External PID usage with Arduino Mega Ramps 1.4 3D printer application

[whs1222]

Hello everyone,

I am working on a project for school and have very little experience with Arduino.

I am working on the development of a two-zone Heating/Cooling Jacket for a 3D printer nozzle that runs via electric resistance heating and liquid cooling. The printer currently runs off of a Ramp 1.4 Board paired with an Arduino Mega with the Marlin 2.0 Firmware. I know the Marlin 2.0 Firmware has a built-in PID function but the professor in charge of the project has requested we use an external PID controller(s) (with multiple outputs) to control the two electrical resistance heaters as well as the two liquid cooling pumps necessary for the design.

My group is currently leaning towards 2 PID controllers (one per heating/cooling zone) that would receive reference value information from the Ramp 1.4/Arduino board and then control the temperature response based on the received reference value.

Does anyone here have experience with connecting an Arduino mega to an external PID controller with an enable pin? Is this even feasible? Are there any alternatives that have been used before? Is there any necessary hardware like an analog to digital converter that we would need for this application?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

William

[gilshultz]

It could range from simple to complex. With my view of all the hardware etc I cannot give you an answer. However if you elect to post a simple schematic, not a frizzy thing that would help a lot. Include links for each hardware item. Voltage, current and wattage wherever applicable will also help.

[whs1222]

I hope this helps. Attached is the Schematic of the Ramps 1.4 board. I also will put the link for the PID controller we are looking at as well as I have copy and pasted the Remote Set-Point Input section of the manual for the PID.
Manual:
Remote Set-Point Input:
DC 0 to 10V Linear Voltage Input: Opening Jumper, resolution: 156µV/scale
DC4 20mA/0 to 20mA Input: Shorting Jumper, resolution: 0.63µA/scale
User Input: (Event Input)

Link:

1/16, 1/8, and 1/4 DIN Temperature and Process PID Controllers

Thank you for your help please let me know if there is anything additional I can provide.

William