I’m thinking of converting my mill so i can use ChilliPeppr. Which is the best board to use?
I’ve seen GRBL, TinyG and the G2.
Thanks for any tips.
I’m thinking of converting my mill so i can use ChilliPeppr. Which is the best board to use?
I’ve seen GRBL, TinyG and the G2.
Thanks for any tips.
IMHO, the best is tinyg. You can also use a arduino due with g2 firmware and a cheap grbl shield, but please ask @sszafran … He use a g2.
I (finally) successfuly use ArduinoDue + Synthetos gShield with http://chilipeppr.com/tinyg?v9=true workspace for all my CNC jobs. There were some issues on the way but now it works stable and I am very satisfied. I have compiled the latest g2 firmware available on github to be used with NC limit switches for X/Y/Z axis and NO probe.
I recommend the normal TinyG v8.
I’d recommend the TinyG v8 as well, but depending on the size of your mill you may have to use external stepper drivers that can handle the current needed.
I am on my way to move to an Arduino Due with drv drivers, still on the process though
I had a lot of problems with Due+gShield until I got working and stabilized environment.
Changing to NC switches on my opinion is mandatory, this requires some rewiring if you used NO before). NC switches must be connected in series (if you want to use one input pin for MIN and MAX switches of an axis) while NO switches require parallel connection. I added low frequency RC filter for each limit switch in order to eliminate noise.
Then the biggest problem was the noise interfering with PCB autoleveling. It looks that gShield is extremely sensitive to noise. And probing is NO, which is more sensitive to noise than NC. Adding 100uF electrolytic capacitor between probe pin (Zmin on Due) and GND, as close to the microcontroller as possible, allows me to succeed with probing so far.
The board is quite small and stepper motor wires are quite close to logic signals.
On the other hand probing with grbl (gShield installed on Arduino Uno) worked fine, but Uno is utilizing analog pin for probing.
I don’t know if this is possible to disable on-board stepper motor drivers and use external ones, optionally adding optocouplers to completely isolate motor related wiring. This will probably be my final approach. I have another machine with Nema34 stepper motors, not yet set up and I will have to use dedicated external drivers.
Chilipeppr TinyG workspace is great and I strongly recommend to use that instead of grbl, whenever possible.
I have run NEMA 34s with both Gecko and Leadshine drivers but had to use a voltage leveler for the Leadshine since it’s 5v only and the TinyG is 3V. I have also got a servo going using the same leveler but it’s a bit twitchy with the leads just jammed into the holes on the TinyG. I’m going to solder some headers on the TinyG outputs but it would really be nice to have a drop in replacement for 5v CNC systems that have external drivers all wired up. I need stable stuff for clients and I don’t like having to wire up the levelers and create more mess in the box.
Thanks for all the advice!! @jlauer whats makes you recommend the V8 over the G2?
The G2 is very new, so if somebody is looking for a mainstream solution it’s v8.
Are there any features which are specifically working on TinyG v.8 and not TinyG2 v9? In other words should I order v.8 (and eventually abandon using G2) in order to get features I cannot use now?
I think new users want to know what to choose and g2 is a little more cost-effective option when you purchase.
Once I solved the most annoying issues of G2 (as of now :), my concern is the Due reset needed to allow TinyG2 and not Bossa port, but I can live with that. I ordered Microcontroller Supervisory and Reset Circuit and hopefully this will solve the resetting issue.
I’ll let @Alden_Hart chime in here, but one rough part of G2 that I found is the feedhold is mushy/delayed when I use it. I agree the cost is awesome thus why I did that blog article to help folks realize how cheap it was to get a Due and use the gShield.
@jlauer - thanks for the note. We have been working on some changes to the g2 communications protocols that will offer better support for real-time commands like feedholds during running Gcode jobs (over a single channel - not the dual channel thing). We are probably a month or so out for beta, so stay tuned.
I always used grbl since an early 0.8 Version and i am satisfied with its performance. grbl developed a few nice features over time. nevertheless grbl has reached a critical point using an atmega328 where there is only very limited RAM and Flash left for new features. So the search for a new hw will be obligatory for the grbl project. Dont get me wrong, grbl is a very cool project and i love it.
on the other side: i always wanted to try tinyG. right now i am waiting for my DIY tinyG PCBs to arrive (i dont see why to spend that much money for a simple xmega Board with some Stepper divers).
what i wanted to say was: grbl is good. it got all you need for 3 axis. maybe you give it a try.