Controlling RAMPS from the computer

I'd like to know if there's an opensource software that communicates directly with the RAMPS board (or any other 3D printer driver) without using the arduino... So the gcode is interpreted in the computer while it receives the signals from the thermistors and send the control for the drivers (probably via USB, serial port, parallel port...)

Has anyone ever heard about controlling a RepRap this way?

Most PC's don't have real time processors, so aren't a good choice to directly drive the steppers.

It's not so much the processor as the OS, which can introduce arbitrarily long delays into any process, which in turn plays havoc with pulse trains and so on.

OTOH, desktop computers have no trouble at all playing music in real time. And nowadays, with multiple cores in a CPU, there should generally be a processor (or DMA channel) available to send more pulses to a stepper.

OTOOH, Arduino boards are cheap and portable. Why not use them?

look at this schematic, specially left top corner called mega connector.



that is the interface between the Arduino and the Ramps. All most all these pin's need to be connected to the PC to make it work.

If you what to directly connect a ramps to a PC, then you need to connect all these digital and analog connections to the PC.
In principle you can't directly connect the digital and analog pins to a PC processor, because a PC processor has no real digital in/outputs
and really no analog inputs. So you need an interface converter. And there the Arduino comes in to the picture.

you can run a realtime OS on any PC, but you need to have a interface converter, you can design your own PCI-x card handling that, and that
card will need a micro controller so you are making your live very difficult.

But the question really is, why do you ask this question ?
what do you what to do ?
If you are think about reducing the cost, don't try that , on the controller side. The complete reprap community squeezed that already.
And the Chinese are producing so cheaply that it doesn't really work any more.

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P3steel DXL, with Due/RADDS/Raps128 dual Wade's extruder

Are you trying to save the cost of the Arduino?

Modern PCs are really cheap and fast, but lousy for hooking up stuff cheaply, since DOS and the parallel port went away.

But if you use BeagleBoneBlack with CRAMPS and LinuxCNC it's pretty much what you are looking for.

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What is Open Source?
What is Open Source Hardware?
Open Source in a nutshell: the Four Freedoms
CC BY-NC is not an Open Source license

WHY?

RAMPS designed and built to be an add on to arduino

Could use a Phidget or something similar
[www.phidgets.com]

Have your Mom do a Google search for "usb stepper motor controller"

Quote
ramuyko
I'd like to know if there's an opensource software that communicates directly with the RAMPS board (or any other 3D printer driver) without using the arduino... So the gcode is interpreted in the computer while it receives the signals from the thermistors and send the control for the drivers (probably via USB, serial port, parallel port...)

Has anyone ever heard about controlling a RepRap this way?