Duet 3 6HC TMC5160: Which mode of operation?

[schpongo]

Hi there,

I have a quick question. I'm comparing the Duet 3 and the Duet 2 and thus took a look a the TMC 5160 (Duet 3 6HC) and the TMC 2660 (Duet 2 Wifi). The data sheet of the TMC 5160 states, that the chip is a full on motion controller. I am wondering if the Duet 3 HC makes use of the TMC 5160 functions as a motion controller (MODE 1 in the data sheet) or if the motion control aspect is still being done by the main microcontroller and the TMC 5160 is used just stepper driver (MODE 3 in the data sheet).

Independent of the MODE, I am curious why this mode was chose over the other.

I tried looking in the wiki but didn't find anything that answered my question.

Thanks for the insight.
Greetings
Daniel

[dc42]

The ramp movement mode supported by the TMC5160 is not very useful in 3D printing because it is difficult to synchronise between multiple motors, does not support the quadratic motion needed on delta printers, and does not support more complex types of motion such as the motion needed when applying pressure advance to extruder drives. So RepRapFirmware does not use it.

[schpongo]

@dc42 Thank you very much, I highly appreciate the answer!!