Firmware list

User-Generated tips and tricks for the Rostock Max, Orion, H1.1, or H1 Printers
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int2str
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Firmware list

Post by int2str »

I've been playing with the idea to develop my own firmware for my trusty Orion for a while.
I'd like to overcome some of the limitations of the usual firmware and increase the performance and user interface.

However, before I embark on this potentially misguided journey, I would like to make sure that no other firmware out there already does what I want it to do.

So, which firmware have you used for you ORION or Rostock [v2]?

These are the ones I found so far:
- Repetier (current)
- Marlin

What else?

RAMBO compatible only, please.

Thx
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teoman
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Re: Firmware list

Post by teoman »

What do you hope to accomplish?

There have been modifications to the GUI on the LCD.

And you can tweak the firmware to do a bit more calculations.

But without investing a significant amount of time in my opinion progress will be a bit slow. And in the end you will only discover that an arduino (8bit) based controller is very limited. Your time may be better off developing on a platform that is more open to expansion or just purchase a different controller. (I still use the rambo but would not rewrite firmware for it, I would start off with something that is bbb based).

Don't let me discourage you, fiddling with these things is good fun if you have time on your hands.
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int2str
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Re: Firmware list

Post by int2str »

At least Repetier and Marlin are a hopeless mess when it comes to code (and yes, I've done custom Repetier software for the ORION for example, so I have worked with it). So just modifying the UI would be mostly putting lipstick on a pig :D. And since coding is my day job, I'd rather not work on cleanup in my spare time, rather than starting from scratch.

To the Arduino part, you see, people keep saying that it's limited, yet it's powering so many 3D Printers, including the Rostock etc. without any problems DESPITE huge inefficiencies in the code. In other words, if it can do the right thing already, imagine what it could do if somebody was actually trying ;). Plus it's what most people at least here have. And of course it's what *I* have, so why not.

Plus I've just done the same for another Arduino open source project. Instead of modifying their thousands of lines of code, I wrote a new firmware for the device that's been working great for me for month now.
Polygonhell
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Re: Firmware list

Post by Polygonhell »

int2str wrote:I've been playing with the idea to develop my own firmware for my trusty Orion for a while.
I'd like to overcome some of the limitations of the usual firmware and increase the performance and user interface.

However, before I embark on this potentially misguided journey, I would like to make sure that no other firmware out there already does what I want it to do.

So, which firmware have you used for you ORION or Rostock [v2]?

These are the ones I found so far:
- Repetier (current)
- Marlin

What else?

RAMBO compatible only, please.

Thx
There are a number of other firmwares out there without Delta support, most of the currently active firmwares are based on GRBL, though few bear any real relationship to it anymore.
Marlin for example was I think was based on Sprinter which in turn was based on GRBL.

if you want minimal and clean, Teacup is supposed to be that way, the author claims significantly higher supported step rates fro the same hardware, but it doesn't support Delta geometries. I've never looked at the code so I can't comment in any depth.

Writing a firmware for a printer isn't overly difficult, there are some gotchas, but it's not rocket science.
I've written a couple for my own projects, one ARM based, the other using Propeller hardware, but making them "full" featured is something of a chore.
int2str
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Re: Firmware list

Post by int2str »

Teacup seems pretty nice. Judging by the code it would certainly crush Marlin and Repetier performance wise, very glad to see they did a way with one of the huge drawbacks of the two already. The code is also much better structured and less hampered by legacy code/compatibility. So yes, certainly the strongest contender. But I do not see delta support and the code is still not quite where I'd like it to be to be motivated to add delta support there.

You're absolutely right on your last comment and I'm not looking to make a fully featured firmware. I'd settle for ease of use and better performance.
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teoman
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Re: Firmware list

Post by teoman »

What do you wish to add to the GUI?
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Jrjones
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Re: Firmware list

Post by Jrjones »

Apparently this is successfully running a modified Teacup firmware for deltas: https://github.com/Traumflug/Teacup_Firmware/tree/delta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT11gdPuA5c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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