Benefits of the different firmwares?

Browsing the Forums for a while I already realized that almost everyone uses Marlin as Firmware. But before deciding and i would like to hear your opinions on different firmwares. My 3D Printer doesnt have a heat bed or a heated extuder. It prints a liquid which should be placed as accurate as possible. So i was wondering if maybe Teacup would be a better choice or at least as good as Merlin.


Thanks for your input

Benefit of Teacup is its smaller size, higher speed, multi-platform (AVR, ARM) compatibility and the presence of Configtool. If nothing of that matters to you, Marlin works perfectly fine. Important for accuracy are mechanics and motor gearing. All firmwares are accurate to the (micro)step.

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Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

It would be more accurate to say that most people with low-end electronics in their printers are using Marlin firmware, although a significant minority of them use Repetier. It probable that most people using 32-bit electronics run either RepRapFirmware or Smoothieware.

Both RepRapFirmware and Smoothieware have more accurate step pulse time generation than Marlin, but whether that makes any difference to print quality in typical 3D printers is debatable. People say that it sounds smoother.

Without knowing more about your particular application, it's not possible to give an opinion on which firmwares are most suitable. One aspect is that if placement accuracy is important, you should probably use 0.9deg/step motors; and if you also want high movement speeds and high microstepping, then 32-bit electronics would be a wise choice. If your machine has a delta architecture, then IMO you should definitely use 32-bit electronics, it makes configuration and calibration easier.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2016 08:51AM 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].

This sounds perfect for a CNC Shield V3 with an Arduino Uno or for a high performance version, the CNC Shield V3 with a Nucleo F411RE.
With 0.9° Motors (I like them) and some drivers like SD6128, you should get a very nice and cheap solution. With stepper driver, controller and shield less than 60$.

When you start with an Arduino Uno with A4988 stepper driver or similar and Teacup you could easily upgrade later, when you need a more powerful solution.

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Triffid Hunter's Calibration Guide

--> X <-- Drill for new Monitor

Most important Gcode.

I already have the standart arduino2560/RAMPS 1.4/Nema17 Setup. But if i wont achieve the dessired precsion i will try your set up.
Is there a difference between having Steppers with twice as much steps and having double the microsteps?

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MilloMille
Is there a difference between having Steppers with twice as much steps and having double the microsteps?

Yes. The incremental torque per unit angular error is almost double for 0.9deg/step motors than for similar 1.8deg/step motors, assuming that you provide sufficient drive voltage for the current to be maintained at the top speed that is of interest to you. So you have potentially more precise positioning, if backlash etc. in your mechanics doesn't spoil it.

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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].