Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer

gnydick

Have some questions...

Does the Duet3 require a Pi? If not, how do you use it without? If so, why sell it without a Pi.
I'm currently on Duet2 wifi + duex5. I have 8 steppers: x, y, 4z, 2e, am I correct that the Duet3 plus its current only expansion board only has 9 steppers? Are there going to be larger expansion boards or is the plan to just have people use multiple expansion boards?
I have a pretty good understanding of duet2, everything 3d printer related, but not programming pins, or anything else more esoteric. What will the learning curve be for Duet3?

jay_s_uk

It can work with or without the pi. You'll get more functionality with a pi though as plugins start to get developed
You can in theory have as many expansion boards as you like. At the moment the software can handle 24 drivers. So you just buy more expansion boards.
The main learning curve is none of the pins are predefined. You have to map everything. Now that the repeal config tool supports rrf3, you'll get a good starter for 10 creating a config from there and then modifying it to your needs.

A Former User

With respect to 3. the learning curve is more to do with RRF3 firmware than Duet3 hardware; that said the firmware is not yet at a stable release, and as such I doubt it will live up to your expectations any time soon so please do us all a favour and take this into account before making a decision.

T3P3Tony

@gnydick said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

why sell it without a Pi

Because it would cost more for us to buy Pis and resell them than to buy a pi directly.

gnydick

@T3P3Tony if the pi has the storage and web interface, how do you use it, via serial o' USB?

jay_s_uk

@gnydick
SPI using the 26 pin header on the pi

T3P3Tony

@gnydick as @jay_s_uk points out it connects to the Duet 3 Mainboard over the 40 to 26 way ribbon cable from the Pi's GPIO header. This is to make wiring easy, we only use 8 or so of those connections to provide power and an SPI bus. You then connect to the Pi over Ethernet, Bluetooth, or by plugging in a screen.

gnydick

@jay_s_uk I meant, how do you use it without the PI?

dc42

@gnydick said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

@jay_s_uk I meant, how do you use it without the PI?

Exactly the same as you use a Duet Ethernet.

Danal

I think you got good answers above, and my stuff below is probably just a repeat.

@gnydick said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

Have some questions...

Does the Duet3 require a Pi? If not, how do you use it without? If so, why sell it without a Pi.

Not "required". To use stand alone: Build an SD card per the Duet3 standalone documentation and put it in the Duet. Plug in an ethernet cable. That's it.

I'm currently on Duet2 wifi + duex5. I have 8 steppers: x, y, 4z, 2e, am I correct that the Duet3 plus its current only expansion board only has 9 steppers? Are there going to be larger expansion boards or is the plan to just have people use multiple expansion boards?

Not "larger" expansions, instead multiple expansions. They daisy chain on a single CAN bus cable. Have as many as you want. An expander that's currently lashed (somewhat roughly) to the side of a prototype multi-tool printer is shown below. The circle shows the CAN cables. One back to the main board. One (empty at the moment) to the 'next' expander.

I have a pretty good understanding of duet2, everything 3d printer related, but not programming pins, or anything else more esoteric. What will the learning curve be for Duet3?

I made the transition back when the documentation was not as good as it is now. In particular, I would have killed for a working example of ANY printer. Therefore, here is a running config.g for a CoreXY toolchanger. Read a little, and look at this a little, and it is not too hard. It is different, and that takes a little time. To me, it is MUCH more logical after you grasp it. And will therefore be easier in the long run.

config .g

dc42

@Danal said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

think you got good answers above, and my stuff below is probably just a repeat.
@gnydick said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

Have some questions...

Does the Duet3 require a Pi? If not, how do you use it without? If so, why sell it without a Pi.

Not "required". To use stand alone: Plug in an ethernet cable. That's it.

Almost, you also need to populate an SDHC card with the appropriate folders and files and put it in the SD card socket of the Duet. With Duet 3 we supply an SD card for the Pi, but not for the Duet (because you don't need a SD card in the Duet 3 when it is connected to a Pi).

The files you need on the SD card for standalone mode are exactly the same as for a Duet Ethernet, except that instead of file iap4e.bin you need Duet3iap_sd_MB6HC.bin (in /sys).

A Former User

Slightly OT, but as the Pi image has a FAT /boot partition it could possibly contain the default standalone config and files so the same card could maybe cover both use cases.

gnydick

@dc42 so, without the Pi, you still get a web interface?

gnydick

@Danal thank you for the thoroughness

jay_s_uk

@gnydick said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

@dc42 so, without the Pi, you still get a web interface?

Yes

Phaedrux

@bearer said in Duet3 setup requirements for 3D printer:

Slightly OT, but as the Pi image has a FAT /boot partition it could possibly contain the default standalone config and files so the same card could maybe cover both use cases.

That's really clever.