Building electronics myself, confused about firmware.
Posted by electrifiedpete
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Building electronics myself, confused about firmware. July 21, 2012 08:04PM |
Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 1 |
I am currently building a Mendel machine and have got all the individual parts working and the mechanical parts finished. Now I have run into a dead end as far as the electronics go.
I have a Sanguino, two Easy Drivers from sparkfun (for the x and y axes), two darlinton drivers (for the extruder and z axis), and have not really started on electronics for the extruder. My question is what firmware can I use that will allow me to use my random assortment of parts without making a lot of changes to the firmware.
I have been looking at the TeaCup firmware and it seems like the Easy Drivers can be basically plug and play with that but the Unipolar motors do not seem to be a standard option as far as the firmware is concerened. It also looks like all the firmware choices want you to have one of the standard extruder boards.
Is it possible for me to jerryrig my parts to work with someone's standard firmware or do I need to just bite the bullet and buy some more standard parts?
Thanks in advance,
Peter
I have a Sanguino, two Easy Drivers from sparkfun (for the x and y axes), two darlinton drivers (for the extruder and z axis), and have not really started on electronics for the extruder. My question is what firmware can I use that will allow me to use my random assortment of parts without making a lot of changes to the firmware.
I have been looking at the TeaCup firmware and it seems like the Easy Drivers can be basically plug and play with that but the Unipolar motors do not seem to be a standard option as far as the firmware is concerened. It also looks like all the firmware choices want you to have one of the standard extruder boards.
Is it possible for me to jerryrig my parts to work with someone's standard firmware or do I need to just bite the bullet and buy some more standard parts?
Thanks in advance,
Peter
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Re: Building electronics myself, confused about firmware. July 22, 2012 08:21PM |
Registered: 11 years ago Posts: 61 |
I think you will find it much easier to use steppers for the Z & extruder also.
I've used Sprinter, Marlin, and now Repetier and they are all easy to set up with steppers.
Otherwise you would need to buy/build a servo-motor type driver that inputs step & dir, and add encoders on the motors for position.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2012 08:23PM by Dad911.
Thingiverse ID Alan1279
I've used Sprinter, Marlin, and now Repetier and they are all easy to set up with steppers.
Otherwise you would need to buy/build a servo-motor type driver that inputs step & dir, and add encoders on the motors for position.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2012 08:23PM by Dad911.
Thingiverse ID Alan1279
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Re: Building electronics myself, confused about firmware. July 23, 2012 05:44AM |
Registered: 13 years ago Posts: 7,616 |
Quote
I have been looking at the TeaCup firmware and it seems like the Easy Drivers can be basically plug and play with that but the Unipolar motors do not seem to be a standard option as far as the firmware is concerened. It also looks like all the firmware choices want you to have one of the standard extruder boards.
About all current firmwares expect a stepper driver which accepts a STEP and a DIR signal. They don't really care what type the stepper driver is and much less, which motor they're connected to.
Regarding configuration, firmwares are configured for stuff like steps per mm, feedrates and similar. If you have a yet-unknown electronics, you have to adjust the pin layout, which is quite doable: [github.com]
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