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create a new app to control 3d printer

Posted by aymanem 
create a new app to control 3d printer
January 16, 2016 07:10PM
Hey guys, as mentioned in the topic, i want to create my own 3d printer software, i've found some programming languages that can make GUI like :
- Qt design
- C#
- Java (android) ....
- Unity .... ect

So do you think it is feasable (is it hard to do or not) and which language should i use for easy and modern process, help me with your suggestions guys!
My model is Prusa i3 based on the reprap board.
Re: create a new app to control 3d printer
October 01, 2016 10:09PM
I was thinking of doing to same thing but I want to do it in labview, im thinking it is possible but I cant fund much information on the communication protocols that the firmware on the ramps controller uses. Im guessing its not to hard and u can sent it commands like home all axis’s or move the x axis 100 steps up, I think there called G commands. u must be able to send it blocks of Gcode that the controller can translate into movement as well. Im hoping to find this information as C is not my strength and I don’t want to have to revers engineer the firmware
Re: create a new app to control 3d printer
October 02, 2016 03:29AM
Why not take an existing 3D printer control program and modify it as you want? Or at least examine one to see what is involved in writing one. Here are some open source ones:

Pronterface, written in Python
Octoprint, written in Python
Duet Web Control, written in HTML and JavaScript. This one runs in a browser, so it runs on PCs, tablets, smartphones etc. and can be used for remote access. See [reprap.org] for more.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2016 03:30AM by dc42.



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].
Re: create a new app to control 3d printer
October 04, 2016 05:59AM
Unfortunately for me all I know is labview and assembly and very basic c so I might just start with brushing up on my c and look into the ramps firmware to get what i need. Thanks for the list of applications I will definitely check them out once I get my printer up and going. I guess I was hoping for a spreadsheet with all the commands listed and possibly even a flow diagram with how to use them, I must be dreaming hay. . .
Re: create a new app to control 3d printer
October 04, 2016 08:26AM
You can find a list of gcode commands, along with which firmwares support which of them, at [reprap.org].



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].
Re: create a new app to control 3d printer
October 04, 2016 09:43PM
If you look carefully at pronterface, you'll find a python module there called printcore.py. It's not very well documented, but if you study it you'll find that it does all of the low level communication with the printer. You can base you own user interface on top of it. That's exactly what I did with my first generation control program. It worked well enough, but I kept wanting to add features and so ended up writing my own low level code.

I would highly recommend python if all you're doing is simple printer control. Together with wxpython as a GUI package, you can do quite a bit. If you want to get into 3d presentation of the models, that might be a bit much for python though - you'd need a compiled language such as c/c++.
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