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Upgraded controllers

kimgross

Things are a little slow in here.   So what do people think of the upgraded 32 bit controllers for 3d printers?   I have a 3d printer (prusa I3 clone), that I want to add a second extruder to, but the custom board that it came with does not have any extra driver ports, so to upgrade I have to put on a new controller.  I can go inexpensive with a ramps setup, or upgrade to a better 32 bit controller.   

 

So what do you think?

  • Kim-

    32bit controllers are going to be taking over the 8bit such as Ramps and Rambo.  I'm really impressed what the people at Smoothieboard have done.  There soon to be released Smoothieboard V2 Pro is stacked with some very nice features.  Over the years we the 3D printing community has tasked the older controllers to execute a lot of tasks that has pushed them over the edge.  With higher speeds a want/must the 8bit gets really choppy.  Just my thoughts.

     

    Nate

  • in reply to Nate1616

    I would agree with you completely Nate.  My biggest issue is the cost difference right now.  I know I can get a complete Ramps setup for less than $50, while a smoothie is much much more.   Have you worked with any of the other 32 bit boards?   Or what about  a Raspberry PI with drivers setup?

  • in reply to kimgross

    Kim-

    I agree the cost is higher than for say ramps.  Yes, I have worked extensively with the Smoothieboard and am currently helping those guys port the code to the new Smoothie Pro which I'm hoping will get released later this year.  The big plus for me using Smothieboard is how easy it is to modify the firmware on the fly.  Yes, i can do it re-flashing firmware on older boards but smoothie is just a text file that gets replaced.

     

    Nate

  • in reply to Nate1616

    I really like the sound of that, I guess I need to get me a smoothie board.    image  Need any help porting the code?  I have my degree in CS and am looking to help in the 3d printer space.  Just not sure what to do.  I sent an email to the slic3r dev to see about helping but have not heard back yet.