Workflow for producing output

This is more to confirm that I have understood everything on the wiki, but confirmation is always good.

Assuming I have good a completed and working mendel with the 5D Firmware installed on the motherboard, I believe the workflow would be something like this

(Note I am using Ubuntu 10 for this)

• Design your part/model, using the CAD/3D modeller of choice (Blender, AOI, FreeCAD)
• Export it as an STL model
• Using a suitable application convert it to GCODE (RepRap Host, Skeinforge, any others?)
• Upload the GCODE to the mendel (RepRap Host, any other suitable applications?)

Is printing from the SD card supported in the firmware yet, or is that an area which would still need to be developed?

So if I used a workflow that went

blender --> skeinforge --> RepRap host

would that work okay, or is a different/better workflow recommended?

Cheers

David

The work flow you have is pretty standard.

isn't there something called ReplicatorG or something like that?

hintss Wrote:
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> isn't there something called ReplicatorG or
> something like that?


Yes. It is a Gcode to Arduino program. I am pretty sure it also slices STL files.

Nope, ReplicatorG only uploads GCode and interacts with the MakerBot variant of Gen3 electronics firmware.

Skeinforge is still the primary STL slicer software.

and ReplicatorG comes with skeinforge, I believe?

Repsnapper slices, produces gcode (very fast) and can control the reprap machine with the 5D firmware loaded.

A potential alternative
blender -> repsnapper -> printed object

Repsnapper Installation

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[www.binaryconstruct.com]

I had a quick look at Repsnapper but there are some portability issues between windows and linux in the code. Dependence on Visual C++ types means that the code will not compile out of the box. Also the build instructions are missing some packages requirements.

I think I will stick with my initial workflow plan, until after I have finished building and testing out the reprap

David

It compiled just fine for me on Ubuntu 10.04 after changing the one line that it mentions in the wiki.

I was actually shocked at how fast the G-Code was generated. It was practically instant on the smaller parts I was playing with. However, it was giving me strange issues with the G-Codes that it made. It seemed to retract the extruder after every time it extruded, so no plastic ever came out. Still need to figure that one out. Also, it would instantly crash when I tied to build a Wade's Extruder. (But then again the host software choked on that too.)

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Build Progress Blog

I am pretty sure it retracts to prevent ooze.

Azdle Wrote:
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> It compiled just fine for me on Ubuntu 10.04 after
> changing the one line that it mentions in the
> wiki.
>
> I was actually shocked at how fast the G-Code was
> generated. It was practically instant on the
> smaller parts I was playing with. However, it was
> giving me strange issues with the G-Codes that it
> made. It seemed to retract the extruder after
> every time it extruded, so no plastic ever came
> out. Still need to figure that one out. Also, it
> would instantly crash when I tied to build a
> Wade's Extruder. (But then again the host software
> choked on that too.)

I am compiling it on Ubuntu 10.4 using the version of code from the SVN. It complains about the use of DWORD and HANDLE in the code when I attempt to compile the code.

However I have looked around and found another store of the code and it does not like it will have the same issues. (And the code dates look more up to date), so I will give it a go

tesla893 Wrote:
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> I am pretty sure it retracts to prevent ooze.


Except it would retract the entire amount that it had just extruded, so no plastic ever came out after the first layer. The issue ended up being a missing 'G92 E0' command to reset the distance it had traveled after each layer.


davmj Wrote:
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> I am compiling it on Ubuntu 10.4 using the version
> of code from the SVN. It complains about the use
> of DWORD and HANDLE in the code when I attempt to
> compile the code.

To get the svn version to compile on Linux I had to remove the "Reworked the Serial Connect/DisConnect." patch.q

> However I have looked around and found another
> store of the code and it does not like it will
> have the same issues. (And the code dates look
> more up to date), so I will give it a go

Got a link?

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Build Progress Blog

[download.github.com]

David

Running on Ubuntu 10.10 and following the install instructions for Ubuntu distro's, There were no issues with installation and compilation from the git source. thank you for a very simple install as far as compiling, dependencies and makes go. Is there anyway to run test files without a fully functioning Mendel? I am hoping to test my electronics and pieces as i build. for now the controls for eash server seem to work and I can control them with gCode, but running a test file print zeros the axis and then stops. I think it might be waiting for temps (that do not exist as of yet)

Happy holidays,
trout