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Auto Bed Leveling

Discussion in 'Mods and Upgrades' started by Peter Krska, Jan 13, 2014.

  1. Hassan

    Hassan New Member

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    I follow every thing as per above instruction but I could not get my servo to move, I supply 5 v from the end stop terminal

    I am not sure if I connect my servo signal wire to the right location

    Can any one help me
     
  2. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    If you are trying to get a SERVO motor working for a bed leveling Z probe, then you need to connect the pin marked VCC to the pin marked 5V. They're both next to the PS-ON input/reset switch on the RAMPS board.


    Check this reference http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS_1.4 and search for servo

    Z
     
  3. sebrobin

    sebrobin Member

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    Ziggy, can you please post a full tutorial on how to this ?
    Sounds a very good improvement as today I cannot print large piece. There are too much variations on my bed height.
    Thank you
     
  4. Hassan

    Hassan New Member

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    Oh now I got it and it,s working fine, I am doing the software setup now

    Thanks all
     
  5. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    At the moment I am travelling in France so I don't have much free time - but the important stuff has already been posted here

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:301715

    Happy to answer questions though.

    Z
     
  6. sebrobin

    sebrobin Member

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    ok, can you please provide a link for the opto endstop ? I assume it needs some electronics to work ?
    Sorry if my questions are idiots but I know nothing about electronics !

    Wrt the modification of the Arduino, I will try to understand the links provided ! :)
     
  7. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    Here is an example of the opto endstops available on eBay

    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/141134513096?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

    All of the electronics required is on the end stop board itself. There are three wires from the endstop connector. 5v, ground and the signal. The Ramps board also has three pins for the endstop. The Ramps 1.4 wiki shows how to connect opto endstops.

    Always happy to answer questions if something is not clear.
     
  8. sebrobin

    sebrobin Member

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    Thanks for this. I ordered the opto and the servo, I will print the parts. I had a look on how to connect the servo and the opto on the Ramps, it seems quite straight forward.
    What is unclear to me now is the needed modification on the Ramps. Do I need to install a "software editor" to change some parameters ? If there are some parameters to be modified, where do I find them ?

    Thanks again

    Seb
     
  9. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    The auto bed modifications required are listed on the thingiverse site. I think the info is complete.

    To update the Ramps firmware check section B9 in this link. I suggest you update to the latest version of the standard Robo firmware first and check all is well with your printer. Then you can make changes for the auto bed leveling knowing you can always get your printer back to a working state.

    http://melodybliss.org/robo3d/


    Z
     
  10. sebrobin

    sebrobin Member

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    Thanks Ziggy, I'll do it and let you know when it is finished !
    Have a good day
     
  11. Rick Collins

    Rick Collins Member

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    Has anyone here installed the Robo3d version for auto bed levelling? Jerry sold me the parts and sent me the .stl files but i have no instructions or basic directions :(.

    Can a Robo elder point me in the right direction? The .stl's are printing as we speak
     
  12. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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  13. Stephan

    Stephan New Member

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    Hi Ziggy,
    I'm living in Germany. A few months ago I installed the Robo3D-autolevel-thingi with the throwing nuts. Unfortunately it begins to ruin my PEI-coated print bed, when autolevelling with the tip of the hotend at 200°C. Now I want to implement your autolevel-design. I can't find your changes of the marlin_main.cpp file any more, because the github site was reorganized. Could you please give me some advice?
    All the best from Bavaria
    Stephan
     
  14. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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  15. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    I think either way there is a need for a marlin firmware mod to handle the fact that the Z endstop is actually triggered before the Z Probe is extended.

    I will check again what I did to modify marlin and post it.

    The Marlin github guys just blew away all the outstanding issues so they could "tidy up" the issue list. They just emailed me to check if the issue was still there in the latest release - which of course it is. I might go back and raise the issue again when I get some time.
     
  16. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    They have a delay before it checks for a trigger if that's what you mean.
     
  17. Stephan

    Stephan New Member

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    Hello Mike and Ziggy,

    thank you for posting and yes, I like your idea using a solenoid for probing. But I can't integrate your design into my actual setup, unfortunately my shroud is blocking the place for the solenoid behind the hotend.

    P1040963.JPG

    Ziggy, I already made the modifications in configuration.h, I only don't know the changes in marlin_main.ccp you mentioned. I really understand your anger about all the removed issues on github. Nevertheless thanks in advance for checking your marlin.

    Stephan
     
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  18. Mike Kelly

    Mike Kelly Volunteer

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    That's a really nice design man. You could still fit my shroud here but you'd lose the larger cooling fan:
    solenoid spot.PNG
     
  19. Ziggy

    Ziggy Moderator
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    Like your Z probe design - very compact.

    Marlin currently does not support Z Probe designs where the Z Endstop Min is always triggered while the probe is retracted.

    This is the case with the servo/opto endstop design and the switch/solenoid design. Similar Z Probe designs could be developed using hall effect switches etc.

    The issue is that Marlin sees that the Z endstop looks like it has been triggered immediately the Z Probe is engaged. To support this type of Z Probe design I modified the code in Marlin_main.cpp as below.

    ****************

    /// Probe bed height at position (x,y), returns the measured z value
    static float probe_pt(float x, float y, float z_before) {
    // move to right place
    do_blocking_move_to(current_position[X_AXIS], current_position[Y_AXIS], z_before);
    do_blocking_move_to(x - X_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER, y - Y_PROBE_OFFSET_FROM_EXTRUDER, current_position[Z_AXIS]);

    // Robo modification
    enable_endstops(false); // line added to turn off endstops while Z Probe is being engaged

    engage_z_probe(); // Engage Z Servo endstop if available

    enable_endstops(true); // line added to reactivate the endstops after the probe is engaged.

    run_z_probe();
    float measured_z = current_position[Z_AXIS];
    retract_z_probe();

    SERIAL_PROTOCOLPGM(MSG_BED);
    SERIAL_PROTOCOLPGM(" x: ");
    SERIAL_PROTOCOL(x);

    ****************

    I presume you know how to set up the servo etc. If not, I can help with the configuration.h file.
     
    #39 Ziggy, Jan 13, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 13, 2015
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  20. Stephan

    Stephan New Member

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    Mike, Ziggy,

    thank you very much, I appreciate it. I didn't want something in front of the hexagon for a better view to what is happening. Ziggy, I'm using a really tiny servo weighing only 2.5g , the 9g servo unfortunately touches the hex for it's a little too big. I appreciate very much your "clean" and simple design of the z-probe. Beside this construction is a real featherweight.

    Thanks again, I will report back...

    Stephan
     
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