List of electronics

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Revision as of 01:18, 3 November 2012 by Bubbapizza (talk | contribs) (Generation 4)
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This page has a list of all active reprap electronics. It is still a work in progress.

(2012-01-18 Ruben-ikmaak: this list featured only commercial interests, so I have added the real community choices; please add more info, and maybe remove the commercials)

For a list of electronics that compares features, see this page.

For a list of out-of-date electronics, see Deprecated Electronics.

Community based, tested and supported electronics

Generation 7 Electronics

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : Generation 7 Electronics
Creator : Traumflug
Status : active as of September, 2012

Gen7 is designed as an all-in-one stand-alone board. The CPU and stepper driver chips are on the same board.

The boards are designed to be replicable so that they can be cut/milled, etched DIY or printed on a reprap.

Features
  • license=CC-BY-NC (You are free: to Share and Remix. Under the following conditions: Attribution and Noncommercial)
  • designed for replication
  • ATmega based
  • up to 1/16 microstepping
  • can run at 20 MHz
Compatible Firmware
  • Teacup (recommended, fit for 16 MHz and 20 MHz)
  • FiveD (when running at 16 MHz)
  • Sprinter (when running at 16 MHz)
  • Repetier (one success report so far)
  • Marlin (one success report at 20 MHz)
Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

See Gen7's "How to get it" and Gen7 Endstop's "How to get it".

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

Details for building are on the Gen7 page. You can download the schematics which are developed using gEDA over at github. You can download them by typing:

git clone https://github.com/Traumflug/Generation_7_Electronics.git

R2C2 Electronics

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : R2C2
Creator : bitBOX
Status : active as of January, 2012

R2C2 is FAST (ARM 32bits running at 100MHz!), is the new cutting edge technology that drives RepRap 3D printers at their maximum speed!!!

Please read more on the official web page: www.3DPrinting-R2C2.com

Features
  • license=CC-BY-NC (You are free: to Share and Remix. Under the following conditions: Attribution and Noncommercial)
  • Just one board, a complete solution, to control your RepRap 3D printer (can also control any other 3D printer/laser/milling);
  • Plug and print - you will receive it completed assembled, tested, with proper versions of software and manuals on MicroSD card. No need to search on the web for the correct versions!
  • High speed printing and quality due to the cutting edge technology 32 bits ARM microcontroller running at 100MHz with fast integrated USB controller;
  • Heated Bed support;
  • MicroSD Card for stand alone printing (no need to be connected to a computer while printing) and to store board configurations in human readable text files.
  • Buzzer to alert user of the different states of the 3D printing process, like end of machine heating, start and end of printing, etc;
  • USB bootloader working as a USB Mass Storage device (works on Linux, Windows and MAC OS) - you will just need to copy/paste new firmwares to board as if is a USB pen flash;
  • Expansion header to support other functionalities like a second extruder for support material, support a laser to engrave/cut paper, wood, ABS, PLA, etc};
  • 24/12 volts power input. At 24 volts power losses on cables are lower providing faster heating making it quicker to start printing;
  • All the firmware were developed with OpenSource development tools: ARM GCC, ARM GDB, OpenOCD JTAG Programmer/Debugger and Eclipse. We intend to continue developing firmware and expansion modules, for adding new features. We envision the R2C2 to became the "Arduino" of the RepRap world.
  • Open Source: R2C2 source files of PCB, schematic and firmware are available on R2C2 Github account and so every user can take advantage and improve/adapt/hack R2C2 for his own purposes.
Compatible Firmware

R2C2 firmware is a mix of the famous GRBL and TeaCup firmwares. Latest stable firmware binary file can be download here and is ready to flash using R2C2 USB bootloader.

R2C2 firmware sources are on R2C2 Firmware Github.

Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

The quick and easy to install R2C2 complete electronics kit for RepRap 3D Printers can be found here.

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

R2C2 Electronics documentation, support and shop on official site: www.3DPrinting-R2C2.com

RAMPS

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : RAMPS
Creator : johnnyr
Status : active

Arduino MEGA based modular RepRap electronics
Features
  • License=GPL
  • Built on stable Arduino Mega base
  • ATmega based
  • up to 1/16 microstepping
  • etch resist prepared up to v1.3, v1.4 is optimized for smd
Compatible Firmware
Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

See RAMPS "How to get it".

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

Details


Megatronics

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : Megatronics
Creator : Brupje
Status : active

Arduino compatible RepRap electronics
Features
  • License=GPL
  • Single board solution, +/- 12x12cm
  • Powerful Atmega 2560 on board
  • A lot of features standard on board, including SD card and thermocouple support
  • Compatible with the standard Arduino software
  • Cheaper solution, because it's one board
  • Easily extendible with LCD and keypad!
Compatible Firmware
  • Marlin
Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

See Megatronics "How to get it".

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

Megatronics_1.0

Sanguinololu

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : Sanguinololu
Creator : Joem
Status : active

Sanguinololu is a low-cost all-in-one Pololu Electronics solution for Reprap and other CNC devices. It features an onboard Sanguino clone using the ATMEGA644P though a ATMEGA1284 is easily dropped in. Its four axes are powered by Pololu pin compatible stepper drivers.
Features
  • License=GPL
  • Pololu interchangable motor drivers
  • ATmega based
  • up to 1/16 microstepping
Compatible Firmware
  • List of Firmware
Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

See Sanguinololu's "How to get it"

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

Details

Commercial alternatives

Generation 6

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : Generation 6
Creator : Camiel
Status : stale as of Oct 2010(?) but still for sale

Gen6 electronics do not appear to be related to the original GenX designs other than by name. This is a single-board surface-mount design with the CPU and driver chips on the same board.
Features
  • license=?? ("open souced" obscured 4 layer board, unfeasible to make yourself)
  • It has a standard USB connection (USB A>B cable needed)
  • It uses micro-stepping (1/8) for quieter operation.
  • It is cheaper than for example Makerbot's version of the RepRap Generation 3 electronics.
  • It uses small standard Molex connectors for motors, heater, and optos.
  • The pcb of the optos are integrated, so you only need the optos on cables with 5way Molex connectors
Compatible Firmware
Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

Buy from http://www.reprap-usa.com/, http://www.makemendel.com and http://www.mendel-parts.com although mendel-parts.com looks like they've been out of stock since June 2011.

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

This seems to be almost a proprietary board. If there is active development going on with these electronics I can't find it. All development seems to have stopped back in October 2010.

Documentation is on the Generation 6 Electronics page. The only schematics available appear to be in zip files here.

Here are some links to zip files containing modified firmwares:

There does not appear to be a source code repository for schematics or firmware anywhere.

Because the board uses Texas Instruments DRV8811 driver chips instead of the more common Allegro A4983-based (a.k.a. Pololu) drivers, you have to use modified versions of the more popular firmwares. That fact, in combination with the poor availability of source, does not bode well for DIY users.

Generation 4

ELECTRONICS INFO
Details Description

Name : Generation 4
Creator : Makerbot
Status : active

These electronics are used for the Makerbot. They consist of an Arduino Mega shield (aka the "motherboard") and a few other boards for the stepper drivers.
Features
  • License=??
  • Supports up to five stepper drivers (XYZ + A/B)
  • Connect over USB
  • Optional LCD interface support
  • Full endstop support
  • High current mosfets to drive heated build platform and extruder heater
  • Thermocouple support for accurate temperature sensing
  • XY Positioning resolution of 0.02mm (20 microns or 0.0008")
  • XY Maximum Feedrate of up to 5000mm/minute (roughly 200 IPM)
  • Z Positioning resolution of 0.005mm (5 microns / or 0.0002")
  • Z Positioning Feedrate of up to 1000mm/minutes (roughly 40 IPM)
Compatible Firmware
  • not sure about this yet
Where to Get Parts and/or Full Assemblies

For sale on Makerbot website at http://store.makerbot.com/electronics/assembled-electronics.html

Documentation/Schematics & Misc. Notes

BIG NOTE: The days for the links below are numbered. Makerbot will probably take them down soon because they have gone proprietary. I have no idea how the designs below were licensed but if they were licensed using a GPL-like licence, they'll have to provide links to changes somewhere.

Gen4 electronics consists of at least 5 separate circuit boards: the arduino shield (motherboard), 3 stepper boards and 1 extruder board. For detailed information and source code see the following links: