Hacking LinuxCNC to DIY make (or upgrade) your 3D Printer or CNC machine.

For anyone looking for a DIY way to make a CNC 3D printer, router, plasma cutter, and/or milling machine and want some serious CNC host software (like LinuxCNC) to control it, We've got you covered.

You can use HAL2Arduino to give your Arduino based creations an uplink to LinuxCNC. You can even control multiple Arduinos simultaneously!

HAL2Arduino is a communications layer (or framework) that exposes LinuxCNC variables and hooks for you to play with from the comfort of the Arduino platform.

If your interested, you can read about it on our blog at http://emc2arduino.wordpress.com/ or download a copy yourself from https://github.com/dewy721/EMC-2-Arduino/tree/master/Downloads/HAL2Arduino.

If you have questions, just ask.

Hey there, I'm having trouble assembling all the other files needed like the .h files. Would it be possible for you to make a more complete package? I have the megatronics board which is simular to the mega. Im pretty much a Noob when it comes to arduino. I can change the pin locations and stuff but thats as far as i get.

Keep up the good work. This all sounds very interesting.
I want to build an 5 axis mill. If i get my electeonics working properly.

Cheers,

Henk :slight_smile:

When you ask for a "more complete package" what did you have in mind?

At the moment I'm trying to add in Ethernet support and SD card recording/playback as well as storing canned cycles.
Useful suggestions, requests and code are always welcome.

Hey,
is it possible to use a Leonardo with an Adafruit Motorshield with that?

Although I don't have a Leo, I don't see why not.

I can't tell for certain, but I get the impression that the Leo's ATmega32u4 chip has a dedicated serial buffer built-in. Otherwise, it would need to juggle emulating a usb-serial link + CNC related stuff.

Either way, the worst possible case is that it would just be a bit slower than a two-chip MCU like an UNO, Mega2560, Due or others.

But yes, it should work.