Next, install OctoPrint on an OctoGoatBox based on a RPi V2. That`s around $ 60...

Why not save $25 and just use a RPi 2?

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cdru

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AndrewBCN
Next, install OctoPrint on an OctoGoatBox based on a RPi V2. That`s around $ 60...

Why not save $25 and just use a RPi 2?

That's what I meant, actually. RPi 2 ($35) + case ($8) + wall wart 5V 2A ($8) + WiFi USB dongle ($8) + microSD card ($4 to $8) gets you somewhere around $60.