Electronic configuration...... mmmmm.....

Hello guys!!
I just completed assembling the mechanics of which I purchased from Mendel TechZoneComm. It 'been a good experience, considering that I had to build my own some pieces that arrived broken (wood of course). Are now grappling with the electronics, which, alas, I can not run. I'm lost in the maze of all the links that explain the installation (in English) and setup, but after many tests, I can not configure the RepRap v.1.2 motherboard (the one without the slot Scardi). I installed and integrated with Arduino22 Sanguino18, but nothing to do ...... gives me error and not part !!!!. Can someone help me? I am beginning to be a little disappointed ........ confused smiley

Hi, and welcome. Well done on completing your build, don't lose heart, you are nearly there!
This is the page that explains your electronics [www.reprap.org]
However, there are a couple of extra things.

First, I can't see anywhere on that page that talks about installing a driver on your computer so it can talk to the electronics. I think this board uses an FTDI chip to allow communication between the Arduino and USB, and needs the drivers installed from here: [www.ftdichip.com]

Second, use Repsnapper as a host program to check the board works. With the FTDI driver installed, the electronics turned on, start repsnapper. On the first screen, just below the 'Connect to printer' button, is a drop down list of 'Ports'. If the FTDI driver is installed correctly, it should show up as something like '/dev/tty.usbserial-xxxxxxxx' where xxxxxxxx is letters and numbers, which is the FTDI's serial number. Select this, then 'Connect to printer'. You should be able to use the buttons on the 'Print' tab to move the motors - start with the +1 and -1 buttons only!

Lastly, you only need to run the Arduino software to change the firmware (which includes changing configuration.h) to change things like the number of steps a motor turns. There are other guides on the wiki how to do this, and again you need to select the right port to upload. Also, there is a note on the wiki page that says the electronics doesn't work well with Arduino v22 software. Try an older version - v17, 18 or 19.

Hope that helps!

droftarts Wrote:
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> First, I can't see anywhere on that page that
> talks about installing a driver on your computer
> so it can talk to the electronics. I think this
> board uses an FTDI chip to allow communication
> between the Arduino and USB, and needs the drivers
> installed from here:
> [www.ftdichip.com]

I can't tell for windows systems, but on Linux (Ubuntu) my techzone Monotronics board could talk to the PC as soon USB was plugged, no additional drivers needed.

DeuxVis Wrote:
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> I can't tell for windows systems, but on Linux
> (Ubuntu) my techzone Monotronics board could talk
> to the PC as soon USB was plugged, no additional
> drivers needed.

It says on the FTDI driver page that the driver is included in 2.6.31 kernel and later, so I guess your Ubuntu version is later than that. Drivers are needed for Win XP and Mac OS X.

Point taken. I'll give it my board a try on some windows by curiosity.