Show all posts by user
People building or using RepRaps.
Re: Which one? - 16 years ago
The McWire is probably better if you intend to do routing work, the Darwin will allow you to replace the moulded parts with your own printed parts one by one rather than needing to print a complete machine as you would with the McWire. With McWire you will end up with two different machines, with Darwin you will have one or two machines the same, most likely one with a complete set of spares. Iby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
Re: Z axis Stuck - 16 years ago
Yes you should be able to turn the drive pulley by hand or pull the belt, everything has to align exactly. First make sure the four corners drive OK without the bed attached. Then corner by corner bolt the bed down check movement after each bolt is done it might require a small amount of packing to ensure all stays aligned as required. Using bigger pulleys lowers the load through the belt butby Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Re: Off topic for the site but cool anyway! - 16 years ago
Now that's just a little spooky, looks to life like, soon packs of them will be chasing you through the woods for crimes you didn't commit!by Ian Adkins - General
Re: Starting a New Filament? - 16 years ago
I think it's like pulling string from the inside of the coils as in the string boxes from an old tin box with a small hole in the middle of the lid (well I'm sure it was my granny that had one)by Ian Adkins - Reprappers
Re: G code Tester - 16 years ago
The motor steps OK it's just pulse is only triggered by the 5 second loop not the actual interrupt but it's not that important as I'm using the G code stuff which is working and it doesn't use the interrupt as far as i can see.by Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: G code Tester - 16 years ago
I've had look at the code and i can't see the "ISR" function from what I can tell from the Arduino manual it should be called just that "ISR" it looks to me that the "SINGLE" function might be it, but it doesn't seem to operate. My motors take a step every time the loop runs but that is all that triggers them the step pulse is a good crisp square pulse (looking on the scope). I also looked in tby Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: CNC Compatibility - 16 years ago
Yes i hope to post information in the next few days it is designed to work with both Arduino or Parallel port or any other uC for that matterby Ian Adkins - Controllers
G code Tester - 16 years ago
I'm running the RPM tester but only get a very slow pulse rate the serial window is reporting a steady speed increase 1rpm at a time as the code would expect but i do not see this in the motor or the actual pulse from the Arduino, any ideas I have attempted zero debugging as it's late and I'm off to bed I sure it something small but if anybody knows this works for sure it would help or has had aby Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: Action Figures - 16 years ago
Yep my four yesr old is waiting no so patiently for a Cubix robot to come out of a RepRapby Ian Adkins - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
Re: Extruder controller does not heat above 73 Celsius - 16 years ago
I think the 100nF works better but depends on the Thermistor as well if you look at Steve DeGroof's blog (see one of his postings) he has a really good thermistor calculator that will show you the response to expect.by Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Re: Extruder controller does not heat above 73 Celsius - 16 years ago
it sounds like your capacitor value is either wrong or set wrong in the software, are you using 10nF? which i believe the wiki says the software comes with 100nF or 0.1uF as the default, this is also what you actually need to give reasonable range.by Ian Adkins - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Re: Building CNC machines from Epoxy+Granite - 16 years ago
Andy wrote: PS I am still "Boy who would be cool" and will probably be so until my grans age or decomposition gets me. Unfortunately the more I stick at it and try again the more the majority of the population (my kids included) call me an anorak. At least the kids say it with affection (well i think mine do )by Ian Adkins - Casting and Moldmaking Working Group
Re: Max size stepper motors - 16 years ago
We are about to release our 3 axis stepper driver board in the next few weeks the test board is operating my RepRap and my CNC router it drives up to 3A (user adjustable) the Arduino piggy backs onto it and it has a parallel port to make the CNC side of things very easy. It drives unipolar motors (any with 5 or more wires) using the SLA7062M. Work is very busy as soon as i have a moment I'll posby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: Parts Problems - 16 years ago
The McMaster belt is 0.08" = 2.032mm pitch the pulleys are 2.5mm pitch I would expect that to give a problem we can supply belt or it's using the McMaster pulleys and modifying the drive connectors for the Z axis simply mount the McMaster pulley above the coupling/pulley for the Y axis you will need to cut back the motor shaft and cut the coupling down and drill a new grub screw hole. Also the Dby Ian Adkins - Reprappers
Re: UK PCB sources? - 16 years ago
Why not have one microcontroller run the 3 axis with another to run the printing side of things that way it's very unlikely you will ever need to update the 3 axis stuff. Basically the 2 Arduino option. Knowing how complex the current slice & dice is then the thought of having more axis is unthinkable at this point. The cost of uC means you can easily have one per print/extruder used on the mby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: UK PCB sources? - 16 years ago
Is that not a backward step you are making a uC drive a H bridge (albeit a good one) I don't think the Arduino could do that for a three off channels and 1 for each channel is very expensive, that is the thing I like most about the Arduino is the ability to use dedicated stepper driver chips which cost the same as an H bridge but does exactly what you need.by Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: UK PCB sources? - 16 years ago
Yes it will be wired differently but all the motors you or I supply will work fine any motor with 5 or more wires is OK. I might follow it with a Bipolar driver just these are really nice chips and most decent bipolar stuff is surface mount (it's all going that way!) although there are some nice through hole options.by Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: UK PCB sources? - 16 years ago
Hi I'm working on an electronics solution at present it will be Arduino based but will be single sided to allow home build if required I've already done a first prototype and will be routing the MK2 tomorrow if all OK I'll be ordering some professional ones for stock, this is my main development priority at present. The board can also be driven directly from a parallel port allowing simple use ofby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: Stepper motor driver board - 16 years ago
Opto isolation is only a safety measure if all is working OK it's not required it gives another level of protection between the Stepper voltages and the computer.by Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: Cat 6 Cable or maybe 5? - 16 years ago
If you ever want a twisted pair a battery drill on one end works very well just pull the other end tight and spin away.by Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: Help on wiring up 8 wire stepper motor - 16 years ago
Had an email from Joe and sent this reply: "The problem with our steppers is they are to low coil resistance 0.8 Ohms and the L298 ideally requires 3 Ohms or more the quick and dirty fix is a series resistor this will prevent damage of the motor and electronics but will generate heat and lose some power this will not be a problem on the X or Y axis but could be on Z as this uses quite a bit ofby Ian Adkins - Controllers
Re: GCode Feedrate Help - 16 years ago
I not 100% sure but i think the standard is to have the F = mm/s or inch/min depending on units used. But mm/s is more intuitive you can sort of count and see it in your mind much easier (well I can)by Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: 240 mW laser pointer for $189 - what do you think about it? - 16 years ago
240mW is probably only good for party tricks or eye damage! I doubt it would even cut paper (I'm no expert). I have just received a 10W laser and running at 1.5w with a 0.3mmby Ian Adkins - Laser Cutter Working Group
Re: Working with uncoated nichrome wire - 16 years ago
Unashamed plug we sell JB Weldby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Re: Working with uncoated nichrome wire - 16 years ago
I use exhaust paint from Halfords etc give it a good coating and allow to dry wrap the wire around and take a reading to ensure on shorts then go for the JB weldby Ian Adkins - Mechanics
Re: Does anybody know the protocol... - 16 years ago
I don't think the 18F4550 will act as a master only a slave and as such cannot read a USB stick it can be setup to read memory cards CF, SD etc, or you can use the FTDI chips which will give it full host & slave USB.by Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: Ardunio G-Code Parser - 16 years ago
For doing PCB manufacture/routing using eagle output you need G82 for the drill holes, I know this as i have a beautifully routed 3 channel stepper driver board with Arduino connections and a parallel port (all single sided) still sat on the router table until I figure how to make my CNC software recognize G82 :-( I will post the design very shortly as soon as I have tested it, the idea is withby Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: G-code (GCODE) interpreter for RepRap - 16 years ago
The RepRap has analogue feedback from the thermistor, I don't think G Code can cope with this. I'm sure later versions of RepRap will have USB comms but what we now have works so why re-invent it?by Ian Adkins - RepRap Host
Re: Vigyan Ashram - 16 years ago
That is excellent looks like a real breakthrough and real invention, now I have to find the time to make one. I have to say your post are always interesting.by Ian Adkins - General
Re: PIC programming using PICSTART PLUS - 16 years ago
In MPlab open the Hex file, go to the file menu choose open then make the file types box to "all files" open the relevant hex file you will get a new window open with a load of hex numbers starting 0200 on line 1 then simply set the programmer to Picstart Plus and hit the program button, I don't have the picstart but this works for the ICD2by Ian Adkins - RepRap Host