So i may not be as smart as i think. That is probably true for most people. Not only did i fail at connecting this laser to my smoothie. Even though it is my third board. one mill and one 3d-printer before this. But i can’t seem to find the search function on this forum either. Hence this thread.
Laser works just fine. Plug it in and push the button and it lasers.
Below is hopefully the board to the right are the pins.
From the the bottom right. two pins for laser power (already hooked up out of the box) . after that “PWM/TTL” (Not connected) and on the other connector “PWM/TTL” plus and minus.
I figure it is the last two i am supposed to use.I bet some one has done this before and can tell me?
I cant post a picture i am afraid.
Imported from wikidot
Right now the PWM+ is connected to P2.3 and the PWM- is connected to GND
# Laser module configuration
laser_module_enable true # Whether to activate the laser module at all. All configuration is
# ignored if false.
laser_module_pin 2.3 # this pin will be PWMed to control the laser. Only P2.0 - P2.5
# can be used since laser requires hardware PWM
#laser_module_ttl_pin 1.30 #This pin turns on when the laser turns on, and off when the laser turns off.
#laser_module_max_power 1.0 # this is the maximum duty cycle that will be applied to the laser
#laser_module_tickle_power 0.1 # this duty cycle will be used for travel moves to keep the laser
# active without actually burning
laser_module_pwm_period 200 # this sets the pwm frequency as the period in microseconds
This only causes the laser to be completly of on power up. The button on the laser controller now only gets it to its lowest setting not to burning strenght as before.
G1 X10 F300 S0.5 does noting.
Fire 100/Fire end does noting.
Hello Patrik,
I don’t know exactly what you have, but the laser module expects to work with a laser driver that takes PWM input. Your laser sounds like a diode laser. Usually those are very current-sensitive so perhaps you have a driver board for it.
If you have a datasheet for the laser and perhaps one for the driver board as well, that would help. The datasheet will tell you the manufacturer recommended current and voltage settings. Regardless what the seller says, if you go over those settings you risk burning out the laser.
You have a way to connect it (perhaps a bench power supply where you can adjust voltage as well as current?) and you see that it lases as expected. You mention pushing a button, which sounds like there’s a button on a board that drives it. That board should also have input pins. The question is whether those input pins expect a PWM input or a digital input?
You mention that the button on the laser control now only gets to the lowest setting. With diode lasers that usually means you have driven it over temperature and/or over current, and it is no longer lasing, it is just an expensive blue LED. This has happened to me twice as I was developing my driver board (fortunately diode lasers have gotten cheaper). If this is the case (it has been burned out and now only functions as an LED) you will have to replace the laser (although the driver board should be OK).
PWM is good for averaging out the power that goes into a resistive heating element like a 3D printer hot end or a heated bed, but I don’t think it will work for providing current-regulated input to a laser (unless you add some other circuitry).
I have a separate board that I designed which provides the voltage allowed by my laser with a regulated maximum current, and it takes an on-off input via a MOSFET (so I can pulse the laser). I can connect this to the digital 5v output from an Arduino or from the Smoothie digital pins, but not using the laser module; if you want to control things with a 5v digital signal you have to use the switch module. I’m not sure what lasers the PWM output from the Smoothie have been used with.
I hope this is a little helpful at least…
I wonder if your problem is: laser_module_pwm_period 200 # this sets the pwm frequency as the period in microseconds
That means your pwm frequency is 5kHz - is that what you were expecting? Mine doesn’t wake up until I hit about 8kHz and the docs for the controller say 10kHz - or 100 us, which is what I have set in my smoothie.
My CO2, with a cycle time of 20,000Hz has a pwm period of 50
laser_module_pwm_period 50 # This sets the pwm frequency as the period in microseconds - CO2 laser = 20kHz = 50us(p)
#laser_module_pwm_period 100 # This sets the pwm frequency as the period in microseconds - diode laser = 10kHz = 100us(p)