Web Based Configuration Tool
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Christian Hammacher, the creator of the awesome DuetWebControl user interface has created another really useful tool for all Duet users, a web based configuration tool:
https://configurator.reprapfirmware.org/
It's a menu driven system to generate the Duet configuration files (not just for the DuetWifi), with the ability to use templates as a start point for customisation.
It is still a bit of a work in progress so I would really appreciate if you could use it to try your printer setup and have a look at the file generated to see if there are any differences between what you expected and what was generated.
If anyone is using a specific printer type that we should add as a template then please let me know.
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looks really nice! I clicked through and I especially like the hover hints for the values. I think it would be great to use these to put the value into perspective, e.g. for maximum instantaneous speed change: << 5 mm/s2 for a "wobbly" frame and 20mm/s2 for a solid box (e.g. ultimaker) >> or link to a wiki from the configurator?
heretic mode on:
why show ormerod and fisher selections, if the can not be chosen? "No you can not have candy"
scnr -
Hi, I guess Christian has those as examples that still need templates.
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Well I tried to run through it but got frustrated on the motors and endstop pages…... I I select Delta then the example settings should reflect a Delta not a cartesian setup.
After entering all the values as I currently have configured it in my 0.8.5 config.g anyway it then gave an error on the finish page that the motors page had errors... yep the current setting at 1600mA was red.... yet this is the value I use all the time in real life. at least the motors page should give a warning immediately that your above a "normal" expected value and default then to the max value for the configurator that seems to be 1200.
Next thought is why not just ask the motor step size/pulley teethcount/belt pitch to calculate the steps/mm ...
Sorry but this feels like a tool that is written by the expert who already knows all the values that should be entered rather than as a tool to help the newbie generate a critical file.
Apologies for sounding harsh
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Hi Phil
Thanks for the feedback - I had not seen those maximums and will ask Christian to change them.
A steps/mm calculator built in is a good idea.
You do need some knowledge right now to use it, we want it to develop to the point that it is more suitable for someone who has never setup their 3d printer before so:
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Default values that reflect the type of printer chose (delta vs Cartesian)
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steps/mm calculator
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immediate feedback if invalid values are added, and default to an appropriate value
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separate feedback if potentially unsuitable but not invalid values are added
and from auser:
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A range of appropriate values where suitable
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link to the relevant wiki page for the documentation
Cheers
Tony
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Thanks Tony,
for taking the comments in the spirit they were meant but maybe didn't soundCheers
Phil -
Just starting to commission my new printer so I tried this out.
Very impressive - answering questions makes life so much easier than trawling through all the various g codes. Many thanks to Chris Ham.
Just a couple of things I noticed. I have a mixing hot end ( 3extruders, single heater). So, I defined 4 tools all using all 3 extruders and the single heater but with different mixing ratios for each one. i.e Tool 0 is set to mix at 1:0;0., tool 1 is 0:1:0, tool 2 is 0:0:1 and tool 3 is 0.33:0.33:0.34. This is all fine and dandy but the generated config.g may be messed up as far as heaters are concerned. What I got was H1 for tool 1, but just H with no number for the other tools. I was expecting to see H1 for all tools. I'm not sure what "H" with no number would default to, so that's why I said the heaters may be messed up, not that they were messed up.
The only other thing I can think of would be adding support for the PT100 and Thermocouple boards (M305). There is the facility to add "extras" at the end of the process so it's no big deal to add these but the user needs then to comment out the thermistor and ADC parameters presumably (hope so 'cos that what I've done).
Ian
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Hi Ian
H with no number looks like a bug, I will pass on to Christian. You are right they should be the same heater for each.
I will add the feature request to chris about the PT100/TC boards.
Regarding the way you defined the tools, I presume you have added the tools with no feedrate for 2 out of 3 of the colours to overcome the extraction issue you referred to in another conversation?
For those who find this thread and are interested how to use the Diamond hotend:
I assume you defined the tools using M563 and then set the mixing rations using:
http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M567:_Set_tool_mix_ratiosAfter that you will then be able to import a multipart model into your slicer and define each part as using a different tool to get a different colour/material for that part.
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The PT100 and thermocouple support is already there, it's under "sensor channel" on the Heaters page.
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The PT100 and thermocouple support is already there, it's under "sensor channel" on the Heaters page.
Hi David,
I was going to say that although one can change the ADC channel, it doesn't give Xnnn but forget that. I've just double checked and sure enough it is there but right at the end of the ADC parameters
i.e. M305 P0 T1000 B3988 C0 R4700 L0 H0 X200.
God that was hard to spot. Presumably the firmware will ignore other values that are in that string?
Ian
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Hi Ian
Regarding the way you defined the tools, I presume you have added the tools with no feedrate for 2 out of 3 of the colours to overcome the extraction issue you referred to in another conversation?
For those who find this thread and are interested how to use the Diamond hotend:
I assume you defined the tools using M563 and then set the mixing rations using:
http://reprap.org/wiki/G-code#M567:_Set_tool_mix_ratiosAfter that you will then be able to import a multipart model into your slicer and define each part as using a different tool to get a different colour/material for that part.
Hi Tony,
Yes that's correct. This is how I use the Diamond hot end currently on my ageing, creaking Mendel. By defining a mix ratio of 1:0:0 one is effectively using only one extruder. So, for the three inputs, all the tool definitions are the same in that they all have the same 3 extruders and they all share the same heater and they are all set to use mixing. What distinguishes them apart is the mixing ratio. So tool 0 has a mix ratio of 1:0:0 meaning that it will effectively only use extruder 0. Tool 1 has the mix ratio set to 0:1:0 so effectively only uses extruder 1. Tool 3 is set to 0:0:1 so will only use extruder 2. Tool 4 has a mix ratio of 0:34:0.33:0.33 so uses all 3 extruders in (almost) equal amounts.
That's the way I have it set up. I have 3 tools which are each of the 3 single filaments and one which is a mix of (by default) all 3 in equal proportions. There is nothing to stop anyone from defining any number of tools e.g, 0.5:0.5:0 which would effectively give 50% of each of 2 filaments and 0 of the third. The only thing to remember is that the sum of the mix ratios must add up to 1. I'm not sure what would happen if it didn't - presumably under or over extrusion.
Having a huge number of tools isn't really necessary because one can change the mix ratio on the fly or have it embedded in the GCode. I don't know if you saw this http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?166,647072
Ian
P.S. Duet is wired up and running - commissioning is going well so far.
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Ian, is there any chance you didn't activate the H0 heater for all tools on the config tool? You could check that again by loading "config.json" after clicking on "Use existing template" on the welcome page.
At the moment the config tool tries to map only one heater+extruder per added tool, so assuming you have four heaters+extruders and create three new tools, the default tool mapping would look like this:
T0: H0, E0
T1: H1, E1
T2: H2, E2
T3: H3, E3Maybe it would make more sense to pre-select all the heaters and extruders if a tool is added and the number of extruders and heaters differs? I guess that would make things a bit simpler when mixing nozzles are configured.
In addition it could show a warning if a tool is supposed to be generated without assigned extruders or heaters.
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Just another quicky. The generated homing files don't have a movement to home at the end. Obviously that's irrelevant for home X and home Y but home Z and home all left the probe at the trigger height and at the X Y probing position. Is that expected behaviour? I don't have anything to go on other than the original RRP Mendel files which always moved Z to 0 after homing and home all moved all 3 axes to 0. Looking at a Slic3r generated gcode file, there doesn't seem to be anything at the start to move the axes to 0 if it isn't done by the homing files.
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Well, it depends on what you prefer - I like to leave the nozzle at the trigger height when the bed is probed.
As a consequence all my G-code files have a custom starting G-code which instructs the printer to go just beyond the bed and then to go down to Z=0.3, which allows me the do a trivial "snort-cutter" move that removes left-over plastic from the nozzle just before anything is printed. Also if you have a sensitive build surface like BuildTak and leave the nozzle at Z=0, there is a risk of damaging it when the nozzle is heated up.
If you find this behaviour disturbing, I may add an extra option to the config tool to move the nozzle back to XYZ=0 once Z has been homed/probed, but I guess that's really optional.
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I noticed this configuration tool mentions the ability to define a Steinhart-Hart coefficient as term C of the M306 gcode in Firmware 1.16.
Is this supported in the current version 1.15c or do we need to wait for 1.16?
Also, upon entering the appropriate values from the Semitec 104-2GT datasheet I get:
M305 P1 T100000 B4338 C7.034421808033219e-8 R4700 L0 H0Is scientific notation OK or should that be 0.0000000703442181?
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AussiePhil, that is a bit off-topic, but could you explain a bit (preferably in another thread) how you did cool your board, as the value of 1600 is indeed quite high for the Duet 0.8.5. Your machine is quite on the edge, it might be interesting to create a page with some specifications on the RepRap Wiki.
As for the value exceeding limits in the configuration tool, instead of enforcing values, may be a warning might be better or the possibility to overpass the told limit.
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Ian, is there any chance you didn't activate the H0 heater for all tools on the config tool? You could check that again by loading "config.json" after clicking on "Use existing template" on the welcome page.
At the moment the config tool tries to map only one heater+extruder per added tool, so assuming you have four heaters+extruders and create three new tools, the default tool mapping would look like this:
T0: H0, E0
T1: H1, E1
T2: H2, E2
T3: H3, E3Maybe it would make more sense to pre-select all the heaters and extruders if a tool is added and the number of extruders and heaters differs? I guess that would make things a bit simpler when mixing nozzles are configured.
In addition it could show a warning if a tool is supposed to be generated without assigned extruders or heaters.
Hi Chris,
You are absolutely right - I didn't activate the heater (E0 in this case) for all the tools - my bad. In my defence the configurator did show the heater as being E0 and I assumed that it was selected, but on closer examination I can see that it was in a lighter shade of grey than when it is selected. Maybe a larger contrast between selected and not selected might help in these situation? (esspecially for old guys like me who's eyesite isn't what it was).
So I can confirm that it does work as it should. Your other suggestions sound good.
Ian
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I Would also suggest altering the Bed.G generator to fit in with the latest FW that will allow for upto 64 probe point's and also to allow for a Probe offset in there that does not impact the Config.G file.
I ran it thru a short while ago and it didn't actually complete Ie it didn't download anything?
Maybe change the selected colour to Green that would show a little better?
Doug
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Well, it depends on what you prefer - I like to leave the nozzle at the trigger height when the bed is probed.
As a consequence all my G-code files have a custom starting G-code which instructs the printer to go just beyond the bed and then to go down to Z=0.3, which allows me the do a trivial "snort-cutter" move that removes left-over plastic from the nozzle just before anything is printed. Also if you have a sensitive build surface like BuildTak and leave the nozzle at Z=0, there is a risk of damaging it when the nozzle is heated up.
If you find this behaviour disturbing, I may add an extra option to the config tool to move the nozzle back to XYZ=0 once Z has been homed/probed, but I guess that's really optional.
Hi again Chris,
I have no personal preference as to how it should be and it's certainly not disturbing behaviour. My own way of doing it is to pe-heat the nozzle to around 120deg C before homing Z as the Diamond hot end has a tendency to ooze after a print has finished. On homing prior to the next print, the resulting lump of cold plastic used to flex the bed on my somewhat flimsy Mendel, and really screw things up. I guess everyone has their own way of doing it. I'm just thinking of new users who maybe haven't got around to doing any sort of start gcode on their slicers. They will (should) at least home all before starting their first print, so having it go to XYZ =0 might be a better default than leaving it somewhere else?
Ian
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Ian Bare in mind that on a delta you home to Max Z tho I would think that it takes this into account (At least I hope so)
Doug
