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The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.

Posted by JustAnotherOne 
The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 06, 2017 06:28PM
This is what I'm currently working on. I want to share it in case it could be helpful to you. Also cooperation would be appreciated.

I have seen people in this forum cheering for cheaper boards. And people in this forum have argued in favor of more modular boards. And I have seen a lot of very intelligent and very experienced users. If you find yourself described by that then this is for you!

Disclaimer:
- This Idea is not new, others used this concept before.
- If you just want to buy a board plug it in and expect it to work then this is not for you.

The basic principle is very easy. Just splitting a 3d printer board up into separate modules and to then use cheap standard modules for each part. If you don't want to solder then make sure to only order modules that come already assembled.

This is what mine looks right now (Many jumper cables are still missing):




So here are the modules:

CPU Module:
ST Nucleo Board. Either the STM32F401RE or better the STM32F466RE. These can be bought for about 13 Euros. The boards have 51 GPIOs and a hardware debugger(St-Link) is included. That allows you to step through your code, line by line, and to inspect the value of variables. It connects to the PC using USB and includes a UART to USB converter.

Steppers:
You can either use the CnC-Shield or a bit of prototyping PCB a 50V 100µF capacitor and some headers.









The CNC-Shield are available here for 2 Euros (including 4 Stepper driver and an Arduino Uno clone it is 10 Euros total)
[www.ebay.de]

If you don't have them already you can get 5 Stepper drivers for 5 Euros here:
[www.ebay.de]

Power Supply
You will need 5V for the CPU Module (The Nucleo then provides 5V and 3.3V to the processor and directly connected low current modules).
You will need a "high Voltage" for the heaters and motors. You can use an old PC-power supply or a LED-power pupply(Mains to 12V) for that.
To get the 5 Volt you can use this:
[www.ebay.de]
or
[www.ebay.de]
bot cost one Euro.

End Stops
There are a wide variety of micoswitches available. They also are available for less than a Euro a piece.

Heaters
For the Nozzle and the Bed you can use these MOSFETs (one for each nozzle and one for the Bed)
[www.ebay.de]
At 6 Euros there are rather "expensive". And you need two (One for the Bed the other for the Nozzle) But you can probably find cheaper ones, especially if you are willing to solder them yourself.

Temperature sensors
I assume the thermo element comes with your bed or nozzle (If not then thermistors are also available for less than one Euro). To use a thermistor a resistor and a capacitor are enough. Just solder them directly in between the Thermistor and the CPU Pin or use a breadboard. Those are also around a Euro. If you don't have resistors or capacitors they are much less than an Euro.

For a printer with a Thermocouple you need something like this (warning not assembled)
[www.ebay.de]
And another 3 Euro gone.

Nice to haves
If you need / want an SD-card interface then invest one Euro into this:
[www.ebay.de]
There are also buzzers available.

To wire it all up you need some Jumper wire and normal wire and screw joints, or do some soldering.

To sum it up regarding on what you need and what you already have in your workshop you can get away with way less than 50 Euro for a 32bit solution.

If you want to spend more but like the modularity then maybe the Juicyboard is for you
[plugg.ee]
Re: The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 07, 2017 10:25PM
I think there is already support for such hardware in Teacup firmware, there is a branch for stm32f4xx (see config for cnc shield v3 + nucleo). However I am not sure how well it works or if everything is supported.
Re: The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 08, 2017 07:20AM
Marlin and maybe others also have a branch with support for STM32F4. I also don't know how functional (or future proof) these branches are.

I work on getting Pacemaker with pmc to work on my printer.
Re: The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 09, 2017 03:47AM
This forum is a miracle to me:
I know I asked the question about firmware support. And there are two answers to my question, but I can't see my question??
VDX
Re: The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 09, 2017 04:41AM
... could be, you thread was intentionally flagged as spam and deleted confused smiley


Viktor
--------
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Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]
Re: The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 09, 2017 05:03AM
Quote
o_lampe
This forum is a miracle to me:
I know I asked the question about firmware support. And there are two answers to my question, but I can't see my question??

Maybe you have used some blacklisted word parts by coincidence ?

Chri


[chrisu02.wordpress.com] Quadmax Intel Delid Tools
Re: The probably cheapest and most modular 32bit solution.
August 12, 2017 03:00PM
The 5V Module can deliver up to 3A. That is sufficient to also power an Raspberry Pi. For example a Raspberry Pi Zero W. Thats another 10+ Euros for the Raspberry Pi Zero W, Some Euros for the µsd card. If you prefer Ethernet then there are USB-Ethernet adapters for a few Euros that work with the Raspberry Pi.

With an Octopi image on the sdcard you then have a 3dprinter with wifi (and Ethernet) that also gives you some more GPIOs (RGB-LEDs,..)

I haven't found a cheap solution for touch-Display and Web-cam though.
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