Re-ARM to Replace TriGorilla?

Long story short, I need to upgrade the control board in my Anycubic Linear Plus from the original TriGorilla to something with more brain power. That little processor just can't handle all the delta kinematic calculations. I've been 3D printing for a while, but I've never swapped a stock control board for an upgrade before. I'm OK with dealing with firmware, but I'm discovering there are more factors to consider than I originally bargained for.

I've seen a handful of posts about the Re-ARM controller. The description on Panucatt's storefront describes it as a "plug in replacement" for a Mega board. This is where I've started to either overthink or underthink the situation. It can't be that easy, can it? The TriGorilla board is effectively a 2560, but the Re-ARM is a 32-bit processor with ARM architecture. What would the process of making this switch actually look like? Also, I've heard mixed things about Smoothieware, that it's no longer in active development and that there are better options, etc. Any advice on this route? The price makes it very attractive given that the printer kit was only $190 itself.

Alternately, the Duet 2 Maestro looks pretty nice. It's a bit more expensive but not terribly so.

Are there any obvious options I'm overlooking? The challenge is to strike a balance of cost and ease of firmware configuration.

To move to Re-ARM, you'll need the Re-ARM board and a RAMPS board, as well as stepper driver modules. The Re-ARM can run Marlin 2.0.x as an alternative to Smoothieware.

Ok, that's what I expected in terms of the RAMPS board and stepper drivers. Didn't know about 32 bit Marlin, but it looks pretty straightforward. The machine already has typical stepper driver modules, but the ReArm board from Panucatt has options to add better ones. I suppose the Trinamic based option is a good bet? Also, any suggestions for a reputable source of RAMPS board? I bought one on Amazon a while back but didn't realize the quality was bad until i had melted the heated bed terminal. Thanks!

Trinamics are a good option. I'd recommend the new TMC2209s as having the best feature set. I'm running them for X and Y (I'm still using A4988s for Z and E) so I can help you configure them when it comes to that. There's a bit of extra wiring involved to get everything set up.The TMC2209s have the advantage over the 2208s that you can run up to 4 drivers from a single set of pins - for the 2208s you need to use separate pins for each driver. They also support higher currents.

I forgot to mention that with Re-ARM/RAMPS you are a bit limited with respect to what displays you can use. The RepRapDiscount Full Graphic Smart controller is the most compatible, although it does require a change to one of the ribbon cables to provide +5V to the display. If you buy the Re-ARM from Panucatt you can pay an extra $1.50 for a cable that splits out the line you need to connect to 5V.

All good info. Yeah, I saw that bit about the LCD cable but I didn't realize the reason behind it. Here's the thing though, after buying the ReArm, a suitable RAMPS board, and a set of TMC2209 drivers, I'm sitting at somewhere between $70-90. At that point I might as well just buy a Duet board and be done with it, no?

Yeah - depends on what you're going for. I updated my machine piecemeal (first replacing my Anet board with Arduino Mega/RAMPS, then replacing my Mega with Re-ARM, finally upgrading my A4988 drivers to TMC2209) the upgrade path made more sense for me.

Another option is to go with a BigTreeTech SKR 1.3 - it's got the same processor as the Re-ARM and has all the built-in wiring required to run the BigTreeTech TMC driver modules without any extra wiring.

But from all I've heard, the Duet is an excellent option. You'll have to run RepRapFirmware on it instead of Marlin.

Whoa, that SKR 1.3 is crazy cheap comparatively! Am I reading this right? [www.amazon.com]
$24 for the board and $30 more for Trinamic drivers? I've heard that ARM boards have gotten cheaper but damn that looks good. I'll have to brush up on the whole Marlin 2.0, PlatformIO stuff as I'm still living in the Arduino world, but I'm about to hit the order button right now.

Yip SKR 1.3 are very cheap....

I wouldn't bother with a re-arm, unless you already have a ramps based system.

In many cases the ARM chips are actually cheaper than ATMega chips, so board prices also end up being very good.

When I upgraded I was upgrading from ATMega/RAMPS so the Re-ARM made more sense for me. Also, I wanted to have the PS_ON pin as well as 4 PWM control pins available for running RGBW LEDs which is not possible on the SKR 1.3. But that's a special case, and if I was upgrading from a different all-in-one board I'd have definitely gone with the SKR 1.3.

I would recommend going with TMC2209 drivers instead of TMC2208 drivers if you can.

I already ordered them, but what's the main difference? I can return them if you make a solid case.

Higher current capacity (2.0A vs 1.4A), you can run them in SpreadCycle standalone without having to lock them into that mode, you can set an address for each driver allowing you to use only one UART port on the MCU to control up to 4 drivers, CoolStep for power saving, and a better implementation of StallGuard.

Yeah, that's all good, i'm not trying to make this the ultimate machine, i just want it to print better than the wavy, stuttering crap that it is right now. Honestly, I'm trying to find a decent breakdown of all of the driver modes in a way that isn't comparing one to another. It's taken me a while to get to where I am right now, mostly because of lack of decent explanatory material. Standalone mode seems to be a "default" operation, but it's only default because it isn't Sealthchop or Spreadcycle. UART is a communication port that allows for on the fly tuning of current or something, but there are other ways it can be done i guess? The only reason I was tuned in to the capabilities of Trinamic drivers is due to Prusa's excellent marketing videos explaining their capabilities.

Standalone means that the driver parameters are set either with jumpers on the board (for setting microsteps, for example) or via One Time Programming (OTP). Both 2208 and 2209 drivers are capable of running in StealthChop (very quiet but lower torque) or SpreadCycle (higher torque). 2208 drivers in standalone mode default to Stealthchop unless you use OTP to switch them to SpreadCycle, but the "One Time" in "One Time Programming" means that once you've switched them to SpreadCycle there is no way to put them back into Stealthchop. 2209 drivers on the other hand can be switched between StealthChop and SpreadCycle with a steady hand and a soldering iron.

If, however, you have them set up with UART, you don't have to worry about that. The firmware can reconfigure the drivers on-the-fly, including changing microsteps, StealthChop/SpreadCycle, Hybrid mode (where the driver automatically switches between StealthChop and SpreadCycle depending on the movement speed), StallGuard (for sensorless homing), etc.

The good news is that the SKR 1.3 is designed to make it very easy to run 2208/2209 drivers in UART mode (or 2130s in SPI mode) so you should never have to worry about standalone mode or OTP.

So for your case the primary improvement from the 2208 to the 2209 would be the increase in current if you find that you don't have enough torque,.

Thanks, that was informative. I got home late last night so I've only had a few minutes to look at the board and the documentation. I didn't realize that the collection of red jumper pins were designed to simplify the UART connections. That's great! Now to dig in on firmware installation. Teaching Tech's videos seem pretty informative.

Ok, if you're still following this thread I've got a new conundrum: I found a set of Configuration.h and Configuration_adv.h files for Marlin 2.0 for the Anycubic Linear Plus. Everything looks good, but the compile fails every time, LPC1768 Failed in the report. I've tried deleting the .pio files but that doesn't help. The same guy provided a .bin file to drop directly onto the SD card, but he's using 2208 standalone instead of in UART mode. I've never used Atom or PlatformIO before, so I'm pretty sunk. For now I'm going to try the pre-compiled image with standalone pins to see if the board will at the very least get things moving. I'm also having a hard time soldering the UART enabling pads together (my iron is too big and i don't want to trash the driver chip). However, I found a post that indicates you can use a jumper on the SKR 1.3 to make that connection without a soldering iron. It also indicates that this is true for the 2208 V3 breakout board and I believe I only have the V1.2 from Eryone.