Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement

T3P3Tony

@Veti I expect we will have some availability for normal purchase in November.

We have to iterate on the prototype and then conduct more CE and FCC testing before we put it on general sale.

DIY-O-Sphere

@T3P3Tony said in Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement:

We are excited to officially announce a new Duet Mainboard:
The Duet 3 Mini 5+ is an evolution of the Duet 2 Maestro

Have you also plans to bring Duet2 WiFI/Ethernet to the next level?
For the next project I need 9 -12 steppers....

As a user of a Maestro the Duet 3 Mini 5+ would fulfill all my requirements...except the count of steppers...

@dc42
Are there any options to get 9 steppers working ???

dc42

@DIY-O-Sphere said in Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement:

Are there any options to get 9 steppers working ???

The Duet 3 Mini is intended to fit in the medium price and performance segment, so the microcontroller doesn't have enough I/O pins for 9 drivers. However, we're looking at adding CAN bus expansion to the Mini 5+, which would allow tool boards etc. to be connected.

T3P3Tony

@DIY-O-Sphere also, you can use 12 steppers on the Duet 2!

DIY-O-Sphere

@T3P3Tony
I know...that was an option I was thinking about.
I will build the machine in autum. If I'm able to realise a working tool lock mechanism driven by a servo, the Mini 5+ is still an option.
Locking at the IO Pin table it should be possible to drive additional servos.

T3P3Tony

@DIY-O-Sphere you can drive small hobby servos from the IO conenctors

cabal2000

@T3P3Tony Fantastic!!! Will the new board be available for pre-order same as Maestro?

pipersw

Have you some thermal picture like for duet3d ?

dc42

I am pleased to report that the first prototypes of the Duet 3 Mini 5+ are working well. However, we've made a few changes to the specification for the second prototype boards, mainly to improve versatility, but with an eye to controlling cost too.

We have reduced the stepper driver support from 5+3 to 5+2. This has allowed us to eliminate 3 chips and to improve the speed and efficiency of stall detection. We think that few users buying a mid-priced board would need 8 stepper drivers.

We've also reduced the number of general purpose I/O connectors from 6 to 5. There are still an additional 2 input-only connectors; so each stepper driver can have an associated endstop switch, Z probe or filament monitor.

The biggest change we've made is to add CAN bus support. This places the new board firmly in the Duet 3 family, and it will allow the Mini 5+ to communicate with existing and forthcoming Duet 3 expansion boards. Expansion will be limited compared to the Duet 3 MB6HC because of the less powerful processor and reduced amount of RAM - in particular, the maximum supported number of CAN-connected stepper drivers will be
reduced - but (for example) it will be possible to connect several Duet 3 tool boards to a Mini 5+.

cabal2000

@dc42 Sounds great!! Any news on beta testing?

pixelpieper

@dc42 I would have had a use for 8 steppers, but hey, if I can get it working through tool boards that’s fine for me as well, I think I actually prefer that. Will the expansion in that case be pin compatible with the maestro two stepper expansion?

dc42

@pixelpieper said in Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement:

@dc42 I would have had a use for 8 steppers, but hey, if I can get it working through tool boards that’s fine for me as well, I think I actually prefer that. Will the expansion in that case be pin compatible with the maestro two stepper expansion?

It's not pin-compatible. One reason is the the Maestro expansion board had no stall detection outputs

peter247

So what is the advantages over the duet wifi 2 ?

pixelpieper

@dc42 fair enough, makes sense! Thanks for the update and super quick response. Really excited for this new iteration!

dc42

@peter247 said in Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement:

So what is the advantages over the duet wifi 2 ?

More modern stepper drivers, supporting stealthChop and interpolation to x256 from any input microstepping
Lower cost expansion if you just need 1 or 2 more stepper drivers
Interface for Raspberry Pi or other single-board computer
Double the flash memory and RAM, facilitating more firmware expansion in the future
Expansion via CAN
Support for mini-12864 displays as well as PanelDue
Barrier strip VIN and bed connectors instead of terminal blocks
Supports 4 fans instead of 3, two of them optionally with tachos
Lower cost (we hope!)

Disadvantages compared to Duet WiFi:

Not expandable to more than 7 drivers, 3 heaters and 4 fans without using the CAN bus
Not compatible with more than two external stepper drivers, except via CAN
Lower maximum motor current
Fan cooling required at lower motor currents than for Duet 2
Only one 2-channel temperature daughter board supported instead of two

antlestxp

is it strange that I am eagerly looking forward to replace my perfectly functional maestro?

peter247

@dc42 said in Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement:

Expansion via CAN

Expansion is more limited, it does not support the CAN-FD bus

Can you use the CAN tool board on it ?.

T3P3Tony

@dc42 said in Duet 3 Mini 5+ : Initial announcement:

The biggest change we've made is to add CAN bus support. This places the new board firmly in the Duet 3 family, and it will allow the Mini 5+ to communicate with existing and forthcoming Duet 3 expansion boards. Expansion will be limited compared to the Duet 3 MB6HC because of the less powerful processor and reduced amount of RAM - in particular, the maximum supported number of CAN-connected stepper drivers will be
reduced - but (for example) it will be possible to connect several Duet 3 tool boards to a Mini 5+.

it supports CAN-FD so yes it will support our Duet 3 tool boards

cabal2000

@antlestxp Nope, I am with you brother!! can't wait.

peter247

@T3P3Tony

The biggest change we've made is to add CAN bus support , now that as become useful .