Delta printer support?

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  • August 10, 2015 at 4:22 pm #8208
    vaporlock
    Member

    Can TinyG drive a delta printer? I can’t find any config options for this.

    August 11, 2015 at 7:20 am #8212
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Having never heard of a delta printer I did a quick search.
    Is this what you have in mind?

    From a quick look it appears that there are 3 movement motors and a rotational motor. Presumably whatever software generates Gcode for the machine translates movement of the three legs into X,Y and Z equivalent commands.
    So tinyG could probably handle that part.
    However, again based on just quick observation, tinyG likely lacks the I/O and control capability for the filament feed, heater controls, etc.

    You might be able to do the job with a DUO+Ultimaker 5 motor shield running tinyG2, but that is just a wild guess

    August 19, 2015 at 11:56 pm #8654
    vaporlock
    Member

    That is one example of a delta. Mine prints clay and needs pwm to manage the extruder. I am using an arduino based controller right now. Tinyg would havee to translate all axis moves that, on a Cartesian machine require only one motor to up to 3 with translation into polar coordinates. It’s all about the firmware. Deltas aren’t seen much in cnc because the structure doesn’t handle loads well. Deltas are noted for speed. Check this out:

    August 21, 2015 at 12:20 pm #8657
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    tinyG will not do the necessary translation for you, but I recall a similar “wirebot” project solved with a Chilipeppr Macro a long while back.(a year or so)
    It was an update to something Synthetos did a longer time ago

    February 12, 2016 at 9:18 pm #9346
    flesh_dog
    Member

    Hi,
    I’m interested in that question too. I have built a delta printer before using a tinyG (check it out). However, it was very rudimentary and didnt come with any fancy controls like heat, filament speed etc.
    We used grasshopper for Rhino (more specifically the firefly plugin) to execute simple Gcode commmands. It was very time- and labor-intensive and really just good enough to prove a point. And grasshopper is not really optimized to do those things.
    I have gutted our printer and would like to build another one that’s functional and reliable (like this one, but I couldn’t find any that use a TinyG.
    I am fairly certain I can pull off the mechanical side, not so certain about the programming and electrical. I would be willing to build the code from scratch, but dont really know what is needed and where to begin.
    Im no programmer, just know some Java, tiny bit of python and have some experience with arduino and processing. I am willing to learn the necessary languages. Any suggestions on where to start this project?

    February 14, 2016 at 10:45 am #9347
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    I am not ignoring you; I have asked one of the devs to comment here, as they may have some ideas.

    February 16, 2016 at 1:35 pm #9349
    flesh_dog
    Member

    Thanks! I will be waiting.

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