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Differential IR height sensor, Attemptin' Clone....ain't sure of success...now stage 10

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by jim3Dbot, Aug 25, 2015.

  1. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    So think of your bed an a perfectly flat (no warping) plane that if you tilt it in any direction or combination of directions the G28 reads if one side is higher and/or a corner is higher than any of the rest and so on. That is ABL

    There is a newer method called Mesh leveling or MBL that you might here around the forum. That is done once and the results are stored in the EEPROM. No need to repeat for each print. This method actually looks at the bed differently. It takes into account if there is any warping found while doing the probing routing. So if your outside edges are all higher than your middle because of a warp for example, it compensates for that. A pretty slick and up and coming standard to bed leveling from what I have been reading from others that are using it today.
     
  2. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    That is where I am leaning to at this time. Could be wrong of course, but sounds plausible. Especially since you had a similar issue with stock bed probing.
     
  3. Oisin

    Oisin Member

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    Ok that's different to how I thought it functioned. I thought ABL was MBL. I'll have to look in to combining Jim's sensor with MBL then. Since the sensor is so accurate, it would be a pretty powerful combination I'd imagine.
     
  4. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Just a thought...do you have any really bright light around your print bed? Maybe a window where the sun reflects of the bed at various degrees throughout the day? That might cause some variances with the reading of the IR. Of course, that doesn't explain why your stock ABL probing was behaving in a similar way.
     
  5. Oisin

    Oisin Member

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    Yes I do. I have a webcam that has some lights on it looking at the bed. I can cover the lights and try a few autolevels.
     
  6. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Normally when you go to MBL, the IR is then only used when homing the Z axis. Good example is the E3D BigBox. It came with the IR height sensor with for ABL. Now that the newer RC versions of Marlin have MBL, folks are just using the IR for an endstop when homing. Some have even removed it from the extruder carriage and put it on one side of the z axis base so that it would just read off of the axis at some set point. Changes the game up a bit, but I agree that the IR is nice. Using it as just a generic endstop is almost like using optical endstops that are also touchless.
     
  7. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah that would be worth a try especially if those lights are pretty bright. Of course I have 4 strips of LEDs in the lid of my printer and haven't had an issue with light. But worth a try anyway. Might be a difference in light spectrum that would matter.
     
  8. jim3Dbot

    jim3Dbot Active Member

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    Oisin, "little deer, Ireland", cool name............anyways, to keep it simple............unlock servos.....position extruder near center........lock servos...........send command to home 'Z' ..........read 'Z' distance..........raise 'Z' about 50mm...............lower 'Z' again, by sending command......read distance.........repeat a few times....this will begin with determining the repeat-ability of the IR set-up
     
  9. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Sorry guys, I don't really want to go back through this thread to find my answer. I am thinking of getting this from Matt @Printed Solid and want to know what Thingiverse mount I need for a relatively stock Robo R1.

    If I do decide to buy one, I could add the code to RC7 to make it work, since you guys are ignoring my requests :D:(

    I am just thinking this with MESH would be wonderfully easy.
     
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  10. jim3Dbot

    jim3Dbot Active Member

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    Hello W.Waldo, You have been on my mind............my Robo has been in mothballs the last few months.....too many other projects pushing it back............thought I would get to it Thursday, but unable.........let me try tonight............haven't looked at Mesh yet..but agree, seems much better than the 9pt tilt of ABL...........I have one old mini IR remaining at this time, I will swap out the IR emitters for the newer style & send it to you..........I appreciate your Marlin work & will test the mesh asap............please pm your ship to.........I also think Danz had a little trouble but went on vacation in the middle of testing.....he will be back on it soon..I think....Take Care WW
     
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  11. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah vacation threw me off of the project a bit. I did run into some issues with RC7. I got everything working for ABL, but I couldn't get it to go past home when printing. Checking the z offset that was actually set when printing was correct, but it was like the firmware was still seeing the IR as an endstop while printing and not allowing it to go down further. In some of the notes it says for an inductive probe that you have to make sure to turn it off after leveling. Not sure I can send a command to turn off the IR after doing the G29. I need to do more tracing of the logic to see where I can throw in a work around.

    ALSO...the ABL feedback sucks with RC7. I liked the original where it sent back each probe reading and then the final computations. This just sends back something like "printer busy" at each probe. I want to fix that as well.

    So I'm really not ignoring you @WheresWaldo . Just have had a lot going on with getting back from vaca and school starting.

    I never posted my mount on Thingiverse. I should clean it up and do that for working with Jim's setup. It mounts on the right of the carriage with the two factory side holes and shields the entire IR board except the bottom to keep the filament hairs out of it. Now @Mike Kelly had a great mount that was incorporated into the dual fan mount design he did. I don't think he ever posted it to Thingiverse either. I have just seen pictures of his final design. I have one of the original designs, but it would need some tweaks.
     
  12. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    @danzca6 I plan on setting it up with MESH only. It is a one and done setup and does not need to be redone for every print. With my current setup and the old nozzle is the probe Robo setup I haven't redone MESH in over three weeks. I don't even have to remove the G29 command from startup g-code. So I am not sure how complicated using the IR will be with MESH, all just guessing right now, but since it is only done once all I care about afterwards is homing before each print.

    If ABL feedback has changed enough to make it barely usable, post an issue on Marlin's GITHUB. They are in a mad dash to fix all the broken stuff in RC7 and the new broken stuff they are adding {:eek::mad:}, JK. I still see 1.1.0 as a huge leap in both functionality and usability over Marlin 1.0.0. I would love to see @jim3Dbot's implementation of IR working on the new firmware. Between those two upgrades I think a lot of people will be able to benefit from improved accuracy and repeatability.

    BTW, other than enabling it inside of Marlin 1.1.0 I gave up on ABL as soon as I modified a stable working build of Marlin 1.1.0 for the Robo. I don't even test it anymore in new firmware builds, choosing rather to assume it works using the same parameters over and over.
     
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  13. jim3Dbot

    jim3Dbot Active Member

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    Just a side note, @WheresWaldo received a mini IR & cable Monday, but unfortunately due to a family emergency, the mesh leveling will be on hold for a while........... @danzca6 will be testing the new firmware RC7..........I will attempt some testing this weekend........my code skills are weak although..........
     
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  14. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Yep...going to try and take some weight off of @WheresWaldo shoulders and get this issue I am having with my IR figured out. Also need to get a couple mounting options out to him as well. That way he can just come home, install, and be on his way. Thanks for the generous work you do Jim. You've put a lot of time into this project and I know I really appreciate the benefits of the IR sensor.
     
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  15. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    Thank you guys for this, I am leaving for Oregon later this week to support my wife and her family. The memorial service for her father will be over Labor day weekend so I will be out of pocket until the second week in September. I will try to confiscate my dad's computer just in case the Marlin devs decide to release a new RC, but I can't promise anything.
     
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  16. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Very cool, just ordered one.

    Got both of my robo3d's dialed in this weekend, Time to mess one up again lol.
     
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  17. Doug Meek

    Doug Meek Member

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    I'm working on adding this to my R1+ but my RAMPS board only has 2 connectors for the Z- connection. I thought I had read somewhere I would need to solder a new header on but there are only 2 holes in the board so that doesn't seem to be an option. What do I do to remedy this?

    Connector 12C, right below the Z-, has a + connection I could use for power but I am also adding the filament out sensor and that goes there. Should I just double up on that power connection?

    I designed a dual mount fan holder for the stock Plus and the rear fan mount has a mount built-in for the IR sensor. That is already mounted and adjusted....just need this power...

    Thanks for any help guys
     
  18. Oisin

    Oisin Member

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    Red goes to the top, white goes to the bottom :) This confused me for a little while as well when I first got mine.
     

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  19. Doug Meek

    Doug Meek Member

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    Thanks but I don't have a third pin for it to go on, top or bottom.....there are ONLY 2 pins for the Z-, I'm in the process of tieing the power together with the filament sensor power from connector 12C right below it. I would post a picture but I can't since this is now my second post ;)
     
  20. Oisin

    Oisin Member

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    Oh I see! My bad. I'll have to defer to someone who knows the board better than I do then. Apologies.
     

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