Eric,

Using the Above Arduino Uno pinout it's very easy to just use the Xpro as an arduino with connected motor drivers. You don't have to use the stepper library.

Here is some code to try:

At the top of your file:

int dirPin = 5;
int stepperPin = 2;


Inside void setup:

pinMode(dirPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(stepperPin, OUTPUT);


Inside void loop

digitalWrite(dirPin, LOW);


digitalWrite(stepperPin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(900);
digitalWrite(stepperPin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(900);

-----------

That will make it take 1 step of the X axis. The loop should cause it to continue to got in that direction. Write dirPin to HIGH if you wish to go the other direction.

Hope this helps

 

Hi Mcbuilder, thanks! That did indeed work. I know the GRBL setup has a lot more functionality built in, the reason I wanted to try Arduino at first was to play around with some basic controls stuff.

General XPro questions
- When driving the motor for a short while, not particularly aggressively, the heatsink chips got very, very hot. Not quite hot enough to burn my finger but getting close. Is this normal operation, or will the chips underneath burn out soon?
- Also, at one point the motor connected to the X-Axis became loose and wouldn't respond to commands, after waiting a while and power cycling it started responding again. Could this be thermal protection, or something else?

Thanks all.

 

From my early experiences, it is a good idea to get good heat syncs properly mounted. Heat transfer grease, as typically used on computers, on its own allows the heat syncs to slide off, thus fail at their task. Adding a dab of silicon to two corners did the trick for me... Adding a fan blowing air over the heat syncs is also a good idea. Doing those two things solves most of my early 'random' problems.

The drivers have over heating protection. You probably won't get a melt down. However, as one or more drivers over heat and shut down and repower randomly, you will see your router and spinning tool start gouging into your work piece and spoil board as the other drivers keep going and G-code is being processed by the rest of the controller. It can get real ugly real fast (speaking from experience)

If your drivers are getting hot after only a short while, you might need to adjust the power level. I've got mine at ... about 2/3 (NEMA 23 with higher torque than default steppers for an OX).

have fun ...

 

I never had heat problems with a nema 17 motor: http://www.amazon.com/Stepper-Motor...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

 

I have a fan on the xpro and heat sinks on the driver chips. Just run the fan from xpro connection.

 

I run the NEMA23 using 24v supply with no issues.

 

Actually I have the 175oz NEMA23 steppers.

NEMA 23

• Shaft Size: 1/4"

• Torque: 175 oz-in

• Step Angle: 1.8

• DC 2.8 A/Phase

• 4 Wire Bi-polar

 

Hi, I tried programming a basic sketch on the XPro using it as an Arduino, and now when I'm trying to recompile GRBL 0.9 onto the board I am completely unable to do so. I also can't load any other Arduino sketches onto the board.

I tried following the instructions from
Compiling Grbl · grbl/grbl Wiki · GitHub
Using the code from here:
GitHub - grbl/grbl: An open source, embedded, high performance g-code-parser and CNC milling controller written in optimized C that will run on a straight Arduino

I've gotten a bit stuck on how to debug this. I tried following a tutorial on how to debug whether an Arduino is bricked. Following the tutorial: when I plug the XPro into the computer via USB it is successfully powered, lights turn on and I measure 4.75V on the 5V line. Next I try pressing the reset button on the XPro, but no lights flash. According to the Arduino tutorial, this suggests that there is a problem with the bootloader or the main processing chip. When I plug the . In the Windows device manager the XPro shows up as FT232R USB UART and reports that "There are no compatible drivers for this device." When I go to the Arduino IDE to try and reload GRBL the XPro does not show up as a valid port for upload.
http://arduino.stackexchange.com/qu...-arduino-uno-problems-with-uploading-to-board

Can anyone help me try and debug the XPro? This feels like issues occurring at a very basic level. The funny this is, I've barely used the board and haven't hooked up much to it. I made a couple of motors twitch a while back but never did any heavy driving. I'm not sure how it could have gotten borked, but it's very sad

 

have you looked at this?
Arduino - Bootloader

 

I have looked at that, I tried reflashing the bootloader and it failed at a very basic level.

I have access to an AVRISP mkII, so I tried following this tutorial
Burning the Bootloader to an Arduino Uno using Atmel Studio and the AVRISP mkII
Using the bootloader code from here
Arduino/optiboot_atmega328.hex at master · arduino/Arduino · GitHub

Step 6 of the bootloader tutorial involves hitting "Read" to make sure you have connection to the chip. For me when the XPro was powered and the mkII was powered it said something like "Couldn't read, failed to enter programming mode". I'm fairly sure that the ISP 6-pin header was on the right way, because pin 1 of the 6-pin header is marked on the XPro board. I also tried all the ISP clock settings to no avail. Like I said, it seems to be failing at a pretty basic level.

I could try flashing the bootloader with Arduino, but based on the above experience I think it will fail with a different error message... Any good debug steps for the XPro?

 

What would the wiring look like for that? Would it use an extra Uno or other Arduino?

Also, wouldn't that still leave the computer unable to command the board with USB and gcode?

 

t

that tutorial is for burning a new chip.

 

ok going to get back to basic's
do you have this driver installed?
4. xPro Drivers · Spark-Concepts/xPRO Wiki · GitHub

 

if you have that driver installed.
next
get
XLoader
then this hex
xPRO/xpro_9g_(FactoryDefault)vss.hex at master · Spark-Concepts/xPRO · GitHub
Then simply connect USB to the xPRO, start XLoader.exe, choose the xPRO COM port, pick a hex file and press upload.

If this doesn't work I'm betting you fried the chip.
Could replace the chip if you have surface mount experience.
Maybe you got lucky!!!

 

then the serial connection to check to see if it's truly bricked, you will need another Arduino to preform this test.
Gammon Forum : Electronics : Microprocessors : Sketch to detect Atmega chip types

 

Strange issue this morning.

Headed to the workshop as normal on a Sunday and fired up the power supply for the cnc / controller etc

Normally I'll hear a 'clunk' as the motors locked but not this morning.

The PC will not talk to the controller (says grbl not finished booting and will not move from there)

Have tried another PC but no change.

I did notice another couple of lights on the xPro that I have not noticed before but unsure what this signifies.

 

These are the lights.

 

Hi folks, finished my build pretty rapid, all went well. Hooked up the controller as per the xpro wiki even got myself a 'tvs' as specified, I'm running it all from a 'meanwell s-350-24' psu when I try to tune in the motors as per the wiki, all the pot seems to do is change the 'volume' of the noise coming from the steppers.
When the pot is in the full anti-clockwise position the steppers still turn, not as described in the wiki, turning it slowly clockwise just seems to change the volume of the noise.
The only things I've changed are the baseline GRBL firmware settings to the ones supplied by @Ryan Lock for the oozenest ox and the variable spindle max speed. I've also tried with an 'ATX' psu (Corsair VS350) and I still get the same thing happening, can anyone please shed some light on the situation and none of the belts are connected as I don't want it crashing the end of the frames.

 

If they are making alot of noise, it may be due to them be connected wrong, but if this is the case they usually wouldn't turn. But just to check what order have you got motor wires?

When you are running the motors what speed are you running them at?

 

Hi Ryan

The connections were all okay, all done as per the wiki instructions and started the testing as per the wiki with no difference, I surmise that the DRV8825 chip isn't man enough for NEMA 23's, coincidently I tried some 12v NEMA 17's I had and everything went as the wiki instructions no problems at all. Ill keep the xpro for another project I've got in mind and stick to the pukka 'protoneer' v3.51 shield and external drivers, when they were all hooked up the steppers were singing along nicely, even up-to the 7500 mm/min rate in those setting you sent me.

I've been looking around for different driver chips and found the AMIS-30543 chip by ON Semiconductor, not having the electronic design skills I would have had a go at making a board, current settings are all done in software not hardware like current plugin drivers.

Richard

 

Is there a way to setup a z zeroing touch plate with the xpro board?

 

this should get you going...

 

Thank you! Could you make a vide on your wiring setup?