Hello all So I've got my carteasen robot up and going, and the powder bed etc. However im unsure what type of laser I need, many companys keep trying to change my decision. Firstly I wanted to be able to print with metal and plastic, however metals need special gases to be used so they dont ignite or possibly explode. Thus im going to keep with plastics for the moment. Ideally I would like a fiby Noz - Powder Printing and Selective Laser Sintering
first my idea for a large work area is not to make identical copys really but so i can make large items, I can always make a smaller item than your work area but never a bigger one. So i thought im investing into so i'll try to do the best i can. Also im going to try milling and drilling etc so the more sterdy the frame the better. I'm planning to have multiple heads with a self screw drive, soby Noz - Controllers
Hello All I've been making a differnt kind of reprap (a repstrap?) for a while now, and ive got the frame done (in pic attached or ) its one meter by one meter by one meter, 8mm thick angle iron. I made is this solid becouse i wish to try some milling with it etc etc. Ive got to pick my motors now and i was hoping for some advice, I was going to try and go for some intigrated controllers whichby Noz - Controllers
Sorry if this is a repost, the golem project allows computers to design robots which are then printed with a 3d printer. Also on one of there pics instead of using a support material they use a gridlike patten of plastic, which apparently let the objects be grabbed easerly. The Golem Project I like this idea better than a seperate material.i surpose it depends how fine the grid is , so the objby Noz - General
When you talk about reprap or repstrap it might be easer to see what you want and what the current reprap can offer. Also its good to look into cartesian robots to get an idea how everything works , then come back and look at the reprap's plans. you might find the mechanical parts can be done easer for you (like im using angleiron and i think ive seen someone using piping) but you can still useby Noz - General
I think my frame will be pretty sturdy , 50mm angle iron with 6mm thickness all weldid into a strong cube, Also im not using belts im using threads, so i can apply a heck of alot of force. Im also guessing if i cant get enough speed for the head i can just cut/mill slower. i know its overkill , but i would rather go on the side of cautoin ! Also the steppers have high tourque so hopefully i shouby Noz - Controllers
i'll have a look at good speeds for milling, but think i'll try to use steppers for most things , the way im making a head changer i should be able to use gears to at least get double rpm on the milling head. hope my idea works, means a couple more motors but in theory should make a good tool head system and no extra motors will be needid , eg no motor for each tool head. thankyou soo much viktby Noz - Controllers
Looks good, Think i'll keep to the steppers, might even put one on for the extruder, Im hoping to keep the motors the same but able to transfer power to differnt heads , like the stepper powering the extruder with a head change could power the milling head. on that note, anyone know off the top of there head the max rpm the steppers used normally run at?by Noz - Controllers
I understand the reason we use stepper motors is becouse as long as they dont miss a step we have good accuracy, but if we have encoders on each axis then would dc motors work? would they have to slow and speed up, or do people think that they could just stop? Sorry not explaning myself very well but you get the idea, any input would be greatby Noz - Controllers
Small sort of update... (for other people who may walk this path) CAN for the reprap is hard work, either useless, insanely expensive , or impossible to find. The logic that car windows,transmissoin etc are using can so there mass produced and could be cheep is useless when none can be found. Still looking at maybe using lego motors, cant get any good definitoins of there capabilitys yet. Alsoby Noz - General
Ive got to admit so far this has been disheartening the CAN motor controllers ive found so far are big fancy and expensive, when im trying to cut costs by using CAN. Basicly im looking for a motor encoder like were using now but with a can interface. I know more expensive but i was hoping mass produced would bring down price At the moment i think the majourity of the cost is the motors and theby Noz - General
Hello, Ive just started building a reprap , or maybe a repstrap. Ive decided and already started building the framework out of 50mm angle iron,So strength is not a problem, and my working size is 1m by 1m by 1m. I think no one has tryed to build to this scale yet or strength. I have already started working on changable tool heads but my main problem is drives. I do like the ardrino etc but iby Noz - General
Dan you may be my hero, im going to look into that. Im building my own reprap at the moment, only building physical at the moment though. But ive worked with CAN a fair bit and they sell alot of encoders for the can. The problem so far has been getting it to work with the motors and the extruder. your link may prove usefull in this respect. The main benifit for me with a CAN is that i can add sby Noz - Controllers
I like the new board, So glad its come out now as i have spent a little time trying to work out the best method to get more pins (multiplexing etc). This one should make it easer for me to make the multiple head system i want. On the ARM chip note, i was thinking about this , the ARM9 or ARM7TDMI if someone can make the hardware i should be able to program it easy ive spent 12 months working onby Noz - Controllers
Im going to take over the world with robots, well maybe more annoy than take over. Im pretty new to reprap, Im only going to spend money on the electronics and motors, I like it becouse it puts quite astounding amount of power at your control, art wise it looks great BUT i think where its going to shine for me is the little jobs, jobs that using other methods are not worth the time and effort.by Noz - General
got a couple of questoins about the stepper motors and drivers, first is that if the enable is on does it stay active (so it stays in place) or does it not stay in place, or will stay in place while power is active and the enable doesn't matter? Secound questoin is does it matter if they dont work syncronsly when moving along two axis's? if each motor step is 0.1mm will it make a differnce? I wby Noz - Controllers
Ahh!! Get back to the origins of this thread, i hoped a 3d array would make everything much simpler! we use STL files,triangles,math and Gcode etc feels messy. The current way might be best, but i will try in vain to improve non the less.by Noz - RepRap Host
I apologise if i was blunt or rude. I dont quite understand what i said that implys i want to turn it into anouther CNC machine. Guessing its over my head. Once again i apologise , i just like to make things (mostly robots and furniture) and i hoped that i could help the reprap project.by Noz - RepRap Host
I have figured it out how to do some bits in an 2d array or bitmap by using nearest neighbor routines, like the scaffolding , but cant be 100% that they will not ruin the overall affect, Also milling may become a problem as it will have to cut the supports off and figuring that out could be complicated. problem with using slices is that its less computatoins but still trying to fit a 3d object iby Noz - RepRap Host
My main reason for wanting a 3d array is to automate scaffolding, to surport whatever im building and to make it easer when we add new things , like milling (which i will attempt) and pick and place etc. if we had a differnt format we could use several files to make one "blueprint" with layering,milling,electronics etc all in it and all automated. Im thinking if we use a milling machine we can loby Noz - RepRap Host
Trying to figure if that would work for the reprap. brain hurts..by Noz - RepRap Host
Just have a hard time relating to the way it works, normally i look at code but im useless at java so i aint got a clue, i want to put my own bits and pieces in to add functoinality.by Noz - RepRap Host
gotcha, not possible. Very annoying, Although large would of made alot of stuff hell of alot easer. Need to have a rethink. thanks for the info though, im sure i'll come up with a equally impossible idea tommorow.by Noz - RepRap Host
simply a 3d array, each element in the array is either 1 or a 0, depending if that space is filled with the the object or not. so the 3d array is in reality a representatoin of 3d space which the object will inhabit. for example sake say we have an array 100 by 100 by 100, each element is 1mm. meaning are reselutoin is 1mm. then say i want to build a cube in the corner, for arguemnt sake is 2mmby Noz - RepRap Host
Hello all, Ive had a quick look at the code and i thought before i reinvent the wheel i'll check if someone else has done it. has anyone written any code to turn a stl file into a 3d array? or does anyone know how it would work? and maybe would be kind enough to write some rough persudo code for me? I know the java code works well but im trying it in C, well C# (just for the user interface) anby Noz - RepRap Host
Sort of a update, Been playing with some electronics, going to buy the set from the online shop soon. but i have been coding a new interface, i think it may only work on windows though scince im using c# with the .net framework. I'll try to get the stl files to load in tommorow. Im going to try and get around using gcode and alike and possibly give some more optoins, unfortantly i dont think it'lby Noz - General
its a balancing act, although a theme of reprap is ment to be mutatoin,and mutatoin doesn't always end well. I think ive finalised my physcial design though,except for the extruder. maybe i'll use the motor drivers as well, cant decide yet , need to look more into there specificatoins.by Noz - General
the current driver boards do clever things like chopping voltage etc, which i might be able to do but im not too sure, like i said only one way to find out It might all end in tears,but with a educated guess im thinking it is possible. Delays and noise etc might prove too much to get accuracy. the z axis on the darwin is a screwdrive. I'll give it a try soon. Already started messing with theby Noz - General
hopefully not reinventing the wheel too much going to use the Arduino Diecimila with a extendid breadboard. have pins in pairs of two for the motors, which will use a multiplexing chip to produce four outputs that will go through relays directly into the motors, cutting out the motor drives. more of a slash and bang job but good enough for me as im planning to use screwdrives on all axis's. greaby Noz - General
oh the port really isn't for any reason other than i know C better, was thinking of trying out modificatoins to the code, specially scince im going to try and shift more processing to the pc.At the moment i beleave we give it a directoin etc and the board works it out, where i'll be attempting to control the pins directly. Ive settled on an idea today , the whole CAN thing is just too expensive.by Noz - General