I have just received my new "Smoothieboard" controller. There is the first initial shots of the board. Now to get down to work and hook this up to the Shapeoko machine that I am going to use as a 3D printer. Bob
not sure Bob, I do have mine but have not had the chance to try it out as of yet. I have a ton of projects on the table now, but I do have plans for this one.
hey can the smoothie run a routy or OX which has been refitted with a multi-head spindle+plastruder+laser+picker+plotter+dragknife+??? without reloading the firmware? I realize there would need to be some extra gcodes added to tell it which head to use. An example might be a 3D printed circuit board that then has parts placed on it and then laser etched labeling, all in one run or maybe just stopping for a tool change.
That's the hope I think the concept behind this board is great but it does still keep us in the NEMA 17 realm of things.
Only if you use the onboard drivers. There are break out connections to attach any other type of drivers to it. Also any of these operations are possible because all the code can be loaded. But that was not the original intent of the design. The original intent is to allow the controller to be used for any of these types of operations but one at a time. But you could do all of them it is just simple matter of programming (SMOP). Bob
what would be a good breakout board for running a nema23 off the smoothieboard? What are those things anyway? Like 10A?
With this you could wire up most any of them out there like geckos for instance. http://www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives.html
lol I hear you I almost fell out of my chair! This is a little better http://www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Two-2-A...pper-Motor-Driver-MACH3-No-Heat-/321294973435
Well the smoothieboard already does all of the control, we just need more power.Apparently a MOSFET push-pull amplifier would do the job. This site explains it all and probably costs $5 in parts. http://reviseomatic.org/help/s-push-pull/Push Pull MOSFET Amp.php
I guess if you dig in you could, not sure about how to go about that though. I am just thinking hooking up this drivers may be a quick easy way to drive higher amp bigger steppers.
http://openbuilds.com/threads/high-voltage-compact-pwm-control-circuit.322/ 4 AMPS for http://cnc4you.co.uk/resources/60BYGH401-03.pdf That's a 566 oz-in motor drawing 4 amps.
Oh that's not much power. There are probably a lot of simple circuits that can do the job with standard parts.
What we need is to know what will drive what when and how. If we can find and consolidate all this information for all to share then this would help spread OPEN knowledge. This knowledge should not be profiteered from, like shop owners want. 566 oz lift one inch from shaft now that is powerful! Times are hard lets share more FREE.
Alright - the first of many instructions on how to connect your SmoothieBoard. First to a 3d printer: http://smoothieware.org/3d-printer-guide Next the CNC machine Bob
These days, there's also a nice alternative: Instead of using Smoothieware (which is more of a 3D printing firmware) you can install Grbl-LPC : cprezzi/grbl-LPC - massively fast, works great and as its Grbl, works with all the more standard Grbl supported CNC toolchains, post processors, CAM, CONTROL, etc softwares
Peter I have already purchased the Smoothie board as part of the C-Beam XL bundle, as I understand it should work with CAM and CONTROL. Is that true? Being new to this I do not know enough to understand the differences between the two boards. Craig
Yes, if you install Grbl LPC as mentioned above onto it. Smoothieware / Grbl = firmwares Smoothieboard = the PCB Good to know the difference You can install GrblLPC onto the Smoothieboard.
