IDEX BOTH ON CORE XY

[dwuk]

Updated post - after better understanding.

Have started to spec up the electrics I am going to need for my proposed system - and the numbers of steppers is getting rather high.

Looking at Duet Hardware it looks like I need a separate driver board for each extruder - presumably a 1LC - at about £43.50 each. - Will need 8 of those in the end - but only 4 initially.

Then the AXIS drivers, plus extra Gantry etc - it looks like I am going to need a controlling £225 - 6HC board for the first 6 motors - with £112 Mini 5's for each set of 5 further motors. With finally I might be able to get away with a 3HC for the last 3 motors in phase 5.

Is that correct - can I have for example a 6HC controlling 4 x Mini5 boards + a 3HC in the same system collaborating with each other?

Illustration here - with the -a,-b etc. suffixes are extra board instances required.

Have tried putting some of it into the system config tool - but am hitting some limits.

[o_lampe]

@dwuk Seems you've reached the end of the Duet3 galaxy...
AFAIK there is no toolchanging system which keeps the extruder motor and only replaces the extruder.
Although you can use a MMU like enraged rabbit.

My hashprinter was happy with 11 stepper drivers on a Duet2 (5+2) with DUEX5.
But Duet2 isn't ready for dual g-code streams. Maybe a post processor can make it happen, if it puts all moves in one file.

[dwuk]

@o_lampe hopefully Im not at the limits. It looks like a 6hc supports 16 extruders. The Mini5+ only supports 5 - so im hoping that it is what is affecting the configurator.

I may have to not use tool boards for some of the ectuders if that is what is causing the issue. They are quite expensive too.

I think I can get 7 steppers per mini5 too which will help.

Agree though that a tool changer which just switches the nozzle/hot end rather than the whole motor/extruder is attractive in terms of efficiency of parts as well as saving on stepper driver requirements.

Watched an interesting video recently by 'engineers grow' suggesting a way where this might be possible, or you can always cut the filament - and then swap the hot end like the swapper3d.

Re achieving multiple gantries on a non duet 6hc - I certainly think it is going to be possible (but maybe not as efficientky) by gcode post processing and combining both gantry moves into single g0/g1s for example. Or just using two independent controller boards which are controlled and synced externally.

SV08 arrived yesterday and working well.

Next stage now is to swap its normal single extruder operation over to a Duet3 6hc/while I am working on the design of the 2nd gantry,
Not sure whether to use a 1lc or Mini5+ to drive the extruder.

Probably best to use a mini5+ as 13 steppers is enough to get both gantries and 2 extruders fully working.

Whilst 1lc's are attractive in terms of wiring I think the need for z hopper stepper drivers makes them less useful.

[dwuk]

First attempt at redesign of flying gantry to accommodate 2nd Y gantry

2nd Gantry would go at the back, with belts running 2.5mm inside the existing belts.

Would need to change the front idlers from 13mm to 18mm (if I can source some) - and shift a few of the pulleys inwards for the existing gantry.

Would lose a small amount of the build area.

New belts are in Red and Yellow

New drive motors inside the existing ones.

![Screenshot 2025-01-08 at 12.03.58.png]

Updated with more detail and better routing around steppers