CAM Toolchains

A RepRap CAM toolchain consists of all the software elements needed to create printed 3d models from CAD models to firmware. It is the software part of the RepRap Toolchains, as opposed to the RepRap_Hardware_Toolchains.

This list contains the various toolchain components available and provides a comparison of their features, compatible components and how to get them.

It should be noted that a comparison of CAD modeling programs is outside of the scope of this article. CAM toolchains are generally CAD program agnostic because they can accept standard STL models as input which almost all CAD programs can export directly or through plugins.

Firmware

Firmware	Author(s)	Compatible electronics	dc motor extruder?	stepper extruder?	extruder speed control?	movement speed control?	RepRap-style acceleration	Start-stop ramping	thermocouples?	heated build platforms?	Documentation	Download
RepRap FiveD GCode Interpreter	RepRap.org	Gen 3, Pololu (more?)		true	true	true	true	false	true	true	install guide	stable dev
"Tonokip" firmware, aka "tesla" firmware (hydra-mmm derivative)	tonok, tesla893, ?	arduino mega, (more?)	false	true	true	true	false	false	maybe	true	NO FUCKING DOCUMENTATION	dev
Gen2OnABoard FiveD Gcode Interpreter	Nick McCoy	Gen2OnABoard		true	true	true		false				src
MakerBot	MakerBot.com	Gen 3 (more?)	true						true	true	manual	dev
DavidBuzz	DavidBuzz	Gen 3 (more?)										src
FiveD on Arduino	Triffid_Hunter, Traumflug, jakepoz	Single board with ATmega168 or bigger, e.g. Gen2 or Pololu (experimental Gen3 branch)	false	true	true	true	true	true	true	(in development: multi_temp branch)	forum	src
Grbl	Simen Svale Skogsrud	Arduino									Grbl page	src

RepRap Drivers

Driver	Author(s)	Compatible firmware(s)	Manual movement?	Manual extruder control?	Manual stepper disable?	Manual heated build platform control?	Live GCode terminal?	SD card upload?	GCode input?	Step-NC input?	Integrated GCode compiler?	Documentation	Download
EMCRepRap	EMC and RepRap.org	Linux PC	true					false			false	wiki page	wiki page
RepRap Host Software	RepRap.org	5D GCode Interpreter FiveD on Arduino more?	true	true	false	true	false		true	false	true	install guide user manual	dev
RepSnapper	Kulitorum	5D GCode Interpreter 3D GCode Interpreter	true	true	true use a Custom Button	true use a Custom Button	true		true	false	true	install guide user manual	windows osx src
ReplicatorG	Replicat.org	Makerbot 5D	true	true	true	true	false	true	true	false	true	install guide user manual	stable
send.py (bundled with SkeinForge)	Brendan Erwin and John Gilmore	5D GCode Interpreter 3D GCode Interpreter	false	false	false	false	false	false	true	false	false	user manual	builds
GCode-utils	Ralith	5D GCode Interpreter? 3D GCode Interpreter?	true				true		true	false	false	Website	src linux binaries

Note: some drivers such as the RepRap Host Software are listed here and under GCode compilers as they serve both functions however for comparison purposes their features have been split into the relevant tables.

GCode, Etc. Compilers

Compiler	Author(s)	Compatible firmware features	STL input?	Multiple STL input?	Step-NC input?	RFO input?	GCode output?	Step-NC output?	RFO output?	Compilation Speed	Documentation	Download
RepRap Host Software	RepRap.org	5D	true	true	false	true	true	false	false	average	install guide user manual	dev
RepSnapper	Kulitorum	5D 3D	true	true	false		true	false		fast	install guide user manual	windows linux (dev)
SkeinForge	Enrique	5D 3D	true	false	false		true	false	false	average	manual	latest builds
Netfabb Engine	Netfabb		true							fast		latest release
SuperSkein	MaskedRetriever		true				true			fast		src downloads

Related

http://objects.reprap.org/wiki/Template:My_Toolchain