Hello all this is my first post here . Actually it's my first big arduino project . I have quite small experience with the board in the past and I'm a bit lost from where to begin . The short story is this . I have a vynil cutter Helo HPS 360 NG but its controller got fried for some reason the repair guy said it was the usb controller i'm not sure .
This is the cutter open . So my plan was to order an arduino with cnc shell and try to use it as the brain for the already existing body .
This is the Shield with DRV885 . I have 4 of them but in my logic of thinking i need only X and Y for the control of the stepper motors.
This is one of the motors i asume the other one is the same .
This is the connection for the 2 motors its 4 pin so i would not need to modify them .
This should be the end stops for X+ and - with some try and error i will figure out which is which . Here is my first question it is with 4 pin connector so i just assume i connect it to the + and - for X+ and X- m'i correct on this ?
This is the controller for the blade that goes up and down to cut the foil .
The device responsible for the blade i dont see any marking and i just assume its some kind of a magnet that only has 2 wire connector going to the controller i assume + and - . I have no idea on what voltage it work and were i should connect it on the CNC Shield i tought about the laser + and ground but not sure so this is my 2nd question can i just connect it somewere and with what voltage ?
And lastly i watched a lot of videos and schematics of how to connect this board but i did not manage to understand do i need jumpers on the pins under the drivers for the step mottor functions and on what function they should be for my project and should i have jumpers anywhere else because currently i do not have any put anywere ?
Would 12V be enough to power the mottors or i need more ?
What software should i use for the vynil cutter G code same that other people use for 3d printers and pen CNC or something else ?
Thank you for your time . I hope i was clear in my question and not completely wrong with some of my assumptions on how or if it will at all this idea of mine work .
Strangly for some reason my pictures were not shown with the links
I have no idea on what voltage it work and were i should connect it on the CNC Shield i tought about the laser + and ground but not sure so this is my 2nd question can i just connect it somewere and with what voltage ?
Using the laser control (or spindle enable) would work to control the lift mechanism. It looks like a solenoid to me. I would guess 12V if that is what the power supply for the motors is. You will need a driver for the solenoid as an Arduino output cannot supply enough current or voltage. A logic level MOSFET (with flyback diode) would be a good driver.
And lastly i watched a lot of videos and schematics of how to connect this board but i did not manage to understand do i need jumpers on the pins under the drivers for the step mottor functions and on what function they should be for my project and should i have jumpers anywhere else because currently i do not have any put anywere ?
The jumpers under the driver boards are to set the micro-stepping ratio of the stepper motors. Whether to microstep or not is a choice between precision (microstepped) and speed (whole steps). The only other jumpers, that you are likely to use, are to set the signal (step/dir) source for the 4th stepper driver.
One other important point. The current limit settings on the drivers MUST be properly set. You say that you have DRV885 drivers. I will assume a typo and they are DRV8825 drivers. This Pololu page has instructions on setting up those drivers.
Would 12V be enough to power the mottors or i need more ?
I have not seen a data sheet for the motors so who knows. What is the existing power supply voltage?
What software should i use for the vynil cutter G code same that other people use for 3d printers and pen CNC or something else ?
I don't know about software (image creation, gcode generation, gcode sender), but for firmware I would try grbl. The grbl firmware is installed on the Uno to control the machine. Grbl accepts the gcode commands and translates them for the steppers and all. Grbl usually come with the default setup for 3 axis machines. If you enable homing the machine will try to home Z first. Since you have a 2D machine (no Z) it will stall trying to home Z. You need to edit config.h to set the homing order to ignore the Z axis.