I have a Re-ARM board from Panucatt Devices, and I just received a K40 Laser Cutter. I am impressed with what I have read about how well Smoothieware works with Laser Cutters. I got the Re-ARM to go along with a RAMPS board and LCD display for another project, but since I now have the K40, I would like to use it there.
On the surface, it seems like a simple task. There is X and Y axis motors to control and home switches for each. Then there is the Laser control. I suspect that since the Re-ARM board is intended for the RAMPS board, the pinouts may be different than other Smoothieboards. Therefore, I am expecting this to be a matter of figuring out the config and making sure the laser is connected correctly.
My biggest issue is that I am completely unfamiliar with ARM controllers and Smoothieware. I have experience with AVR processors, grbl, and other CNC applications. I plan to use external stepper drivers (at least initially), so only need to deal with step and direction outputs. The Re-ARM will be connected to a 12864 LCD, and I may want to customize the menu.
I am hoping that there are people here that can help me with sorting this out. I have spent hours with Google and searching this forum, and I am finding the answers seem to be scattered about the internet. Once my machine is working, I will post the solutions on one of my web pages so others can find the info in one place.
Since I am inexperienced with Smoothieware, I am looking for an overview of what is required to configure it for the laser, and a brief explanation of how it controls its power. Since the Re-ARM is already set up for a RAMPS and 12864 LCD, I am thinking to start by getting that going, then add X and Y axis motion and home switches. Then work on the laser.
Can someone please explain what the connections to the laser PSU are, and the method to get Smoothieware to control it?
Imported from wikidot
It’s very simple. Many many users have done it before you, all the information is in a single place, and if you read it, you will know 99% ( or even probably 100% ) of what you need.
Please read : <http://smoothieware.org/laser-cutter-guide>>> and <<<FLOATING LINK: http://smoothieware.org/laser>
Thank you Arthur. I have read both those links. They were confusing to me so I came here. They are full of information to sort through and I don’t know enough about Smoothieware to understand what applies to my application and what doesn’t. That’s why I came here.
I am not stupid, I’m ignorant. I am a mechanical engineer not electronic nor software. Much of the basics you intuitively understand is missing for me. That’s why I came here.
Years ago, I tried to convert my Bridgeport CNC to LinuxCNC. I asked some questions on a forum and got a lot of links to read, but nobody answered my questions. I didn’t use LinuxCNC, I used MACH3 because it was so user friendly (I had it up and running in a few hours).
With helpful support, I suspect Smoothiware should only take a few hours….
I understand users will need help even if they have read the documentation. The point is you need to read the documentation first whatever happens, and I don’t know if you have or not, so I need to point you at it.
You made it sound ( by saying things like « I am finding the answers seem to be scattered about the internet.» when to the contrary the guide has most of what you need, even if you don’t understand it all ) like you hadn’t.
You say « Much of the basics you intuitively understand is missing for me », please tell us specifically what is missing for you, and I’ll both answer you here and add those to the wiki.
Arthur, you are probably correct that the info is in one place when referring to Smoothie. I don’t believe it is the case when talking about the laser cutter. Here are some specific questions I have:
-
Do I need to concern myself with 3.3 volts vs. 5 volts for controlling motors and/or the laser?
-
The wiki states for laser_module_ttl_pin “This pin turns on when the laser turns on, and off when the laser turns off.” This implies that the laser is telling the pin what to do, isn’t it the opposite?
-
in reference to laser_module_pwm_pin the wiki says there are six but four are in use. Then is says “this pin will be PWMed to control the laser. Only P2.0 - P2.5”. Then it says “Note : PWM is available only on pins 2.0 to 2.5, 1.18, 1.20, 1.21, 1.23, 1.24, 1.26, 3.25 and 3.26.”
So which is it?
- I read several posts where there are apparently a couple different ways to control the laser. One with PWM, one with TTL, can someone please explain why I would want one or the other?
These are the questions on the top of the stack right now, I’m sure there are more….
On 29 Mar 2017, 07:40, arthurwolf wrote:
"please tell us specifically what is missing for you, and I’ll both answer you here and add those to the wiki."
I have some questions as I listed above. I’ll repeat them here and I’ll add some more…
-
Do I need to concern myself with 3.3 volts vs. 5 volts for controlling motors and/or the laser?
-
The wiki states for laser_module_ttl_pin “This pin turns on when the laser turns on, and off when the laser turns off.” This implies that the laser is telling the pin what to do, isn’t it the opposite?
-
in reference to laser_module_pwm_pin the wiki says there are six but four are in use. Then is says “this pin will be PWMed to control the laser. Only P2.0 - P2.5”. Then it says “Note : PWM is available only on pins 2.0 to 2.5, 1.18, 1.20, 1.21, 1.23, 1.24, 1.26, 3.25 and 3.26.”
So which is it, six pins or 14?
-
I read several posts where there are apparently a couple different ways to control the laser. One with PWM, one with TTL, can someone please explain why I would want one or the other?
-
I want to be able to test fire the laser for alignment etc. Is it easy to get Smoothieware to do this or should I have a “manual” mode switch that takes Smoothie out of the picture?
-
It may be handy to have a momentary switch on the panel that will tell Smoothie to execute a g-code command. Is this easy to do?
-
On my Bridgeport CNC machine, I can override the feedrate. Is this easy to do with Smoothie?
-
I would also like to be able to override the laser power “on the fly” from the control panel. How can I do that?
Thanks!
My problem with the K40 setup has not been wiring it up as the info on smoothieware.org has been very helpful. My biggest issue is speed. Out of GRBL, Marlin and Smoothieware, I have found smoothie to be the slowest at processing gcode for raster, and with no dedicated raster mode like marlin, I have been unable to run my K40 at speeds above about F2500 or approx 40mm/s. I can get almost twice that speed from marlin. I’ve love to hear peoples real world experience with smoothieware and laser rastering because for me, unless someone can point me in the right direction as to what I am doing wrong, I will be going back to GRBL and maybe look at LAOS instead.