This looks like it might be interesting to use with a Raspberry Pi to

3D Printing
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This looks like it might be interesting to use with a Raspberry Pi to interface directly. It might be limited by the 328p but if it’s connected directly to the Pi that could pick up the slack.
http://www.abra-electronics.com/products/Alamode-Arduino-Compatible-Raspberry-Pi-Plate-.html

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The onboard SD card reader is also kind of redundant.

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This one was just posted up on Dangerous Prototypes it seems to have better documentation, and sounds like it would be far easier to implement.
It doesn’t support Mega shields from the looks of it though, so a custom shield might be needed, maybe I’ll design a RAMPS like board that would have all the necessary hardware to interface with a Pi.
http://dangerousprototypes.com/2013/05/13/embedded-pi-bridges-r-pi-or-stm32-with-arduino-shields/

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The 328 doesn’t have enough I/O or memory for the things we need in a RAMPS board. You’d basically be recreating a better, more usable Alamode. :slight_smile:

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Yeah, I realized this. Doesn’t teacup run on a 328? Though I’ve heard of problems with a setup like that, maybe I should try and design a plate to control a printer straight from a Pi. I remember there being talk of this a while back, but I haven’t seen a solution yet.
I don’t think it would be too hard to design from a hardware standpoint, software would be the problem.

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@Aaron_Leclair the reason we use dedicated microcontrollers instead of the Raspberry Pi is because Linux is a multitasking OS and is not fast enough to drive motor pulses with steps being nicely timed. This affects speed, jerkiness, etc. The raspberry pi also only has 1 PWM pin, and no analog. So alone it doesn’t have the ability.

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I know, that’s why we need a micro controller to act as a bridge of sorts. I figured the plate would essentially be an Alamode except with all the required hardware to run a printer.

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That’s what I meant by “control straight from a Pi”
I figured you could interface with the Pi natively to remove the usb to serial connection, and essentially make the printers hardware an extension of the Pi.

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Ah, a more accurate phrase would be “communicate directly via the pi” - control straight from the pi, to me, implies motor control.

Also, holy duplication batman.

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I’ll delete those, my connection was being weird last night.
I’m not too great with terminology, sorry about that.