its alive and level switching

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  • April 9, 2015 at 7:16 am #7611
    yawstick
    Member

    I just discovered the tinyg and the whole project about a week ago. Fortuitous for I had just brought home an old plasma machine with no controller. It is a killer project and happy I found it….. tinyg and chilipeppr that is… time will tell on the plasma machine.

    I had the board running two motors on a bench and somehow corrupted something and it stopped working. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I’m back to running with the bleeding edge firmware.

    I had to use the avrdude method of reflashing as the easy method would not work.

    I’m running it on the bench with nema 17 motors but have nema 23’s on the machine and waiting on a power supply which should be here today. I’m thinking I may need to use external stepper drives before its over and curious if anyone has done so without using level switching.

    April 9, 2015 at 8:11 am #7612
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Sounds like an interesting project.
    We have not had much plasma traffic to date, sort of a high cost of entry unless you score a find as you did.

    TinyG is 3.3V logic. It is straightforward to interface external 3.3V drivers if necessary.
    Many folks have CNC systems using NEMA23s. If you drive at maximum current, be mindful of driver heating – do you have plans for a cooling fan of some sort.

    FYI – Edge FW 440.14 is not really bleeding that much, rathaer mature tweaks on the tinyG system. 440.14 will be Master soon as well.

    Resources:
    Wiki

    Go to the Forum level and use the Search Box

    April 9, 2015 at 9:04 am #7613
    yawstick
    Member

    I did hook up the nema 23’s briefly on a 12 volt power supply…. very hot very quick… I will be using 24 volts on the machine initially and will definitely have a cooling fan. I have a couple of used ones already…. 120 volts ac… will probably just run it continuously or control it via a relay.

    Very little run time with the new firmware but already noticed quite improved functionality.

    April 9, 2015 at 7:36 pm #7614
    yawstick
    Member

    A little voltage makes a huge difference… got the 24 volt power supply running at 27.5 volts and the driver board is as cool as a cucumber…. getting 150 IPM I think is about the max usable.

    Where do you get the gcode for the chilli pepper thing that first loaded up.

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by yawstick.
    April 9, 2015 at 7:53 pm #7616
    yawstick
    Member

    Doh….. found the logo

    April 10, 2015 at 8:35 am #7617
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Good progress – yes, running higher voltage is better(cooler).

    I have no good idea what you ultimately might need to automate your plasma machine, but offer this as a thought experiment if you are adventuresome:

    The next generation of tinyG is tinyG2, porting the tinyG logic to a faster uC (ARM based)platform. Currently tinyG2 runs on an Arduino DUE and on a tinyGV9 prototype, which is functionally very similar to tinyGV8.
    I am currently playing with a custom build of G2 that will support a DUE + a Ultimaker shield (here is a typical clone)

    This shield supports up to 5 steppers, has a bunch of built-in IO including 3 hi-power FETs for driving heaters (focus is 3D printer)

    A good place to start would be the G2 Wiki at

    All this is still WIP, but something to consider if you need a lot of control.

    April 12, 2015 at 9:31 am #7618
    yawstick
    Member

    Does the v9 board have the arm processor on board or will it piggyback on the due. I have an arduino due… had it quite a while and have not fooled with it much.

    I have an issue and it was the motive for my first post which never appeared but now I have the same issue again. I had the first board working fine and switched from 12 volt to a 24 volt very large Lipo I had on hand and dont think it was related to the voltage change but dont really know. After changing voltage the board ran just a very short time and the motors stopped moving… everything seemed ok but just no longer would run the motors. I ordered another board because I thought I may have damaged that one but reflashing it cured the problem. When I got the new board I reflashed it to the edge so it would be the same as the other one… it too ran only a short bit and stopped moving the motors. Have reflashed several times since but still wont move the motors…. though everything seems to be working.

    April 12, 2015 at 1:24 pm #7619
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Yes, the tinyGV9 prototypes have a SAM 3x8C 100 pin version of the SAM3x8E on the DUE.
    Otherwise, the structure of the tinyGV9 is very much like V7 and V8 – 4 8825 stepper drivers, I/O for Limit switches, PWM, etc. All 3.3V logic.
    It is unclear what schedule might be for release of a tinyGV9.

    Should I assume ‘Lipo’ is Linear Power supply?.

    I can only say your results are not like mine.
    I normally run my V7, driving NEMA17 steppers, from 24V supply (6Amp, I believe).
    I interpret your description to imply that the uC function is still operational, just no motor movement? That is very strange; only mechanism I am aware of would be the automatic thermal shutdown in the stepper devices.

    April 14, 2015 at 8:09 am #7622
    yawstick
    Member

    Lipo is a lithium polymer battery… they can deliver serious amps… a 22 volt battery but close to 25 when fully charged. I was having some issues with a few of the controls on the firmware that these boards came with. It may have been me all along… but the reset command and the power on and off to the motors and the power management settings did not seem to work as expected…. they seem to be now and disabled evidently means your motors dont run. A rookie mistake it seems 🙂

    April 14, 2015 at 12:55 pm #7623
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    Lipo – ah so, a battery!

    FW release 440.14, made some refinements to the Power Management implementation, this is mow a good reference:

    Good Luck with your build

    April 14, 2015 at 4:51 pm #7625
    yawstick
    Member

    All in all just getting x and y moving properly was far easier than I anticipated… I look forward to following the G2 on the due as well. I’ve done a lot small projects with arduino but I’m more of a hacker than a programmer. This will be a good opportunity to follow a project using serious programming tools. I had no idea there was such a huge following for the 3d printers and other CNC type projects. I saw the video I think you posted with unbelievably fast motion. Are you still going to be selling the GRBL board and will it work on a due.

    April 15, 2015 at 9:10 am #7629
    cmcgrath5035
    Moderator

    I don’t speak for Synthetos, but see no indication that support for gShield hardware will disappear anytime soon.

    You are correct, lots of global activity on CNC and particularly 3D printers . Particular up-tic in NEMA23 machines and Multi (>3axis) machines.
    gShield drivers might not be a good long term choice for driving NEMA23’s depending on your torque needs.
    Shields supporting the 8825 stepper driver likely a better choice.

    Many folks have tinyG2 on DUE running with 3 motor drivers on gShield.
    There is a 4 driver board, “GAUPS” available at least in Europe. Search on GAUPS at Shapeoko Forum.
    You can also search on RAMPS boards (an early 3D printer).
    The Ultimaker II boards (support for 5 stepper carriers) is an evolution of the RAMPS project.
    There are others out there as well.

    As a general observation, the DUE can support most UNO shields, give or take potential interface issues between 5V logic and 3.3V logic.
    The DUE pinout configuration is same as Arduino MEGA, again with potential issues with I/O voltages.
    The Ultimaker board, as an example, connects via the MEGA footprint, but appears it should work fine with tinyG2 if driver carriers compatible with 3.3V logic are used (such as Pololu 8825 carriers)

    Good luck with your project.

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