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3D Printing Control Boards and Firmware

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Jamie Bainbridge edited this page May 21, 2017 · 4 revisions

Control Boards:

Options I think are worth using

  • Arduino Mega2560 and Premium RAMPS or RAMPS 1.4.2
  • Good 8-bit all-in-ones like RAMBo, RUMBA, MKS BASE/GEN/GEN-L
  • Arduino Due and RADDS, Get PanelDue to run RRF, or RADDS LCD to run Repetier/MK4duo
  • DuefWifi and PanelDue but so expensive
  • If using an 8-bit board, stick with 1/16 steppers due to low step rate, either A4988 or TMC2100
  • If using a 32-bit board, use whatever you like, TMC still the best option

8-Bit Arduino

Arduino Mega 2560 + RAMPS

http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4

  • The most common controller and shield
  • 12V power input
  • Can be modded for 24V power input
  • Cheap crappy RAMPS from China are likely to use under-rated MOSFETs and melt things around them, avoid cheap clones
  • Use of under-rated polyfuses is not ideal
  • Always use an external heatbed MOSFET

Better RAMPS

MKS Boards

  • Made by Chinese vendor Makerbase
  • All-in-one 2560 + RAMPS boards
  • Closed source designs
  • 12V or 24V power input
  • BASE - A4982 1/16 stepper drivers built in
  • GEN - Pololu stepper driver sockets, FT232 USB serial, larger board size than BASE
  • GEN-L - Pololu stepper driver sockets, CH340 USB serial, smaller board size than GEN, half the price of GEN
  • Makerbase reverse the EXT1 and EXT2 LCD connectors so you need to shave the tabs off LCD cables and reverse them if not using MKS-branded 2004 (RRD Smart Controller) or 12864 (RRD Full Graphic Smart Controller)
  • MKS have cases for their boards on their GitHub: https://github.com/makerbase-mks/MKS-STL

8-Bit Firmware Options

Marlin

http://www.marlinfw.org/

  • Most popular
  • Easy well-commented configuration
  • I like the menu better than Repetier

Repetier Firmware

https://www.repetier.com/firmware/v092/

  • Online configuration tool
  • Configuration harder than Marlin
  • Slightly faster stepping rate than Marlin (12kHz vs 10kHz)

Teacup Firmware

  • Super confusing to setup, you need to know the Arduino pin assignments for everything

32-bit (Smoothieboards)

Firmware - Smoothieware

http://smoothieware.org/

  • Pre-compiled firmware flashed to board, configuration all controlled by config file on microsd
  • Config relatively well documented
  • Software-settable motor current, no more trimpots
  • Custom menu items easily programmed
  • Web interface which looks like Pronterface
  • Not as mature as Marlin or RepRapFirmware

Moving my bitch session to a separate page: My opinion on Smoothieware.

Smoothieboard

http://smoothieware.org/smoothieboard

  • Original Smoothieware board
  • Allegro A5984 1/32 drivers onboard
  • 120MHz and 200MHz CPU options
  • Open source, the Smoothie community like and support these

Azteeg X5 and X5 Mini

https://www.panucatt.com/azteeg_X5_GT_reprap_3d_printer_controller_p/ax5gt.htm

https://www.panucatt.com/azteeg_X5_mini_reprap_3d_printer_controller_p/ax5mini.htm

  • Pololu stepper sockets
  • 120MHz CPU
  • Open source, Smoothie community like and support these
  • Up to 30V power input
  • Up to 48V stepper power input

Re-ARM for RAMPS

https://www.panucatt.com/Re_ARM_for_RAMPS_p/ra1768.htm

  • Same form factor as Mega2560, intended to use RAMPS shield
  • 100MHz CPU
  • 10-30V power input

Originally a Kickstarter project but now available for general sale.

Open source, Smoothie community like and support these.

MKS SBASE

https://github.com/makerbase-mks/MKS-SBASE

  • Closed source clone of Smoothieboard
  • Arthur Wolf fucking hates them and will send you to MKS first for any questions
  • Five built-in DRV8825 stepper drivers with a jumper to run 1/16 or 1/32
  • 4 pins to run external drivers if desired, have seen someone running TMC2100
  • Makerbase's GitHub has example config - some of the pinouts for motors, fan, temperature, panel and sdcard SPI channel are different to Smoothieboard
  • I can't get it to recognise the sdcard is re-inserted without a reboot
  • 100MHz CPU
  • See 8-bit MKS notes for LCD cable and printable case details
TODO: Document SBASE pinouts
  • v1.2 fixed the heatbed
  • v1.3 fixed the Ethernet crystal and added a driver heatsink

AZSMZ Mini

  • Closed-source Chinese Smoothie clone
  • Hated by the Smoothie community
  • Build quality looks pretty poor
  • 16-bin Pololu stepper sockets
  • 100MHz CPU

32-bit (Arduino Due)

Firmware - RepRapFirmware

http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap_Firmware

  • Currently mostly maintained by dc42 from Duet3D
  • Promoted vigorously by him, though he seems friendly and helpful in all interactions
  • Only supports PanelDue displays

Firmware - Repetier Firmware

https://www.repetier.com/firmware/v092/

  • As per Repetier section above
  • Supports RADDS shield and Smart RAMPS shield
  • Supports RADDS LCD2004 and a number of other Due-specific displays

Firmware - MK4duo

https://github.com/MagoKimbra/MK4duo

  • Port of Marlin to 32-bit Due platform
  • Supports RADDS shield and Smart RAMPS shield

Arduino Due and RADDS

http://www.reprap.me/arduinodue.html
http://www.reprap.me/radds-v15.html
http://www.reprap.me/radds-lcd-display.html

  • RAMPS-like shield designed for Arduino Due (3.3v TTL)
  • Pololu stepper sockets
  • Runs Repetier Firmware or RepRapFirmware
  • Repetier: Buy a RADDS LCD (or make a cable to convert LCD2004/GLCD12864 maybe?)
  • RepRapFirmware: Buy a PanelDue

DuetWifi

https://www.duet3d.com/DuetWifi - http://reprap.org/wiki/DuetWifi

  • Made by Duet3D, company of the RRF author dc42
  • All-in-one Arduino Due and shield
  • Up to 25V power input
  • Five built-in TMC2660 stepper drivers (1/16 stepping, 16x interpolation, effective step 1/256)
  • Only works with PanelDue controllers, no RADDS LCD or 2004/12864
  • UK exchange rate makes the total package really expensive

Arduino Due and RAMPS-FD

http://www.reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS-FD

  • Forget RAMPS-FD, seriously it's not even an option
  • RAMPS-like shield designed for use with Arduino Due (3.3v TTL) but also works on Mega 2560
  • RAMPS-FD v1.x has safety concerns, Geeetech sold the unfinished pre-release design despite being asked not to
  • bobc designed RAMPS-FD v2.2 but gave up the project, and all the Chinese sellers still sell v1
  • Fixes for v1 boards are detailed at: http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?219,424146
  • Fixes require SMD soldering so not recommended, hence avoid RAMPS-FD altogether

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