Finally had time last night to pop in Roy’s latest board, the Azteeg X5 mini. This is a board based on the 120Mhz NXP LPC1769 ARM chip, running the latest Smoothieware - Edge. I love the design, and for a minimalist board, it’s stunning - and I can finally run at 1/32 microsteps and not take a huge speed hit.
I’d played with Smoothieboards and Smoothieware in the past on a delta platform, but never stuck with it - mainly due to lack of time.
Running the latest Smoothieware, the print quality is better than what I was getting out of Marlin or Repetier, and the speed is just insane. The bot I’m playing with here uses 10 start leadscrews on the x/y, so 256 steps per mm at 1/32 microstep.
About 20 seconds in you can see a shot of the board, along side a 5-Axis Smoothieboard that I picked up on their KIckstarter project.
I think these LPC1769 boards represent the direction we should be moving in, and these two boards represent the opposite ends of what’s available today - Smoothieboard hands down has more toys on the board - loads of 'fets and segregated power inputs, but still uses the Allegro A4982, so limited to 1/16 microstepping. Not the end of the world by any means - I just wanted to play with the 8825’s!
Both boards implement digital current control, so no more messing about with tiny pots and a multimeter held in your teeth. Smoothieboard goes one step further and uses digital logic to control microstepping where the X5 uses traditional jumpers.
I really like the digital current control - in theory it would allow you to run at a lower power setting when you want to, but add additional power when you were into “high speed / high torque” mode…
So two new toys to play with, and my understanding is that Roy is working on additional versions of the X5 to follow in the footsteps of his X3 line, adding features as they progress from the mini up to the pro.
Next step is to try and get an LCD display working - @Wolfmanjm and @Glenn_Beer have evidently figured out how to get a RRD gLCD working.
Smoothieboard is available in the US from Uberclock - http://shop.uberclock.com/products/smoothieboard
The Azteeg X5 Mini is available from http://www.panucatt.com/azteeg_X5_mini_reprap_3d_printer_controller_p/ax5mini.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSkOUNhUXE4