To see this working, head to your live site.

Edited: Jan 08, 2019

AR2 from switzerland

in Robot Builds

Hi there ;)

I finally pulled the trigger, can't wait to build it !

Thank you Chris for all your work and sharing it, It's awesome.

Meanwhile I'm printing plastics parts and working on the controler.

I plan to build something similar to the smoothiebrainz CNC controller I made a few years ago:

But the big plan is to connect almost everything with a single top PCB. Pins will be soldered on the bottom and screwed in the driver's connectors.

I can either put an arduino footprint or mount a mega2650 directly on the pcb. Not yet decided but I have everything in stock so...

Early WIP:

How is the heat generation on the "recommended" enclosure ? I might add fan(s) if I go compact.

44 comments

44 Comments

Share Your ThoughtsSign up to leave a comment.

rochmesa

Jul 18, 2019

Hi.... totally dismantled the CNCCS prototype. Many of the parts are the same as used on the current builds, so I decided to do a new build from scratch so that I could utilize these parts. On this build I am going to go with aluminum on the plate material. My goal is to do this without any special machining gear. IE pretty much using a drill press. Before I get started I wanted to show you my layout since you will see much of it in the background of this build.

turnkey pcb assembly

Paul

Jul 18, 2019

Replying to

1) Sorry, what is the "CNCCS prototype"

2) If you can use as much aluminium plate I think that is a great goal.

3) Can we see the layout?

matthew flego

Mar 04, 2019

@Max Favre I'm so glad that your thinking of using Trinamics. I was also thinking the same when I first saw your design. Do you follow Marco Reps on youtube? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzO9skEYqwY I wonder if limit switches are necessary with the trinamics current sense back shown in his video here.

Do you think an HDMI cable could work? OR DVI? I have been reading that in premium HDMI cables that the strands are paired and sub wrapped by AL as pairs then externally wrapped by braided steel or AL. Furthermore premiums can have 26 or 28 AWG which might be able to handle the current. 2 amps roughly at 26 awg. https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm I haven't dived into the typical current draw for this arm design using the motors from the stepper online kit, so take that with a grain of salt.

Also I am a big fan of raspberry pi. Any interest in model 3b+?

matthew flego

Mar 04, 2019

Replying to

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Commercial-24AWG-Speed-Jacket/dp/B005CAPIDW

Max Favre

Mar 04, 2019

Replying to

DVI won't work neither. They are similar to VGA with digital signal added. Some pins are common ground, analog signals use coaxial wire,etc.

HDMI looks like the same with common grounds

matthew flego

Mar 02, 2019

Max, This is a very intensive piece of work. Thank you for contributing back, I would love to try this board out when I start my build/s. Are you planning to continue to develop this? ;and what ECAD / CAD platform do you work with?

Zach Allen

Mar 04, 2019

Replying to

@Max Favre I’m using an RPi as the computer, hence the 5V step down. AMd the 12V one is to power the Arduino, so I only need the one 24V 10A power supply. Not sure if that’ll yield current issues with the Arduino or Pi, but no problems yet.

I’ve been playing around with Trinamic’s TMC5160-BOB, and hope to make an integrated driver board like the SlushEngine. The parts aren’t super cheap, but not too much more than the StepperOnline drivers. What I love about Trinamic’s drivers is the ability to set a position and let it do the positioning work, rather than having to deal with the Step/Dir - it takes a lot of work off the CPU. The trickiest bit is the firmware, to get all the motors to sync (move their respective distances in the same amount of time). But I’m working on it, while also modifying the AR2 design to put all the electronics in he base rather than a separate enclosure. Another nice thing about the Trinamics is the capability to do sensorless homing - making a hard stop at each end of travel rather than using limit switches and having to manually enter in the mac travel.

I‘m wrapping up my how-to for using the AR2 software on a Raspberry Pi, and will hopeully pull-request that to @Chris Annin this week - it’s long overdue. The next steps will be to get the Trinamic firmware sorted out in Python so there‘s no need for the Arduino.

Max Favre

Mar 04, 2019

Replying to

@Zach Allen Cool ! That's great news !

I have to confess I'm more a hardware/electronic designer than a programmer. I work as automation engineer, mainly with PLC and doing some specific C# dev. I'm way more at ease with arduino which is close to a PLC than a pi and python scripts. So I tend to design things in my scope of knowledge.

I'm 100% with you regarding a Slushengine-like on-base controller / sensorless homing and get rid of the step/dir control. I can gladly spend some time designing the electronics but porting the software is out of my reach for now.

Zach Allen

Mar 04, 2019

Replying to

@Max Favre I’m a mechanical engineer, so from a professional standpoint most of this is new to me. I’ve got experience designing PCBs and SMT soldering, but am new to the programming sort of stuff. Totally understand that about sticking to what you know in Arduino. My process was going to be getting the logic sorted out with the Arduino since Chris’s program is sending “simplified” commands from the computer, then adapt it back to python and embed it into the base code for the RPi - at that point it’s just using the different syntax of python.

We’ll see, it‘ll take some time.

ruizvial

Mar 02, 2019

Looks like T-1000. Very well. Regards from Chile.

Paul

Feb 22, 2019

Wow. That looks incredible. Very clean and well built.

Are there any available for purchase? I'm happy to do all the soldering if need be :)

Max Favre

Mar 03, 2019

Replying to

Thanks ;)

I have 4 blank boards. As said I can solder the SMT parts and do the flashing-thing.

Through-hole components (and smt) are easy to find on aliexpress,etc

If you can solder SMT I can ship you the blank board. It should be ok to send it as a letter.

Paul

Mar 08, 2019

Replying to

@Max Favre Awesome. Perhaps send me an email and we can go from there. I am on: PaulMclaugh at Gmail.com

Max Favre

Feb 15, 2019

The final part is here:

All soldered

With the 3d printed housing, cables enter from behind

In the meanwhile I discovered that some VGA cables simplified: ground pins are shared. I need to find 3 fully wired.

Max Favre

Feb 05, 2019

Here are the source files for the PCBs projects:

Controller shield:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BVWQ9XtNRVI-LLkeI67GsTA8-qUJy9d6?usp=sharing

! Require reflow oven SMD soldering and some arduino knowledge to flash the bootloader

BOM and 7th axis version coming soon

Robot interface:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DC262n13lVaJyhVmGSyD9pbmnmeG-PZu?usp=sharing

SMD soldering are optional status leds, doable by hand.

Use VGA connectors and wago 804-103 & 804-104

3d printed housing coming soon.

I ordered 5 pieces of each, used 1 and will spare 1 "in case of" so 3 sets are available. I don't intend to make any money of them, they're just better being used than taking dust in a drawer. I gladly do the SMD and flashing magic, the other components are on your side.

Meanwhile you can order the boards yourself by uploading the zip on the gerber folder on JLCPCB or any other pcb maker.

Max Favre

Feb 04, 2019

Mechanical assembly is almost done, wiring is on the way ;)