It doesn't really matter which CPU or controller is used with Contraptor, so long as it has software to interpret G-Code and output STEP/DIRECTION signals to stepper drivers.

After I have used Xloader in a satisfactory way, I just load Gcodesender and when I click on the open icon, this appears on the Console screen and this lines are shown indefinitely:

The black squares are white; I didn´t know how to write them.

Connected to COM• @ 9600 baud

Grbl 0.8c [$´ for help]
[´$H´|´$X´ to unlock]
<A´k■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Grbl 0.8c [$´ for help]
[´$H´|´$X´ to unlock]
<A´k■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Grbl 0.8c [$´ for help]
[´$H´|´$X´kk■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
Grbl 0.8c [$´ for help]

(And so on…)

I can´t send anything through the command window.

¿Could anyone explain me what is going wrong?

I´d prefer that your answers will be in spanish, but if not, it doesn´t matter.

Thanks.

Roberto.

Has anyone compiled this using the Arduino Due and selecting either the Programming Port or the Native USB Port? If so, how did you do it so I can follow the same steps?

Espero no sea demasiado tarde para la respuesta.

What isn't working is the buttons on the pronterface to go X Y Z 0.1, 1, 10, or 100 mm. It freezes the board, I have to reset it.

This is the output I get if I enable the debug gcode in pronterface.

SENT: G91 SENT: G1 Y10.0 F500 SENT: G90 RECV: got G91 SENT: M114 RECV: ok RECV: got G1 Y10.0 F500 RECV: ok RECV: got G90

I removed that debug looking "got G…" message (changed the code), but it didn't change much, the board still freezes.

SENT: G91 SENT: G1 Y10.0 F500 SENT: G90 RECV: ok SENT: M114 RECV: ok

This is how it looks, if I copy&paste the commands (one by one) to a terminal:

got G91 ok got G1 Y1.0 F500 ok got G90 ok got M114 Huh? M114 ok

Well, apparently M114 is not supported, but I changed the code to eliminate the "Huh? M114", and the board still freezes with pronterface.

Downloading a gcode file works.

Has anyone managed to make the buttons work in pronterface?

Thanks,
Miki.

Also, could you share how you made those brackets end-to-end, with hold-down techniques, more pictures and possibly source files? I take it that you dropped Dremel due to problems with runout, and since you've already done the work of figuring out how to attach DW611 to mini-CNC, I'm sure it will be valuable to others. Ideally it would be great to publish it in a separate project page "DeWalt 611 bracket for mini-CNC" or something like that.

http://www.gyalogkakukk.net:8081/~gal/dwp611.JPG

I guess now I can call it RepRap? ;-)

Well, when I was talking about tolerances, I was referring to the parts, mostly how accurately I could drill and tap. Not very much, but thanks to the tolerance tolerant design (pun intended), and the assembly instructions, the lead screws are not moving much, hardly at all, actually. There seems to be no tension, at least, no matter which end the lead nut is closer to. I think I could improve on the ball bearing mounts, they are a bit sloppy. I can see (and hear) them wobble a bit between those three 6-32 screws holding them from three sides.

As much as the end accuracy is concerned, the only way I so far "measured" it was that I drilled those holes on that copper clad board, and then tried the top solder printed transparency on (all originated from the same Eagle design). By the naked eye, the holes and the pattern on the transparency perfectly matched! :-) I know it doesn't mean much, since the board is small (about 2"x2"), neither my eyesight is as good as when I was 20, but I'm happy with it. This was my primary objective when building this machine. I, and my eyes, were tired of drilling those 0.024" vias, on the small boards you can design with the free version of Eagle. There were 127 of them on the control board…

I have an idea about how to measure the hypothetical top speed of the control board. I will hook a scope on the step pin of one axis (motor not connected), and start increasing the feed rate with G1 commands.

About the ACME lead screw. Yes, I was thinking about them, but boy aren't they expensive! :-( And of course, you would want matching lead nuts, equally expensive.

The only reason I am trying to increase the speed is that I want to fabricate aluminum parts, and with the minimum RPM my Dewalt 611 router can do (16000), even with a 1/8" Solid Carbide One Flute Upcut O Flute for Aluminum from Onsrud, I am close to the speed limit. I guess I will order one of those bits, and try it out. Maybe 600mm/min will eventually be enough.

Wow, nice work and great videos! How are the tolerances/accuracy you're getting?

On feedrates, if you're on 4x stepping, you might be hitting a limit of the particular Bresenham implementation on Arduino in terms of how fast it can generate smooth sequence of steps. I haven't tried Teacup so I might be wrong - the numbers I quoted are from Contraptor fork of Arduino GCode Interpreter (you might try that to confirm/disprove this theory: https://github.com/AlbanetcSr/GCode_Interpreter, don't forget to change settings in the _init file).

Also, Grbl firmware can reach higher step rates on Arduino - in my tests, I could run it about 30% faster before stalling mechanics.

EDIT: All in all, this is mostly due to high pitch leadscrews (20 TPI). If you want to significantly speed up XY, replacing leadscrews with 4-start ACME screw might be the way to go. This reduces transmission ratio by 5x and can bump up the speeds to around 100 IPM (YMMV). Here is an example of such an upgrade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3shXHOgNlRg

I use the Teacup firmware with the following parameters.

These translate to 4x stepping:
#define STEPS_PER_M_X 629921
#define STEPS_PER_M_Y 629921
#define STEPS_PER_M_Z 629921

And I found these to be the most gentle to the mechanics:
#define ACCELERATION_RAMPING
#define ACCELERATION 20
#define LOOKAHEAD

It seems, I am not too far from the ideal speeds (600 vs 750 on XY, 450 vs 600 on Z), maybe I just have to tighten up my tolerances…

If I may bore you with my pride of accomplishment, please take a look at it in action at youtube.
http : / / youtube . be / pd1dOlA69FU
http : / / youtube . be / R_yfV9PzO9A
(I am not allowed to post links, please remove the spaces above).

I was wondering if I am vary far off, or is this really the maximum this construction can do. I am seeing expected feed rates (the sweet spot) above 1000mm/min for some operations.

Can I use lithium grease? Other discussions say nothing can really harm delrin.

Sorry for the silly question.

Of course, I am 3 dimensionally challenged, so I may just not see the big picture…

Thanks,
Miki.

Part Number Belt Type Pitch No. Of Grooves Belt Width Material Tension Member Pitch Length
Inch Inch
A 6B 3-120031 Single Sided .200" (XL) 120 0.3125 Polyurethane Kevlar 24
A 6B 3-120037 Single Sided .200" (XL) 120 0.375 Polyurethane Kevlar 24
A 6B 3-120025 Single Sided .200" (XL) 120 0.25 Polyurethane Kevlar 24
A 6B 3-120050 Single Sided .200" (XL) 120 0.5 Polyurethane Kevlar 24

Thanks,
Miki.

Q1 - BLACK
YELLOW (common)
Q2 - GREEN

Q3 - RED
WHITE (common)
Q4 - BLUE

Vit

What's your opinion?

Thanks,
Miki.

Vit

In general, have you guys found some reliable, and not too expensive motor you would recommend? So far I ordered all my materials from the sources recommended in the part lists, and I was very happy with them. I have great confidence in your selection of sources. :-)

Thanks,
Miki.

In the meantime, I attached GRemote-binaries.zip file to this thread; it contains the latest binaries - you should be able to run them.

24 rings
20 rail support

If these pieces are fragile, I might need a few extra for spare.

Please, correct me if I miscalculated, and if you think I might need anything else, feel free to suggest.

Thanks,
Miki.

Vit

"Pre-fabricated rail supports will be available for purchase separately from a kit."

"Pre-fabricated rings will be available for purchase separately from a kit."

I guess they are still not available for purchase, at least I couldn't find them on contraptor.org.

I couldn't find any by internet search either.

Anyone knows a source I could by some from?

The original templates will still be good for the drilling.

Thank you for replying!

MMarz, thanks for your Gcode Sender Program… but, I can not run the program!
I am dont know any thing about code, libraries, software, and related issues… but I need some kind of tool for sending Gcode to an arduino, and your program looks like my solution; when Processing compiles the sketch appears this problem: "Can not find anything named: ControlWindow.NORMAL"… I found that <ControlWindow> is a file into ControlP5 library.

If anybody can help me, I would be glad!!!

Sergio.

NOTE: Sorry my English, I speak Spanish.

Now I had a problem when compiling GRemote on Processing, the info bar writes: "The method selectInput(String, String) in the type PApplet is not applicable for the arguments (String)"… I do not know what does it mean.

If anyone can post some solution for me, I woud be glad. Thanks!

Sergio.

Note: Sorry my English, I speak Spanish.

I used miter to cut most of the parts, and 1/8" kerf was ok.

Templates were created manually in Inkscape.

I guess I will have to redo all the templates, to satisfy my thick blade. BTW, are the templates created from the 3D models? How? Or is it only the commercial version of SketchUp that can do that?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

¿Como puedo solucionar el problema?

Gracias
Saludos

Best regards.

Joaquin

#define X_STEPS_PER_INCH 300.0 #define X_STEPS_PER_MM 300.0 // ACME leadscrew //#define X_STEPS_PER_INCH 6400.0 //#define X_STEPS_PER_MM 251.968 #define Y_STEPS_PER_INCH 300.0 #define Y_STEPS_PER_MM 300.0 #define Z_STEPS_PER_INCH 300.0 #define Z_STEPS_PER_MM 300.0 //our maximum feedrates in units/minute #define FAST_XY_FEEDRATE_INCH 200 //300 #define FAST_Z_FEEDRATE_INCH 150 #define FAST_XY_FEEDRATE_MM 200 #define FAST_Z_FEEDRATE_MM 150 // Maximum acceleration in units/minute/second // E.g. for 300.0 machine would accelerate to 150units/minute in 0.5sec etc. #define MAX_ACCEL_INCH 400.0 //500.0 #define MAX_ACCEL_MM 400.0 // Maximum change in velocity per axis - if the change in velocity at the start // of the next move is greater than this for at least one axis, we will decelerate // to a stop before commencing the move, otherwise we will keep going // value is units/minute #define MAX_DELTA_V_INCH 500.0 #define MAX_DELTA_V_MM 500.0 // Set to one if endstop outputs are inverting (ie: 1 means open, 0 means closed) // RepRap opto endstops are *not* inverting. #define ENDSTOPS_INVERTING 0 // Optionally disable max endstops to save pins or wiring #define ENDSTOPS_MIN_ENABLED 0 #define ENDSTOPS_MAX_ENABLED 0 // How many temperature samples to take. each sample takes about 100 usecs. #define TEMPERATURE_SAMPLES 5 // The *_ENABLE_PIN signals are active high as default. Define this // to one if they should be active low instead (e.g. if you're using different // stepper boards). // RepRap stepper boards are *not* inverting. #define INVERT_ENABLE_PINS 1 // If you use this firmware on a cartesian platform where the // stepper direction pins are inverted, set these defines to 1 // for the axes which should be inverted. // RepRap stepper boards are *not* inverting. #define INVERT_DIR 0 // CHANGED CM - ONLY ONE FOR ALL AXES #define STEPPERS_ALWAYS_ON 1 /**************************************************************************************** * digital i/o pin assignment * * this uses the undocumented feature of Arduino - pins 14-19 correspond to analog 0-5 ****************************************************************************************/ //cartesian bot pins #define X_STEP_PIN A2 #define X_DIR_PIN A1 #define X_ENABLE_PIN A0 #define X_MIN_PIN 13 #define X_MAX_PIN 13 #define Y_STEP_PIN A6 #define Y_DIR_PIN A5 #define Y_ENABLE_PIN A4 #define Y_MIN_PIN 13 #define Y_MAX_PIN 13 #define Z_STEP_PIN A11 #define Z_DIR_PIN A10 #define Z_ENABLE_PIN A9 #define Z_MIN_PIN 13 #define Z_MAX_PIN 13 //extruder pins // NOTE - USING Timer1 FOR STEPPER TIMER SO CAN'T USER PINS 9 OR 10 FOR PWM // OUTPUT (EXTRUDER_MOTOR_SPEED_PIN, EXTRUDER_HEATER_PIN, OR EXTRUDER_FAN_PIN) #define EXTRUDER_MOTOR_SPEED_PIN 19 #define EXTRUDER_MOTOR_DIR_PIN 19 #define EXTRUDER_HEATER_PIN 19 #define EXTRUDER_FAN_PIN 19 #define EXTRUDER_THERMISTOR_PIN -1 //a -1 disables thermistor readings #define EXTRUDER_THERMOCOUPLE_PIN -1 //a -1 disables thermocouple readings

If you're not getting any movement, you may want to check the inputs on your endstop/limit switch pins, or disable them.

Cheers
Vit

I can make the motors move with a function like

void step(boolean dir,int steps){ digitalWrite(dirPin,dir); delay(50); for(int i=0;i<steps;i++){ digitalWrite(stepperPin, HIGH); delayMicroseconds(100); digitalWrite(stepperPin, LOW); delayMicroseconds(100); } }

Note the delayMicrosecond() function. I try with different values for the delay and the motor stop working below 50 microseconds delay and start to vibrate frenetically.
However, with the contraptor firmware the motors doesn't move at all, just a bit of vibration for less than a second (even in long moves, for example sending G1 X10000).

Any ideas or directions?

Best regards from Argentina (sorry about the English) and thanks in advance.

Joaquin

Im keen on working with other machine builders here and helping them sort out issues which they have while building these products.

Hope to hear a lot from this group.

Regards
Rahul Dhinakaran
rahul dot dhinakaran at gmail dot com

Also, how would it handle microstepping?

I'm wondering what the feasability of not using the stepper control circuits and "directly" driving the stepper windings from the Arduino firmware would be.

I know the Arduino can't directly drive the windings, I would be using a darlington pair plus protection diodes for each winding. What I'm interested in is bypassing the more expensive driver boards and using 4 pins per motor to do the stepping.

I know that I would have to make code changes to the grbl firmware for the Arduino. I'm interested to know if it would be a fairly isolated change or if it would be a very difficult thing to do.

Thanks!

im not sure which software it was but it was the newest one called reprap_new_firmware.

the one thing i dont think i tried was inverting the limit pins.