2 Driver toolboard?
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Hi *,
I wounder if you guys plan to create a extention board/toolboard with two drivers and some io ports in the future?
A coreXY printer like the voron 2.4 can profit from that. The two steppers for x and y plus some endstops can be handled via that board. Other external tools like filament changers like the carrot feeder from the enraged rabbit project needs two steppers.
I know, there is the 3HC, but this is a very huge board in comparison with a 1LC.
My idea would be a 2LC with the same drivers like the 1LC, maybe without acceleration sensor. Without the heater but with some IO ports to control external "printer helpers" or gantries on CoreXY printers. That would align more into the Mini5+ range with the weaker drivers...Does that makes sense to you?
Cheers, Chriss
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@chriss what would be the reason for not connecting the X and Y motors and the endstops you refer to from the main board?
Duet WiFi hardware designer and firmware engineer
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http://www.escher3d.com, https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com -
@chriss I support this idea for another use-case: extruder and mini-Z axis on one toolboard, just in case RRF will support individual Z-axes one day.
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To be honest: Nothing will prevent me. This is my current setup. But see it like that:
3 wires for X and Y endstops
8 Wires for the two steppers
3 Wires for my enclosure temp sensor
2 Can wires (to the toolboard on the hotend
2 Power for the toolboard
= 18 Wires in total.That can be reduced to 4 fires from the Mainboard to the gantry (the new tool board) and 4 wires forward to the toolboard on the hotend.
But this is not my only usecase, see things like the carrot feeder which need more than one stepper. And the 3HC is really a big boy for driving two nema14 plus a servo at the end.I had the idea to bild a "poor door opening thingy" for my v2. My "brain internal" solution would need to steppers, three sensors too.
I could think about a camera moving thingy, like a gimbal which keeps the focus on the hotend. Which would need more than one servo too.I think that there would be a lot of usecases for a "intermediate" board. The 3HC fits perfectly into the 6HC range. They are perfect if you need big beefy boards with a lot of power. But the Mini 5+ road seems to be a bit under supported here.
@o_lampe brought up the next good usecase: An IDEX printer can profit from such a board too. You can drive X and U with that board and save a lot of wiring
Do not get me wrong David, I understand fully that you can not create a board for every single usecase which somebody brings up. That is logical and can not be done by your time and by the financial impact. But see it from my site:
I buy a Mini5+ for some good reasons: The price and the almost "best" solutions for printers like a IDEX, Voron v0/2.4 etc. The steppers are fine and big enough, I can attach a toolboard or two. Wifi included. A very nice board for a fair price.
I attached the 2 driver daughter board to the Mini5+ because I need 4 steppers for Z and 2 for X-Y. I have one left. (Toolboard on the hotend)
I have now the case that I want to build something like the carrot feeder. What should I do? Use two toolboards? Use one stepper from the expansion and add an toolboard?
Or shall I use the 3HC? That is almost the price of a Mini 5+? That does not feel very right to me to be honest.And I can not be the only one with this kind of struggle ...
Cheers, Chriss
