Hi
Im part way through a little school project of mine where i am creating a filament extruder to save a bit of $$ on 3d printer filament. My design is somewhat along the lines of this http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Filastruder/ .I am up to the stage of wiring up my ramps 1.4 board which is ontop of an ardunio mega 2560 and i have not much of a clue as to how to program the ardunio to do what i want.
Attached i have a wiring diagram of my ramps board (ramps 1.4 connectors diagram also attached). Pretty much my goal is to make the extruder work like this:
1.Flip switch on 12v power supply
2.Ardunio and ramps power on
3.heater cartridges power and and begin to heat up
4.thermistor determines the temperature to which the cartridges heat up to.
5.extruder tip now at set temperature by heater cartridges.
6.While steps 3-5 are happening Nema 23 stepper motor is running at set speed and 12v fan is also running.
7.pretty much keep steps 3-6 running until power supply is turned off.
Those are the basic requirements i want to achieve. If anyone can give me some help as to what do with the programming that would be awesome as i have not much of a clue.
Thanks
octane:
Those are the basic requirements i want to achieve. If anyone can give me some help as to what do with the programming that would be awesome as i have not much of a clue.
Thanks
No one wants to do it for you. Halt and Catch Fire is your next option.
Among many "first" thoughts I wonder if a RAMPS board with A4988 drivers can provide enough current for a Nema23 stepper.
Post a link to the datasheet for the motor.
Then there is ...
6.While steps 3-5 are happening Nema 23 stepper motor is running at set speed and 12v fan is also running.
How could the motor be running if the tempearture is not high enough to melt the plastic - assuming, of course, that the motor you mention is the extruder motor - which you omitted to say.
Then ...
To the best of my knowledge the motion of the extruded material has to be matched with the motion of the table on which the object is being created. In other words I think the motion of all the motors has to be part of the same program.
Have you got your printer working with "off-the-shelf" 3D printer software? If not, may I suggest that as a first step (forgive the pun).
And if you think you can improve on the printer software to make it more economical why not modify the "off-the-shelf" program and give your modification back to the community where it is likely to be welcomed.
Hi thanks for the response.
My apologies i dont think i made my project clear enough i shall edit it now. The project im working on is a filament extruder that turns scrap abs plastic (offcut and failed prints) back into usable filament which can be used in a printer. here is an example of a filament extruder http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Filastruder/. It is okay that the motor can run while the heater cartridges heat up the nozzle as i will only put in the scrap abs once the nozzle is up to temperature. I believe that the ramps board can handle the current for the nema 23 stepper motor as other guides i have looked at have made use of the ramps 1.4 to power their project.
Thanks
Woops i didnt see this part of your previous reply
Robin2:
But I don't understand what your problem is - i.e. what advice are you looking for
I guess im just looking for advice on what i should learn i order to program the board to do what i want.
Just do some tutorials, watch some youtube videos?
Thanks
Robin2:
That motor requires 2.8 amps. An A4988 will probably only comfortably supply half of that.
...R
Hmm okay i see what you mean. I may have to go with a different motor which draws less current but is geared differently. Maybe a nema 17 planetary gearbox?
I it possible to put the two A4988 drivers in parallel and hook the motor up to the two 4 port connections at the same time?
Thanks
Please don't split your answer over three Posts as it makes it difficult to follow.
AFAIK you cannot parallel A4988s because their current sensing system won't be able to cope.
Nema17 and Nema23 define the dimensions of the front of the motor. They tell you nothing about its electrical characteristics. You need to figure out (measure?) the torque needed and then choose a suitable motor. After that choose a suitable driver.
For what you want to do there may be no need to use a stepper motor. Maybe a geared DC motor would be sufficient.
For learning, there are many example programs with the Arduino IDE and there are many on-line tutorials.
octane:
Okay thanks for the info
Does a dc motor need a driver or can it be plugged into the 12v ports on the left of the ramps board
I don't know anything about the RAMPS board but I suspect the answer to your question is NO.
You do need a driver for a DC motor. If it only needs to move in one direction it could be as simple as a transistor or Mosfet. However the usual thing is a h-bridge which allows bi-directional control.
I am assuming you want to control the speed of the motor. If you just want on/off control use a relay.
the torque of a 23 motor is not enough to move the screw, so you will need another motor, in the movie he uses a geared motor.
for your program you will need to experiment to find correct numbers.
heat up slowly so not with 100 %, but 25 max, until the screw is turning.
when nozzle gives you can run to 100% until your setpoint is reached.
do not expect good filament as it needs more as only scrap.
the filament will be to britle to use.
the idea is good but in practice it is not.
Robin2:
I don't know anything about the RAMPS board but I suspect the answer to your question is NO.
You do need a driver for a DC motor. If it only needs to move in one direction it could be as simple as a transistor or Mosfet. However the usual thing is a h-bridge which allows bi-directional control.
I am assuming you want to control the speed of the motor. If you just want on/off control use a relay.
...R
Okay thanks for the info. I think i have a geared dc motor lying around the place that should do the job nicely. It only has 2 plugs will i be able to control the voltage with the ramps board? I know voltage is proportional to the rpm soo i guess i could work with that
shooter:
the torque of a 23 motor is not enough to move the screw, so you will need another motor, in the movie he uses a geared motor.
for your program you will need to experiment to find correct numbers.
heat up slowly so not with 100 %, but 25 max, until the screw is turning.
when nozzle gives you can run to 100% until your setpoint is reached.
do not expect good filament as it needs more as only scrap.
the filament will be to britle to use.
the idea is good but in practice it is not.
Yes i realise that now. The nema 23 stepper that i saw being used has a planetary gear box on the frount.
I can use scrap abs or abs pellets which are much cheaper than buying filament. There are commercial versions of filament extruders i just thought i would make one my own.
. What is halt and catch fire? should i just google that?