Quick update

The last September "Midge Ace Art studio open day" completed back to reprapping again..!

These were the Next Jobs:-

Get Pid or Bang Bang Extruder temprature control part working. Done
Get Pid or Bang Bang Build Base temprature control part working. Done

Make the drawings for Worm drive Extruder stepper.  Done (but took longer than expected!!)
.... drawings stepped up from Extruder MK3 to now Extruder Mk5 seems to be working very well so far.
I was able to hot swap ABS filament 

Make full size Mendel heated Bed with removable print surface as per WIKI . Done

Changes made to Mendel heated Bed 4mm Aluminum, extrude slot drilled out with 32mm drill, 6mm MDF insulation layer, Kapton tape electrical insulation layer nichrome wire heater element as used on my Huxley Fire glass heated bed in February.




Next Jobs
Firmware experiments to find best firmware combination/setup for RepSnapper to use with a single Arduino CPU configuration.

Then commit/post the final firmware as used on Bodgeits Git Hub repository.
Add pin config data and cct of FET drivers.

Make three more MK5 Worm drive Extruder steppers.
Re-build Repstrap Huxley1 adding precision ground slide bars with linear bearings.

Connections for adding the Worm drive extruder stepper to Mendel.

V2.3 Stepper motor connections reminder sheet for Worm drive extruder stepper.

Pin	Colour	Name	Function	Motherboard V1.1
1	Brown	N/C	N/C
2	Red	GND	Ground.	GND
3	Orange	Step	500ns Step pulse	Digital 10
4	Yellow	Dir	Set direction	Digital 11
5	Green	!Enable	Enable stepper	Digital 14
6	Blue	Min	Min not used on Extruder
7	Violet	Max	Max not used on Extruder
8	Grey	GND	Ground.
9	White	GND	Ground.
10	Black	GND	Ground.

Connected and working using RepSnapper yay....

BodgeIts Next Jobs:-

Get Pid or Bang Bang Extruder temprature control part working.
Get Pid or Bang Bang Build Base temprature control part working.

Make the drawings for Worm drive Extruder stepper.
Make three more Worm drive Extruder steppers.
Re-build Repstrap Huxley1 adding presision ground slide bars with linear bearings.

BodgeIts Ardrino /Sanguino Motherboard 1.1 Pin / function crib table

Bodge It's Sanguino Motherboard 1.1 crib table dervied from this data on www.sanguino.cc and this circuit diagram on http://reprap.org/wiki/File:Cache-3316884519_b84b59fc90_b.jpg 

This is the resulting work table used to define BodgeIts pins in the FiveD Gcode Interpreter.

ATMega 644P	ATMegag 644A
Chip Pin	Chip Pin	AtMega Name	Arduino Name	Function 1	Function 2	Function 3	Motherboard Use 1	REPRAP Use	Bodgeits Use
1	40	PB-0	Digital 0	In/Out			Debug Led	Debug Led	Debug Led	Digital 0
2	41	PB-1	Digital 1	In/Out						Digital 1
3	42	PB-2	Digital 2	In/Out	INT 2		SD Card Write	SD Card Write	SD Card Write	Digital 2
4	43	PB-3	Digital 3	In/Out	PWM		SD Card Detect	SD Card Detect	SD Card Detect	Digital 3
5	44	PB-4	Digital 4	In/Out	PWM	SS	SD Card Select	SD Card Select	SD Card Select	Digital 4
6	1	PB-5	Digital 5	In/Out	MOS1		ICSP MOSI	SD Card MOSI	SD Card MOSI	Digital 5
7	2	PB-6	Digital 6	In/Out	MOS0		ICSP MISO	SD Card MISO	SD Card MISO	Digital 6
8	3	PB-7	Digital 7	In/Out	SCK		ICSP SCK	SD Card SCK	SD Card SCK	Digital 7
14	9	PD-0	Digital 8	In/Out	RX0		USB TTL RXD	USB TTL RXD	USB TTL RXD	Digital 8
15	10	PD-1	Digital 9	In/Out	TX0		USB TTL TXD	USB TTL TXD	USB TTL TXD	Digital 9
16	11	PD-2	Digital 10	In/Out	RX1	INT0	RS485 RXD	RS485 RXD	EXTRUDER_0_MOTOR_SPEED_PIN	Digital 10
17	12	PD-3	Digital 11	In/Out	TX1	INT1	RS485 TXD	RS485 TXD	EXTRUDER_0_MOTOR_DIR_PIN	Digital 11
18	13	PD-4	Digital 12	In/Out	PWM		RS485 TXE	RS485 TXE	EXTRUDER_0_HEATER_PIN	Digital 12
19	14	PD-5	Digital 13	In/Out	PWM		RS485 RXE	RS485 RXE	BASE_HEATER_PIN	Digital 13
20	15	PD-6	Digital 14	In/Out	PWM		PS_ON_Pin	PS_ON_Pin	EXTRUDER_0_STEP_ENABLE_PIN	Digital 14
21	16	PD-7	Digital 15	In/Out	PWM			X_Step_Pin	X_Step_Pin	Digital 15
22	19	PC-0	Digital 16	In/Out	SCL		I2C SCL	I2C SCL	I2C SCL	Digital 16
23	20	PC-1	Digital 17	In/Out	SDA		I2C SDA	I2C SDA	I2C SDA	Digital 17
24	21	PC-2	Digital 18	In/Out	TCK		JTAG TCK	X_Direction_Pin	X_Direction_Pin	Digital 18
25	22	PC-3	Digital 19	In/Out	TMS		JTAG TMS	X_Enable_Pin	X_Enable_Pin	Digital 19
26	23	PC-4	Digital 20	In/Out	TD0		JTAG TD0	X_Min_Pin	X_Min_Pin	Digital 20
27	24	PC-5	Digital 21	In/Out	TD1		JTAG TDI	X_Max_Pin	EXTRUDER_0_FAN_PIN	Digital 21
28	25	PC-6	Digital 22	In/Out				Y_Direction_Pin	Y_Direction_Pin	Digital 22
29	26	PC-7	Digital 23	In/Out				Y_Step_Pin	Y_Step_Pin	Digital 23
33	37	PA-7	Digital 24	In/Out	Analogue 7			Y_Enable_Pin	Y_Enable_Pin	Digital 24
34	36	PA-6	Digital 25	In/Out	Analogue 6			Y_Min_Pin	Y_Min_Pin	Digital 25
35	35	PA-5	Digital 26	In/Out	Analogue 5			Y_Max_Pin	Bed Temp	Digital 26
36	34	PA-4	Digital 27	In/Out	Analogue 4			Z_Step_pin	Z_Step_pin	Digital 27
37	33	PA-3	Digital 28	In/Out	Analogue 3			Z_Direction_pin	Z_Direction_pin	Digital 28
38	32	PA-2	Digital 29	In/Out	Analogue 2			Z_Enable_Pin	Z_Enable_Pin	Digital 29
39	31	PA-1	Digital 30	In/Out	Analogue 1			Z_Min_Pin	Z_Min_Pin	Digital 30
40	30	PA-0	Digital 31	In/Out	Analogue 0			Z_Max_Pin	EXTRUDER_0_TEMPERATURE_PIN	Digital 31
9	4	RST					ICSP Reset	JTAG Reset
10	6,18,38	VCC					ICSP VCC	JTAG VCC
11	5,17,33	GND					ICSP GND	JTAG GND
12	7	XTAL2
13	8	XTAL1
30	27	AVCC
31	28	GND
32	29	AREF

BodgeIt is RepRapping in the Home Office at last!!

After a lot of playing around with Firmware and software I have decided to use the Repsnapper host software with a customized version of the 5D firmware. As I'm using a mixture of hardware on the various repstraps that I have.

So :-

RepstrapMendel is using Motherboard V1.1 with 4  2.3 stepper controllers the original PWM driver V1.1 board.

RepstrapHuxley1 is using Motherboard V1.1 with 3  2.3 stepper 1 Bodgeit micro Stepper & Vero FET Bd

RepstrapHuxley2 is using AudrinoMega with  4  1.2 stepper controllers & Vero FET switching board.

RepstrapDarwin1 is using AudrinoDemiglove with 4  1.2 stepper controller with a Vero FET switching board

RepstrapDarwin2  TBD (I need to make use of 4 extruder controllers that are currently redundant)


I made the two Huxley's way back in February this year when they would have been called mini Mendel's.
Once I finish the easier to make Mrk2 Huxley Strap I will post all the drawings in the WIKI if I learn to drive the WIKI input interface.

I have abandoned the MDF Makerbot build due to RS485 problems on V2.1 Extruder controllers.
I can now build the Makerbot firmware using my Ubunto10.04 machine (Thanks to several hours of work from Midge Ace  in exchange for setting up her Art studio & Conservatory then building her a 4.5m x 4.8m decking for the Cheshire Open Studios event last week and the weekend after next)

However my next most important job is to install the Potbelly stove in the home Office as its beginning to get a bit nippy at night in here.

Bodgeit has moved to into the Home Office at last. (short update)

Now the task of unpacking,  making the new space usable finding everything a nice home getting shelves storage units built ready to resume some RepRapping, computer is in place networked with printer on a recycled server rack and bench rescued from a trip to the tip. Finishing the Solar power installation next adding the backup server and Linux machines to run RepRap Mendel from.

Have been busy last week and this week with builders plumbers electrician and decorators who have replaced the conservatory floor, wiring, plumbing all wrecked by burst pipes at the beginning of the year while I was in hospital.. as the UK had the -18C big freeze.

Hence the lack of posts.

Makerbot RS485 ~ Extruder board: Null version reported! BUG mismatch ? ;-(

Having had a really Good experience with ReplicatorG18...
Generated a fair amount of Gcode to try on my MakerBot build..

I flashed my Sanguino / Mother Board V1.1 with the 1.6 version of the Makerbot SW.
works great until I try to run any steppers from my nice new Gcode. Boards light leds flash chips get warm motors stay stationary. Solution was edit the config file and change the line.

#define STEP_DELAY 175  // usual value is 1..?????

I cant think why I need to do this though usually this is delay is 1-2 uS

I came across this unwelcome error Message next when starting ReplicatorG you gt a Jar file mismatch warning on the rxtx lib and Dll. Visiting the site there is a warning saying this:-

"The 2.2pre2 bins contain the 2.2pre1 jar file and the 2.2pre2 native lib which causes a mismatch warning."

It is only a warning but playing it safe I installed the stable version


"Use newer binary version such as rxtx 2.1-7r2 (stable), which does work on Windows."

Next I then came across this problem of  "Extruder board: Null version reported!" going through over 85 threads in MakerBot Operators google group took some time as the threads were quite heavily replied to.

Provided little help as I have already tried every thing suggested to fix the problem.

Do any of you run the Makerbot firmware if so which hardware do you have brd versions.
I have two Motherboard V1.1 both work as Sanguino mother boards except maybe the RS485 interface is not working maybe... I have 4 built and working Extruder V2.1 extruder controllers all working except maybe the RS485 interface. Any Ideas on what I might be missing that is staring me in the face.


Firmware versions tried.
ASC 1.4,1.5,1.6,1.8HP,1.8 with SM 1.4,1.5 & 1.6
and the V2 Firmware MB-rrmbv12-V2 range used with the matching EC-ecv22-V2 range.
I have tried a little mixing and matching of versions but by no means all of the possible combinations.

Has any one else seen these problems??

1/. Having the need to increase the stepper delay by 175% to get steppers to work?
     Any ideas on what is going on why would my V2.3 Stepper boards or stepper motors need a longer step pulse to work? Nb I have seven working V2.3 stepper controller boards all fail with the 1-2uS delay.

2/. Is there a combination of Firmware that works if you have the V1.1 MB with V2.1 Extruder controllers?
   
     Both the MB and the EC boards work as Processors Controlling every thing else it only appears to be the R3485. I have used the latest boot loaders on both boards They flash every time with no problems.

From my look at the Hardware there is very little difference between the various versions of the MB and EC boards things like the reset switch ~ I rearranged the tracks to solve the PCB problem.

The whole set up is running from a 4A bench power supply max current hits 2A with all steppers running
Thus eliminating any switch mode noise as the PSUs are transformer type with internal CPU for voltage and current control.

Wey hey !!! The Beta 18 version of replicator G looks great Python selector works Great!

Wey Hey Cool very cool. Beta 18 version of replicator G!!
Almost a WFT apllication (Work First Time)


It is still not quite a work out of the Zip/box application as I still needed to add the Bat file to run it.
Special thanks to  doctoroctalpus at Makerbot for letting me know about the beta 18 version.

Screen shot with  stelocta4.stl from thingyverse loaded.




Gcode generated (Note this was just a my first play with ReplicatorG18) 



Here is the bat file I used.

@echo off

REM --- if you're running out of memory, change the 128m
REM --- (which means 128 megabytes) to something higher.

set SAVEDCP=%CLASSPATH%
set SAVEDPATH=%PATH%
set JAVA_HOME="C:\Program Files\java\bin"

if %JAVA_HOME% == "" GOTO Error

set CLASSPATH=java\lib\rt.jar;lib;lib\build;lib\vecmath.jar;lib\j3dcore.jar;lib\j3dutils.jar;lib\replicatorg.jar;lib\antlr.jar;lib\RXTXcomm.jar;lib\miglayout-3.7.jar;lib\oro.jar;lib\registry.jar;lib\mrj.jar
set PATH="C:\Program Files\python26";java\bin;java\lib;%PATH%

REM start javaw -ms128m -mx128m replicatorg.app.Base
%JAVA_HOME%\java replicatorg.app.Base

set CLASSPATH=%SAVEDCP%
set PATH=%SAVEDPATH%

GOTO End

:Error
echo *** Error: cannot execute ReplicatorG
echo *** Reason: lacking the directory where to find Java in your computer
echo ***
echo *** Fix: Edit run.bat and add the JAVA_HOME directory
echo *** at the 'set JAVA_HOME=""' line
echo ***
echo *** then call the batch file run.bat in order to execute ReplicatorG

:End
Pause
echo Bye.

The Home office is very nearly ready for moving in the Reprap Machines O'yea

With power connected to the Home Office. Im just waiting for this time next week to have the phone and internet connection connected so we can officaly move in.


So I have been gradualy catching up on whats been going on in the forums and on the fantastic Reprap aggregation pipe.

I saw this post from ReplicatorG I was completely impresed with the idea of its one stop shop approch with a single instaltaion of the the Software. How neat .. and it looks realy nice..




So I have downloaded it maybe three or four times as it has been revised from the original version through to version -R2.  Now I'm by no means a Java Guru of any kind I'm just an every day generic user of  applications using it. Applications like:-


The arduino-0012~arduino-0018, Python Open Office all run ok on my machine out of the Box so to speak.
But ReplicatorG would not until I recreated a start up batch file as was once used to sort out the environment variables with the start ReplicatorG batch file hey presto ReplicatorG now starts but fails when you try to run Skein forge as it won't recognize python! Grrrrr oh well got bored trying to figure out what the new environment variable problem is. I will have to come back to it later

Darwins and Mendels New home has risen off the ground

Not much to blog on Rep-rapping for quite some time.... I've had a few more PSVT attacks (4 this year) my last attack gave me my first trip with blue lights & siren in ambulace followed by some panic in resus.
After 3 lots of this stuff  where they thought It was a lot worse than it was. So with my Beat blocker dose now trebled I qualify for a fix...  Waiting for a consultation with the RF power enginner (consultant) for the lets burn out the extra wire in your heart with a bit of RF fix.

Any way back to Rep Rapping this will be the new home for Mendel, Darwin, two micro Mendels & Bodgeit to RepRap from with 3m high rafters to hang the plastic supply baskets from it should be fun.


The plans
http://bodgeitquicksolapowerdshed.blogspot.com/2010_01_24_archive.html



The Rep-Raping half is the West half the East half is the Artists studio for Midge.


What it looks like now
http://bodgeitquicksolapowerdshed.blogspot.com/2010_04_18_archive.html
 

Rep strap Mini/Micro Mendel Heated Bed using Fire Glass

Building Mini or Micro Mendel for the show I don't know where I can get Aluminum sheet easily so I had an odd thought on Saturday when passing a Glass supplier so popped in to see if I could get some heat resistant glass 140mm x 138mm to use as a heated bed.


I was told I had to buy fire glass it can take up to 600C. I got lucky they had an off cut so I had two cut for £11 note this is good price as its usually £100 Square Meter. 


It has a slight yellow tint to it but as its not for looking through who cares.


Here are pictures of my attempts to get the element right using 50ohm per meter nichrome.

  

Note as I re-make them I start using much less Kapton tape  

  


The last attempt was the best achieving 100C in 6 minutes



Then 110C  in 7 minutes. I'm running from power supply no temperature control yet..





So resistance of final solution is about 20 ohms based on a 30.5 voltage and current of 1.5A total wattage is about 46 W. 


The original attempts were mounted on Plastic chopping board using bulldog type clips as the wattage went up the Plastic started to smoke so the final version has 3mm MDF bulldog-ed to the Fire Glass. I removed the two silver levers on each of the bull dog type clips.



I just need to figure out how to mount a Thermistor then I can add PID or Bang bang control of temprature using an extruder controller.


The nichrome has a 30mm spacing the other attempts were 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 25mm to fit a 100mm x 100mm central print area.