Nice controller. I had your earlier V3 and V4 controllers and they worked wonderfully and a real good alternative at the time. I found the micro-stepping incredibly useful when initially engraving PCB boards. The fine control was noticeable in the very fine traces I could achieve. It looks like this new controller has taken the great work so far and brought it next level.
So will it run a laser with a dedicated rotary with the GRBL port mentioned - preferably with Lightburn?
Rob M, thanks! Im glad to hear the V3/V4 worked well for you . Since we used the trinamic drivers, the V5 microstepping goes up to 256 Rob T, lol - nope, this is not Peter's secret, just our next controller. Giarc, absolutely on the laser (0-5V pwm, and 0-10V on the board). Probably no problem with Lightburn, I will give it a test a let you know for sure
RatRig has this in stock for a while already, but you release the V5 on 13th Jan. Is that a different version ?
LOL, tell me about it! December sales were a bit crazy Marcie, RatRig is distributing for us in Europe - same model. We just ran our in the US and get the next shipment soon.
Yes, ESP32 GRBL supports it. I am not sure if you can create custom firmware for the Xpro V5 (I have not looked into it), but the 6 Pack which uses the same GRBL version supports it. See the video I swear, I have no affiliation with Bart (although I seem to reference him or his work a lot), I am just a user of his controller board.
I have just assembled an Oxgear 1500 x 1000. Everything works but when I jog the machine the X axis travels 10mm when I jog 1mm. The Y axis does the same. Been looking for profiles for it but can't seem to find any.
Just calibrate it by measuring the actual distance sent. Your microsteppiing settings are probably off if you are unaware of what this means or how to fix it, read the GRBL wiki. It will solve almost any problem. Home · gnea/grbl Wiki
Absolute noob question, Can anyone recommend instructions on changing the firmware to run Nema 17's please?
You do not need to, grbl works with NEMA 17's just fine. The only grbl settings you would have to change is if the NEMA 17's had a different step angle than what was used previously. Then your steps/mm would be off ($100,$101, and $102). See this Grbl v1.1 Configuration · gnea/grbl Wiki. It is highly recommended for a new person getting familiar with grbl based cnc's to read the entire grbl wiki. It will answer most questions. From what I have seen in my limited experience is that the majority of stepper motors you come across for hobby use (NEMA 23s or 17s) are either 1.8 degrees per step (200 steps per revolution) or 0.9 degrees per step (400 steps per revolution). Using the information in the Wiki linked earlier, you can calibrate your machine using your motor type (step angle), method of transmission, and microstepping on your drivers.
The configuration info is in the link below - remember that the settings in the Xpro v5 are entered as rms current values - not peak current values as is more common. I would usually recommend setting your current at 60~80% of the max rated value of your motors. To convert peak current (as usually specified in stepper motor data sheets) to rms values multiply the peak current by 0.7. Changing settings · Spark-Concepts/xPro-V5 Wiki Alex.
Just purchased a Workbee 1.0 1000x1500 xPro v5. I got the basics configured using CNCjs, but I tried to use Easel and it won't communicate. I have installed the drivers and software, but it can't find the Easel drivers and port. Easel does not have the best "Other" machine setup instructions nor support. Does anyone have any experience using xPro v5 and Easel? Paid gig if I can get someone with experience. Thanks
Take a look at this. Easel driver missing?. It might help, I remember I had issues with Easel as the front end connects to a backend, and the back end connects to the Xpro controller. It's a weird setup that did not work with my network because I run my own DNS which does not like the hostname inventableslocalhost.com (which resolves to 127.0.0.1 which is localhost)
