FITTING TWO MECHADUINO CONTROLLERS

mendelevium

Has anybody managed to power Mechaduino fitted Motors through a Duet 2 wifi board?

Veti

it looks like you can connect it like any other external stepper
see
https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/Using_external_stepper_motor_drivers

you wont be able to use any special functionality.
you can use the step,dir inputs for drop-in compatibility with stepper motors / step stick

why exactly do you want to use this?

mendelevium

I have managed to run the X and Y Motors fitted with mechaduino in a Ramps board by removing the X and Y axis motor drivers altogether and just run 3 cables in the VIN/STEP/DIR pins. Since the duets have the Drivers on board I wonder if there is any expansion board. I have noted the link for connecting an external stepper... Can this be used to do just this?
The mechanduino is good for avoiding missed steps.

Veti

@mendelevium said in FITTING TWO MECHADUINO CONTROLLERS:

The mechanduino is good for avoiding missed steps.

generally if your printer is missing steps, its best to fix the underlying issue.
if your printer is working well, missing steps is not a problem.

the documentation i linked describes how to connect external stepper motors.
but you would loose all the advanced features of the tmc drivers on the duet.

mendelevium

Thanks, will have a look. If I can miss just the X and Y control features it would be worth sacrificing...

dc42

Mechaduino controllers have been used with Duets before. AFAIR the main issue was that they need quite a long direction hold time configured in the M569 command.

mendelevium

I am not sure I am understanding what you mean by that statement "FAIR the main issue was that they need quite a long direction hold time configured in the M569 " We intend to produce and sell a high end 3D printer and wish to use the duet 3d being such a masterpiece in design.
I have managed to obtain very good results with the mechaduinos on a Ramps but I wish to get the features of the Duet board and sacrifice the duet`s x and y axis controls over the X and Y closed loop positioning features. I must admit spent weeks tweaking them. If you can guide me accordingly I appreciate it.

mendelevium

@dc42
I am not sure I am understanding what you mean by that statement "FAIR the main issue was that they need quite a long direction hold time configured in the M569 " We intend to produce and sell a high end 3D printer and wish to use the duet 3d being such a masterpiece in design.
I have managed to obtain very good results with the mechaduinos on a Ramps but I wish to get the features of the Duet board and sacrifice the duet`s x and y axis controls over the X and Y closed loop positioning features. I must admit spent weeks tweaking them. If you can guide me accordingly I appreciate it.

jay_s_uk

@mendelevium
ARAIR = As far as I remember

mendelevium

@jay_s_uk
yep that was understood..:-) the explanation which followed.....

jay_s_uk

The T value in M569
https://duet3d.dozuki.com/Wiki/Gcode#Section_M569_Set_motor_driver_direction_enable_polarity_and_step_pulse_timing
I.e. the nanoseconds required for each command to be accepted

mendelevium

I have two Brand new Duets still in the box and as soon as I have the machine ready I will give it a try, however I am looking at an uphill struggle. My forte is mechanical Engineering and I would need to scratch deep to find what I need to do, however this site has a goldmine of information and I will try to manage.....