Cohesion3d.com when you are ready. I will look forward to your orders. http://Cohesion3d.com
@raykholo I would wonder about the possibility of having a wireless display like from using a old tablet or cellphone and then the glcd display port having a wireless transmitter over Bluetooth or something.
@Jonathan_Davis_Leo_L It will also work with non CO2 lasers, just not all the functions like water temp or door interlocks, those can be hardwired closed.
Huh, can’t checkout from Cohesion website … keeps telling me an invalid order was found. Tried it twice now.
@Ashley_M_Kirchner_No Debugging now. Message me on hangouts please.
Used a different browser … success. Guess I had to force my money down the pipe three times for it to take. 
I see the order. Awesome! Can you still contact me privately please?
Assuming HO is working …
You got my order too, no issue placing it ;-))
I see Thanks!
Now help spread the word please
@raykholo this community is the best support I could offer to you (spread the wor(L)d)
@raykholo and I have been talking about an auxiliary multipurpose board that handles all the interlocks and machine level errors.
Excuse this long post …
I wanted to make the installation of interlocks easier as I think there are WAY to many people running without them. There isn’t much excuse cause they are the easiest electronics hack one can do to a K40. Therefore I wanted it to work with the stock K40 also so this could be installed without a controller conversion.
Here is what I have implemented so far in my machine. Note: the mounting of the middleman on the interlock breakout turned out to be a nuisance and I will remove it.
Don's Laser Cutter Things: K40-S Interlocks & Breakout Board
Our thinking goes something like this:
…A stand alone auxiliary board that collects all the interlocks and any device that needs to inhibit the laser firing into an easy to wire central point. Uses screw terminals so that no connectors are needed. Comes as a kit with the micro-switches and mounting bracket designs which are open source laser cut acrylic.
… LEDs on the edge of the board that tell you what interlock is open. [this could be a display or a remote LED panel]. I like the remote led panel idea so it can be mounted in a vertical manner next to other displays.
… An alert pin that goes to the Smoothie and is processed as a switch. It activates if any machine error exists.
… An optional 3 bit alert error code (we really did not want to make the use of 3 smoothie input pins mandatory though, and this would require firmware changes)
… plugs in between the laser power supply and the stock or smoothie controller so it is powered by the 5VDC of the LPS. Compatible with stock K40 LPS connectors or screw terminals.
… inexpensive; target $25 max $50.
… options:
… fuses and indicators on LPS DC voltages
… PPI circuitry [if a simple approach works]
I have seen some processor based controllers that can/do similar things so i do not know how much of a duplication this may be. I am not really motivated to duplicate anything.
We can interface with the controller to read and in turn control the response but that would require firmware and testing to insure that has the bandwidth to process these along with all the other stuff it does. It also would mean that you would have to change the firmware in every configuration of controller boards firmware (non smoothie) it is used with. I concluded the system should be standalone and have the ability to report and aggregate error signal to the controller.
Design wise the interlock system cannot be solely controlled by a processor. For safety reasons it must be a hard wired circuit. It can however be monitored by a processor for reporting and display.
I am going to split this post and discuss the AC control system next.
I also concluded that the control of AC accessories should be a separate subsystem.
http://donsthings.blogspot.com/2016/11/k40-s-ac-power-systems-design.html … outlines the design I am using.
I wanted AC devices to be controllable from the controller and also from a set of switches on a panel. Initially I had everything plugged into a power strip that turned everything on/off.
I planned to control all AC devices from SSR’s but found out that some AC devices cannot be controlled with a SSR, I still do not know why. My blower is one that will not work with an SSR so I decided to use relays.
In the current design I have used an inexpensive relay control board that is controlled by panel switches and can also be connected via open drain to the controller if processor control is warranted.
I plan to eventually turn on/off the vacuum and air assist with the smoothie using a couple of open drain outputs and assigned G codes.
For now the air assist and led finder are turned on from the panel because I am not sure I want them on for every job. The water pump always turns on with the main switch and is not controllable. However I am considering going to a DC powered external pump as I dont like an AC cord in a water bucket and I also want to control the flow rate.
My experience with the current design led me to believe that a standalone AC control PCB breakout might be appreciated because sooner or later the control of external AC devices will raise its head on a K40 users list of hacks. Wiring all these AC plugs is annoying and doing it wrong can be dangerous.
So I had imagined an AC PCB that contains the plugs, the relays and an interface connector. A second PCB that contains the AC control panel switches.
This kind of PCB design needs to consider:
… the mounting of the AC assy to the machine
… circuit breakers
… accommodate different plug configurations
“Maybe instructions on how to hack a power strip to make it controllable”
I’m Interested in what folks think?
@donkjr keep it simple as a K40.
the only thing I would do, is a waterflow sensor check to be able to fire ( I bought it and never done it). keep other interlock direct on the PSU.
@StephaneBUISSON yup simple is important. My waterflow and temp sensors in series with the interlock loop independent of AC control??
FWIW Smoothieboards have thermistor sensors and mosfets already. And the temperatureswitch module can be used to monitor temps and switch stuff on or off accordingly. It is already there.
@Wolfmanjm can we also see the temp somehow in the interface and shut down the laser without a firmware change
It sounds like what @Wolfmanjm is saying that it’s possible, using the circuitry already present on the Smoothieboards, to do exactly that. We might not be able to actually get to see the temperature displayed, but the board can detect when that fault occurs and shut things down accordingly. At least, that’s how I understand his comment.
@Ashley_M_Kirchner_No that would be cool how do we do it?