Switching to the Rambo Controller

I'm having trouble verifying that that Rambo board is a complete, all in one, total replacement for the arduino mega and Ramps 1.4 board and is fully compatible for the robo3d firmware. My intention would be to buy it and then put my current firmware for my printer on it. Will that work? Anyone have any experience with this board?

 

I'll put some things together in the morning and post another reply, but the Rambo board isn't straight up compatible with the Robo firmware.

You have to correctly add Rambo functionality to the Arduino software in order for the firmware to flash correctly.

I'll take my working dual Robo setup firmware and modify it to more closely match the original Robo firmware as far as esteps and thermistors go.

The main benefit to the Rambo over the Mega and Ramps1.4 combo is that you can use the firmware to control the POT settings for the stepper drivers.

You will need to make sure to add heatsinks and some kind of active cooling fan to the Rambo no matter what, though. It cannot keep itself cool while 3d printing if you rely on passive open air cooling without heatsinks, at least.

 

Also. You will need to be prepared to drill pilot holes for mounting the Rambo because it will not mount in the same holes the stock Mega/Ramps combo uses.

Honestly, you shouldn't do this unless your current setup is dead like mine was before doing it.

 

Thanks so much for the information everyone that helps alot.

 

If you're still interested in doing this, I've attached zip files with my current firmware and the required Hardware folder you'll need to add to Arduino to successfully flash to the Rambo (pick "Rambo" under the "board" option in Arduino, in other words).

To do that, unzip hardware.zip and then copy the folder and paste it inside "C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino"; then start the Arduino software and choose "Rambo" for the board being used like so:



Once that is done, you can unzip and use the version of Marlin in Marlin.zip to update and use on your Rambo-Robo.

Word of Caution You will need to verify the e-steps on your extruder setup. Mine calibrated to 580 because I'm using a geared stepper with the Tatsu drive gear, but you'll need to verify the steps required for your setup (X/Y&Z on mine are standard R1 with Leadscrew upgrade settings, so as long as you have the leadscrews you should be fine there, otherwise you'll need to change the 800 for Z to whatever rod is on your printer).

Also! You will need to change the starting Gcode in whatever slicer you use so that the M565 line for the Z offset is Positive! The Stock Robo settings would have you using "M565 Z-1.0" for example, but in the Rambo firmware that should be "M565 Z1.0", due to the older version of Marlin the stock Robo uses being different from the more recent version the Rambo uses.

 

thank you that definitely helps. I haven't made the decision but I was curious because the Ramps 1.4 boards I've seen have all been questionable quality.

 

I bought my Rambo directly from the original designer (Ultimachine), but you are paying for the name brand buying from them and it's pretty pricey.

You could always go full-bore and pursue a smoothieboard and getting the firmware for that working properly with the Robo hardware.