Been working very diligently on this: Ender 3 upgrade board that has Trinamic drivers with software configuration as well as a 32bit processor. The board also features a direct plugin for a Pi Zero so Octoprint can be done easily and without external wiring or anything. There are two ports for z-probes- one is a direct plugin for a 24V inductive sensor (no voltage divider needed), and the other is for a BL-Touch setup. The hotend cooling fan is also always on, and the main part cooling fan is PWM controlled.
Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this! I just sent it off for fitment prototypes so any comments for a working revision would be much appreciated!
@Thomas_Cox@Cristian_Nicola did you see where Griffin said this board is an upgrade for the Ender 3? It’s a cheap i3 by Creality. This board only needs four stepper drivers, and the target market is cost-sensitive so adding stuff only a few people need does not make sense.
@Ryan_Carlyle hit the nail right on the head. To add a bunch of stuff blurs the vision and adds cost. I want to keep it as cheap as possible for the consumer (estimated $79)
@Thomas_Cox There are tons of cheap upgrade boards already (MKS SBASE etc) but I think the most important thing is ease of upgrade — having compatible wiring connectors and PCB footprint etc.
So I’ve seen the board here… and on Reddit /r/ender3 So you are doing a good job of promoting. What is you expected time frame and how many would you need to sell to hit your $79 target? I don’t know if I need an ender3 upgrade, as it works “ok” out of the box, but…
@Stephen_Shimatzki thanks for the kind words. I think that if we can get 300 or so the price would be $79. It’s all pretty proven from my old board so it shouldn’t be more than a month or so before we get fully working proto’s out. Right now I’m waiting on fitment prototypes from the Fab so that we can ensure all connectors and stuff fit identical to the original board.
