Best posts made by Red Sand Robot

@littlehobbyshop
I think I got it to work. There are two lines of sneaky variables that I missed the first time I copied the blocks over, had to do with the var iOutput = createReferenceVariable({prefix:"I", force:true}, xyzFormat); // circular output1 and
var jOutput = createReferenceVariable({prefix:"J", force:true}, xyzFormat); // circular output variables being missing in my initial modification to your post.

For whatever reason, it is not working with a custom print profile, but I changed over to the stock "ABS 1.75mm" print profile and it was generating G3 commands for a flat donut shape.

unofficial rrf machine with arc smoothing.cps

1032.gcode

I think modifying the stock print profiles in certain ways may affect the curve fitting.

@bot I agree, fitting after the fact is not optimal but it is a step in the right direction. Probably leverage existing code from their CAM workspace to make it work.

I was reading the current roadmap blog post for Fusion 360, and it seems they are working on implementing G2/G3 support. (Also adding support for resin printers but I think the vast majority of Duets are used with filament printers.

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) Improvements

After the March 2020 update, Fusion 360 became a slicer for FFF printers overnight. As awesome as this release was for FFF, it had a couple of kinks. The team has, since then, been working hard at improving the usability and fixing any and all reported issues. You can expect to see a continued investment in this area. We are adding new printers, new post files and new functionality update after update. Some of the key projects that excites us are around G2/G3 support, new infill types, dual extrusion improvements and overall increased performance around toolpath generation.

Stereolithography (SLA) / Digital light projector (DLP) 3D Printing

FFF and metal powder bed fusion printers are great and all, but 3D printer processes are very diverse, and we want Fusion 360 to support all kinds of printing techniques. We are working on enabling SLA and DLP print preparation such as integrating printer workspaces, SLA/DLP specific support generation methods, packing parts within the platform, and slicing models for these types of printers. We can’t wait to see what you design and print using Fusion 360.

https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/fusion-360-roadmap-update-2020/#Additive

(They do have a section on their forum for adding feedback for the FFF slicer part of Fusion 360, so I would think a fair amount of Duet users could give them some good, critical feedback on the quality of toolpath generation, needed features, issues, etc.)

I would like to present the Hydra 400 - a tool changing 3D printer with a 400mm cubed build volume, rigid frame made from 3030 and 3060 aluminum, integrated filament bay, and heated enclosure. We will be using the Duet 2 Wifi with a DueX5 to power all of the steppers and associated things we will be including.

I and my senior capstone team at my university have spent the last 7 weeks designing this, and will build the machine in the fall. The tool changer mechanism we are using can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3365456 all credit goes to the original designer, and many thanks for him releasing it open source. At this point the design is about 95% complete, with some small details here and there that still need to be figured out.

This forum and its community have provided a huge source of inspiration for this project. As project lead, the knowledge gained from this forum and others enabled me to very quickly and efficiently determine the most feasible design choices for our limited amount of time given for design, allowed me to make quick design choices, and effectively demonstrate to our professor that though our scope of work is large, we would be able to deliver upon all of our stated goals.

We are planning on releasing our design files, full bill of material with links to where we are sourcing components, and config.g and Cura machine profiles once we are finished with the project; open source is the whole reason behind the state of the 3D printing industry currently and we would love to contribute to it.

As the title says, the slicer in Fusion 360, while still a little rough, now has the ability to apply 'Arc Fit Optimization' for models.
Super stoked about this development, and I am actually surprised they got around to implementing it this quickly given how slow they have been with other needed updates for other environments (namely adding weld symbols in the drawing environment)

Seems that the new fiber printer from Desktop Metal (competing with Markforged obviously) is using a Duet with a Panel Due and also using the tool changer concept from e3D (and what seems to be at least an e3D nozzle if not an entire v6 hotend assembly

https://www.desktopmetal.com/products/fiber/

@t3p3tony Our main inspiration was the e3D ToolChanger! As soon as I saw videos of that I knew i wanted to do something similar for my senior project.

My team and I only have around 8 weeks to do the design of the machine, so that open source cable driven tool changer mechanism seemed like the cheapest, easily made/modified, and most reliable method we could find. It would have added to our scope of work to also design a tool change mechanism from scratch, and although doable it seemed more practical to make use of and modify a preexisting design.

We're using Markforged-style kinematics for the XY axis, and I haven't seen much on the forum about people actually making use of that kinematic class in the firmware so it will be interesting to get that working.

@Phaedrux @arhi @littlehobbyshop

Look for this line in the RRF post processor (or your own custom one):

capabilities = CAPABILITY_ADDITIVE;
highFeedrate = (unit == MM) ? 6000 : 236;

Beneath that, copy and paste this block:

// used for arc support or linearization
tolerance = spatial(0.002, MM); // may be set higher i.e 0.02?
minimumChordLength = spatial(0.25, MM);
minimumCircularRadius = spatial(0.4, MM);
maximumCircularRadius = spatial(1000, MM);
minimumCircularSweep = toRad(0.01);
maximumCircularSweep = toRad(180);
allowHelicalMoves = false; // disable helical support
allowSpiralMoves = false; // disable spiral support
allowedCircularPlanes = 1 << PLANE_XY; // allow XY circular motion

And farther below that, in the functions section, paste this below the onLinearExtrude function.

function onCircularExtrude(_clockwise, _cx, _cy, _cz, _x, _y, _z, _f, _e) {
  var x = xOutput.format(_x);
  var y = yOutput.format(_y);
  var z = zOutput.format(_z);
  var f = feedOutput.format(_f);
  var e = eOutput.format(_e);
  var start = getCurrentPosition();
  var i = iOutput.format(_cx - start.x, 0); // arc center relative to start point
  var j = jOutput.format(_cy - start.y, 0);
  
  switch (getCircularPlane()) {
  case PLANE_XY:
    writeBlock(gMotionModal.format(_clockwise ? 2 : 3), x, y, i, j, f, e);
    break;
  default:
    linearize(tolerance);
  }
}

Those are the only differences I can currently see between the generic FFF post processor and the Prusa post processor.

Note: I still have not tested this yet. Also, it may be worth looking in to the variables defining circular moves, i.e. minimumChordLength and seeing what those may change.

If it uses sensorless homing normally, wouldn't installing a normal endstop switch correct for that issue?

@TypQxQ

I have dual Y steppers plugged in to the Z-axis stepper port, with the X plugged in as normal. Only thing I needed to do to get the kinematics to work correctly was to invert a number in the motor matrix. Without the second Y-stepper racking was very severe.

@Phaedrux @arhi Scratch that, those additions aren't quite enough. Using the Prusa post however does generate G3 moves! It cut a roughly 1100kb file to around 500kb. Still trying to get the 'rrf' post to function correctly

@jrwaters2 said in Odd behavior on Z driver using both Za and Zb:

So, I connected the Za and Zb cables to two free motors and it looks like the motors run in opposite directions!

I recently had the same issue with that driver. You are most likely going to need to do what @Danal suggests and reverse the rotation of one of the steppers by swapping the coils physically with a wiring change.

In my config, I have the Z driver set to operate backwards. I thought perhaps the driver configuration was wrong and only operating on Za so I set it to forwards, at least hoping the two would run in the same direction.

The firmware does not see Za and Zb as separate. There is only one driver associated with both of those physical connections, so changing the motor direction in the config file will change the output for both of those connections. Again, it will be necessary to change the wiring of the coils physically to get both motors to move in the direction you want.

@hauschka I had the same thought to try to implement DWC in the monitor tab! If you have anything in useable state I'd be interested in testing it out.

It is a real shame that Autodesk's personal use policies have detracted from the addition of a barebones 'arc fit' function for their slicer in F360. I just thought it was a neat addition, and implemented very quick compared to other features, but it got overshadowed immediately by removal of features. I feel the better direction would have been to stagger some features behind cheaper paywalls (i.e. $10 USD/month for 5-axis CAM, $10USD/month for simulation, etc) vs locking everything behind a commercial subscription when it is likely a majority of their current user base are not commercial.

(edit: spelling)

@DanL I think to ensure that it only connects to the SHOP2 network, you need to send M588 to disconnect from the original network it was connected to (in this case SHOP).

M588: Forget WiFi host network
M558 S"ccc" Network SSID to remove from the remembered list