BD-Sensor z probe?

AlexZ.

has anyone attempted to hook one of these up to a duet yet? i'm sure the hardware has some open GPIO pins that could be used, but i dont think the software supports a live heigh readout. it would be nice to have another option in z sensors.

https://github.com/markniu/Bed_Distance_sensor

ixlix

@AlexZ Id like to know about this too. There is also the Beacon sensor which looks good too.

oliof

@ixlix beacon sensor relies on klipper due to the extra board.

dc42

@AlexZ looking at the limited amount of information for it, it appears to be an inductive sensor with an analog output passed over a digital interface instead of an on/off output. It needs to be calibrated to convert the output reading to a height, because the reading will depend on the bed material, and vary if the bed material is not uniform (e.g. it contains embedded magnets).

The differential IR sensor that I developed many years ago also output a value rather than just triggered/not-triggered, although I never attempted to add a calibration function to height in RRF.

It's a shame they chose I2C as the interface, because that's pretty much the worst possible interface to use except when the cable length is very short. It would be OK connected to a tool board mounted on the print head. If instead it is connected directly to a main board, the cables would at least need to be shielded from any adjacent stepper motor cables. Perhaps they supply shielded cable with it.

In principle we could support it in RRF. Details about it are rather scant, however they do provide details of the I2C data that it sends at https://github.com/markniu/Bed_Distance_sensor/wiki/Data-Protocol, which may be sufficient.

Cognirit

Good afternoon, I would like to join the question. Can you tell me if support for this sensor has happened in the Duet ecosystem? Or maybe there are other interesting options for faster automatic table calibration? Thanks!

dc42

@Cognirit see https://www.duet3d.com/blog/scanning-z-probe-for-reprapfirmware-and-Duet. We have products for Duet 3 systems based on this work in the pipeline.

Cognirit

@dc42 Thank you very much for your quick response! As always on the level

dc42

@Cognirit please see the announcement about the Scanning ZProbe that Tony made on this forum today.

Cognirit

@dc42 Thank you very much for replying with a mention! Very glad you made a version of this sensor under the RRF! I hope to be able to procure it soon.

dc42

@Cognirit we've also integrated the scanning Z probe into our new Revo Roto Tool Board.