Hi, this is my first proper foray into Arduino and ramps so I have a bit of a steep learning curve. I've been checking out every version of the hardware and also looked at cnc controllers but think the Ramps 1.4 is going to be the best for me for several reasons.
What i am building is like a 3D printer but not quite as I am using liquids (but the heating will be helpful) and it requires me to have quite a lot of steppers.
I need X-Y for movement, no plans for Z at the moment but I want to reserve it for a later addition and I would also love to add a rotate but this could be done with a servo instead.
I also need one stepper for a flush material pump (but can be done another way using a servo valve) and then 3 to 4 other steppers for accurate pumping of printing fluids.
I have been staring at the Ramps 1.4 schematic and also the Mega 2560 arduino and chip pin out diagrams here to try and work out which of the pwm in stepper driver pins are connected to which arduino pins and likewise with the ramps aux headers but I seem to be missing something as something doesnt seem to match up to me. My reason being is that I want to see if I can use any of the Aux headers for more steppers if there is sufficient pwm pins remaining.
I need to be able to use the fluid pumps in combinations so I cans simply switch the signals using some relays running from digitals outputs.
Another variation I have been thinking is building two systems and having all the fluid pumps driven off one controller which acts as a slave to the main plotter controller (master). The reason for his is I can use the pump controller in stand alone mode for filling duties and for other applications.
If there is sufficient pwm on the master I could simply have a connector on the slave and a switch/relay to enable the pwm signals (dir and step) to pass through. Or if not and i am correct in assuming that the enable pin is also pwm I could remap that on the master so I only have one global enable for which tells the slave that it's needed and then the slave enables each of the stepper controllers as normal (the pwm and direction are then passed through and this global enable could be the trigger for the relays).
Another reason for me liking the idea of a 2nd controller is I can run full end stops on the pumps as I would like max and min end stops on them (oscillating) to enable different strokes and prevent ripping the mechanical parts apart.
Another thing I did think was maybe I could just have a connection to the slave to say for example A at x rate, B at y rate etc? The pwm passthrough is kind of my default brute force bodge approach until I learn more.
Sorry for the long question on a first post but I've been trawling through the site and others trying to get to the bottom of it.
Thanks
Andy
What i am building is like a 3D printer but not quite as I am using liquids (but the heating will be helpful) and it requires me to have quite a lot of steppers.
I need X-Y for movement, no plans for Z at the moment but I want to reserve it for a later addition and I would also love to add a rotate but this could be done with a servo instead.
I also need one stepper for a flush material pump (but can be done another way using a servo valve) and then 3 to 4 other steppers for accurate pumping of printing fluids.
I have been staring at the Ramps 1.4 schematic and also the Mega 2560 arduino and chip pin out diagrams here to try and work out which of the pwm in stepper driver pins are connected to which arduino pins and likewise with the ramps aux headers but I seem to be missing something as something doesnt seem to match up to me. My reason being is that I want to see if I can use any of the Aux headers for more steppers if there is sufficient pwm pins remaining.
I need to be able to use the fluid pumps in combinations so I cans simply switch the signals using some relays running from digitals outputs.
Another variation I have been thinking is building two systems and having all the fluid pumps driven off one controller which acts as a slave to the main plotter controller (master). The reason for his is I can use the pump controller in stand alone mode for filling duties and for other applications.
If there is sufficient pwm on the master I could simply have a connector on the slave and a switch/relay to enable the pwm signals (dir and step) to pass through. Or if not and i am correct in assuming that the enable pin is also pwm I could remap that on the master so I only have one global enable for which tells the slave that it's needed and then the slave enables each of the stepper controllers as normal (the pwm and direction are then passed through and this global enable could be the trigger for the relays).
Another reason for me liking the idea of a 2nd controller is I can run full end stops on the pumps as I would like max and min end stops on them (oscillating) to enable different strokes and prevent ripping the mechanical parts apart.
Another thing I did think was maybe I could just have a connection to the slave to say for example A at x rate, B at y rate etc? The pwm passthrough is kind of my default brute force bodge approach until I learn more.
Sorry for the long question on a first post but I've been trawling through the site and others trying to get to the bottom of it.
Thanks
Andy