New to Duet, coming from Ramps/Marlin

Hello,

I was referred to this section after I asked a few questions in the other forum about 24v boards, and which is the best one to go with for my setup (bondtech QR extruder needs 24v).

I was told a Duet would do the job. I did a lot of research and found that this board is perfect for me. I need to run 24v, I use simplify3D exclusively and all my machines run ABL.

I have a few questions.

1. How easy is it to switch to reprapfirmware from marlin if I am used to marlin?
1b. Is it in the same format (syntax same or similar)?
1c. For instance if I want to change a value for maximum accelerations or steps/mm calibrations, would it be something I can go into an editor and just change a value?
1d. Which editor is best to use? (for example, marlin uses the arduino script editor)

2. I want to use ABL with my machines, I currently use an inductance probe and it does the job, I use 16 point bed probing.
2b. I hear that only 4 point is really necessary, and that 16 point will be available at a later time. Will 16 point take an average through-plane using the 16 points if you use 16 points in the future? (I think marlin does this now)
2c. What kind of probe do you use with Duet for implementing ABL? I hear people talk about IR probe, my first layer thicknesses must be within +/- 0.05mm tolerance. What are your thoughts on achieving this?

3. What kind of LCD screen is used with the Duet? I am assuming it's a different one than the typical ramps/arduino reprep LCD screen that is used on most machines.

If anyone knows the best one and done resource for a new reader, please point me there so I can try and answer these questions on my own. I really want to use the Duet, I just need to educate myself and the information seems scattered in the forums.

THANK YOU!!

I can't answer everything, but the Duet is configured differently than Ramps or similar. The Duet uses a config file stored on it's SD card. You can edit this file with any standard text editor. It is done entirely through the use of G codes, in your example accelerations would be set by placing M201 X1000. Y1000. Z1000. or similar in the config file. These commands can also be sent at any time to the board making it easy to adjust values as needed and then add them to your config file later for execution every time you restart the board if you like the results.
In addition to editing the file on the card with a text editor the Duet also allows you to connect over the web interface and edit the file. So you don't even have to pop the card out, write the line and reset, everything can be done from the web interface (including the reset). The web interface allows tons of other things including a fast and usable file upload for g code.
For more reading search the reprap wiki for the Duet, there are a few linked pages with wiring and g code examples for the config file.

Hi dbec002,

1. See the reply from Koko76 above. It's much easier than configuring Marlin once you get used to the gcodes.

You will need to construct an initial config.g file for your printer. I suggest you start from one of the sample config.g files I supply in my github repository. If you go to [github.com] you will see a number of folders whose names are prefixed with "sys-". Pick the one that is closest to your machine, then copy that folder to /sys on your SDHC card. Then edit it with any text editor (I suggest Notepad++) to adjust the parameters for your machine. There is a guide to what you need in the config.g file at [reprap.org].

2. It is possible to use an inductive probe with the Duet, but if you are using resistors to drop the output voltage, you need to adjust them to give 3.3V output instead of 5V.

Many people use my mini IR probe, which is described at [miscsolutions.wordpress.com]. Its reproducibility over the same spot is better than 0.01mm. Its consistency over the bed as a whole depends on the bed surface. See the section "Bed surface" in that web page, to see if it is a good match for your print bed.

The following assumes you have a Cartesian or CoreXY printer (for delta printers we do auto calibration with up to 16 probe points instead). If your print bed is flat and the hot end does not sag as the head traverses the X axis, then 4-point auto bed compensation is sufficient. You only need more points if the bed is not flat or the hot end sags. That's why supporting more than 5 points hasn't been a priority for us. Nevertheless, we intend to support 9 and 16 point grid-based bed compensation in the future.

3. The Duet firmware currently supports only the PanelDue colour touch screen. You can either buy just the controller board from me or Filastruder and add your own 4.3, 5 or 7 inch touch panel, or buy the complete kit from Think3DPrint3D or Filastruder. See [miscsolutions.wordpress.com] for more details. The Duet WiFi will also support the PanelOne 20x4 text display when the firmware support for it is written. Having an LCD panel is much less important with a Duet then with other 3D printer electronics, because the SD card socket is included on the Duet, and you can control the printer from a smartphone or tablet via the web interface.

HTH David

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2016 07:20AM 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].

Awesome, thank you so much dc42. I am going to do some more reading, I will be back with more questions.

I converted from Marlin to RepRapFirmware earlier this year. I did feel there was a learning curve while setting up the config.g file for my delta printer, but the sample config.g files from the SD card on GitHub seemed to be decently commented and support on these forums is extremely helpful.