Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Build Status Update (part 5/many) - 'Crazy' motor problem solved
The electronics part is finished! Yesterday, I solved the 'crazy' motor issue. So now I can print air as the whole thing is not assembled yet and is still laid out my desk.
To be honest I got some help on solving the 'crazy motor' issue. It turned out I hadn't defined the bed center in Slic3r to match a Rostock Delta type 3D printer. The correct setting for a Rostock is 0x0 instead of the default 100x100 which is ok for Mendel, Prusa and the like. Combining 100x100 with a Rostock results in negative square root calculations and in the 'crazy motor syndrom'.
Now it's just waiting for the the plastic parts, rods and braided line to arrive. In the meantime I will prepare all parts for the frame.
Still looking for a good PTFE supplier for my bowden setup though.
To be honest I got some help on solving the 'crazy motor' issue. It turned out I hadn't defined the bed center in Slic3r to match a Rostock Delta type 3D printer. The correct setting for a Rostock is 0x0 instead of the default 100x100 which is ok for Mendel, Prusa and the like. Combining 100x100 with a Rostock results in negative square root calculations and in the 'crazy motor syndrom'.
Now it's just waiting for the the plastic parts, rods and braided line to arrive. In the meantime I will prepare all parts for the frame.
Still looking for a good PTFE supplier for my bowden setup though.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Build Status Update (part 4/many) - Hot end connected
This evening I connected the J-Head MK Vb. It involved some fiddling with the tiny connectors to make the double connection at the Sanguinololu end (see here for the wiring diagram), but I managed. The temperature is showing in Pronterface for Mac and the hot end gets really hot. So, one more thing to tick off on the todo list and sofar for the good news.
As for the motor that goes crazy (x-motor position; first connector from the left) after starting a 'dummy print', no progress is made so far. Hoping to isolate a faulty wiring or Pololu, I first switched the X and Y motors positions with no result. I also switched the Pololus without a positive result. The motor connected on the leftmost Pololu still acts bizarre.
The only thing left for now is to go back to the original firmware (standard Marlin) that was preloaded when I received the Sanguinololu and see what happens.
If the 'crazy motors' insists on spinning until I reset the printer in Pronterface, the board must be faulty; if not there might be an issue with the 'Rostock modified Marlin'. Hope to have some good news soon.
As for the motor that goes crazy (x-motor position; first connector from the left) after starting a 'dummy print', no progress is made so far. Hoping to isolate a faulty wiring or Pololu, I first switched the X and Y motors positions with no result. I also switched the Pololus without a positive result. The motor connected on the leftmost Pololu still acts bizarre.
The only thing left for now is to go back to the original firmware (standard Marlin) that was preloaded when I received the Sanguinololu and see what happens.
If the 'crazy motors' insists on spinning until I reset the printer in Pronterface, the board must be faulty; if not there might be an issue with the 'Rostock modified Marlin'. Hope to have some good news soon.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Build Status Update (part 3/many) - Firmware uploaded
I finally managed to upload Johann's modified Marlin firmware from my iMac onto the Sanguinololu (Atmega 1284P). Apparently the Johann-Marlin/Sanguinololu/iMac combo is not that wide spread yet. So it took me a while to find all the required info, but with some great help from Roland - who emailed me some very useful tips tips - I finally managed.
All the electrical/electronic parts are now connected and laid out on my desk, and I can 'virtually' print stuff using Johann's firmware.
One strange observation though: after 'homing' (I have to click the end stops manually as there is no real printer yet), and starting to 'print', the X-motor keeps spinning and there is no way, except resetting the printer in Pronterface, to stop it. Strange things indeed... but just another hurdle to take.
All the electrical/electronic parts are now connected and laid out on my desk, and I can 'virtually' print stuff using Johann's firmware.
One strange observation though: after 'homing' (I have to click the end stops manually as there is no real printer yet), and starting to 'print', the X-motor keeps spinning and there is no way, except resetting the printer in Pronterface, to stop it. Strange things indeed... but just another hurdle to take.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Parts arrived! (part 4/7)
Today it's nuts, bolts and washers day. What can I say? They arrived, ... that's about it.
What's still missing?
What's still missing?
- Rods
- Plastic parts
- PTFE tube (still looking for a supplier that anything than by the meter
Build Status Update (part 2/many) - It's moving!
It's moving! This evening I connected all the electronic and electrical stuff, apart from the J-head MK 5b hot end, to do a first test of the components, ... and I could 'virtually print' something. First test passed: all the stuff involved seems to work, even the salvaged ATX power supply I ripped out of an old PC (took me while though).
Next challenge: the 'brains' of what is supposed to become my derivative of a Rostock style Delta RepRap 3D printer will be a Sanguinololu. The board came preloaded with standard Marlin software (allowing me to do the initial component tests), so I need to upload the 'Rostock Marlin' version. As the Sanguinololu is hooked up to a Mac, it seems I might be in for a long search as how to do the uploading. There seems to be no such thing as a standard step by step tutorial to follow. I will post my findings as soon as I am able to do the upload and have some documentation on the process.
Hope it won't take too long before my next update.
Next challenge: the 'brains' of what is supposed to become my derivative of a Rostock style Delta RepRap 3D printer will be a Sanguinololu. The board came preloaded with standard Marlin software (allowing me to do the initial component tests), so I need to upload the 'Rostock Marlin' version. As the Sanguinololu is hooked up to a Mac, it seems I might be in for a long search as how to do the uploading. There seems to be no such thing as a standard step by step tutorial to follow. I will post my findings as soon as I am able to do the upload and have some documentation on the process.
Hope it won't take too long before my next update.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Build Status Update (part 1/many)
Just ripped apart a old desktop I have laying around gathering dust to salvage the 300W power supply (should be enough for testing).
As I am not an electrical engineer, it took me a while to get any juice out of it though, but the info on this page helped me out (connecting the green wire to ground did miracles.
I also got the "Rostock modified" Marlin ready to be transferred to the Sanguinololu.
Nopheads film will be my little tutorial on how to attach those little connectors to the motor and end stop wires. Once this is done, I can start uploading Marlin and testing.
Keep following...
As I am not an electrical engineer, it took me a while to get any juice out of it though, but the info on this page helped me out (connecting the green wire to ground did miracles.
I also got the "Rostock modified" Marlin ready to be transferred to the Sanguinololu.
Nopheads film will be my little tutorial on how to attach those little connectors to the motor and end stop wires. Once this is done, I can start uploading Marlin and testing.
Keep following...
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