FSR setup guide

[marvinsanremo]

I have searched far and wide for a good write-up on getting the FSR setup to work. Unfortunately, there isn't one guide to follow, just pieces garnered from different posts. I get the basic idea of the FSR, and it seems like it would be simple to use. But at this point, I either don't have the correct rep firmware (I have tried building one through the online configurator with no luck, always loads, never works correctly), or the correct settings to enable the FSR's to work. I can calibrate and print manually just fine, so the machine is set up properly before I start on this new journey. Also, FSR is wired up correctly and LEDs on FSR board work properly. If anyone has a similar setup to me that could help out, it would be greatly appreciated.
if additional information on my setup is needed, please let me know.

Rostock Max v2
Rambo & atx
cheapskate + ball joint arm upgrade
Ultibot FSR kit with TrickLaser FSR board (wired into z-min endstop)
Mattercontrol or S3D (can use whatever)

Upgrades on hold:
E3D hot end
LED light ring
Better PS

[DeltaCon]

I know it is a lot to read, but I cannot imagin this thread not being complete:
http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php ... 700#p66099

[marvinsanremo]

Thank you for the link. I have read that thread many times, but it isn't really complete for RAMBO users. The final conclusion at the time was that it was working, but not great, and the duet was a better option. It was from two years ago, so I assumed that probing in rep has gotten much better. That is why I was looking for a newer setup guide. Even if someone has the same specs as me, and currently has FSR working, could provide me with their setup or firmware to try.

When asked about my same question in that thread:

Re: Mhackney's Rostock Max
Postby jlmccuan » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:44 am

Is there a tutorial on adding FSR's to the Orion and Max? Mostly the process of configuring the firmware and code needed to automatically set Z zero.

Re: Mhackney's Rostock Max
Postby mhackney » Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:08 am

No and that is primarily due to the poor support for probing deltas with Repetier. It currently does not do auto calibration and the basic leveling is not really going to save you much time. Smoothie is much better - especially with Pilot626's branch.

[DeltaCon]

I have been upgrading to FSR while still using Rambo myself. Although it worked (the probing itself) I found that it does not help a lot since Rambo does not do any calibration. In the meantime someone thought-up a plugin for Octoprint, but instead of going that route I bought an older Duet 0.6 board that still supports the current DC42 firmware completely. Now the FSR really come to value.

As far as I remember I based my setup fully on the mentioned thread. Also I upgraded tot a new(er) repetier firmware, but I believe SeeMe has a newer version now in their own branche. But Since I have a Duet I have not kept a lot of knowledge about the Rambo on my biological harddrive

I do remember however that I too had difficulty auto-setting Z Height. I ended up probing, calculate Z height and changing Z-max in the firmware by hand. So that was no real improvement over the paper-drag method. It did pay off though while calibrating endstops with a clever script. All in all the experience was frustrating enough for me to abandon Rambo and go for Duet. That is when the real improvent of FSR kicks in!

[mhackney]

On RAMBo the issue IS NOT support for FSRs. With the JohnSL board, FSRs look exactly like a simple endstop switch probe. Exactly. So follow Repetier's guidelines for setting up an endstop probe.

The issue is the firmware support to actually use the probing data to calculate delta calibration parameters - aka autocalibration - exactly as DeltaCon describes. The SeeMeCNC Repetier branch only supports the accelerometer probe and is not nearly as sophisticated as the RepRapFirmware on Duet. The Octoprint plug in that uses the web interface version of the same delta autocalibration code as RepRapFirware also only supports the accelerometer probe as far as I know, I haven't actually checked it out but knowing how these things work it is a reasonable guess. Probing in Repetier has NOT improved significantly in 2 years. The 8 bit arduino controllers out there do not have the processing power or memory to do it right. Duet does. I also no longer recommend smoothie. It's support for autocalibration can not be enabled at the same time as networking (the web interface) or the LCD panel display so you constantly have to switch firmware to use one feature or the other due to memory limitations. This also has not changed in 2 years and an updated smoothie v2 is still out many many months. The other option will be the Ultimachine Archim - their 32 bit replacement for RAMBo. It has the same form factor and will run RepRapFirmware too so delta autocalibration will be excellent. I have an Archim to test. I don't know what the production schedule is but I assume later this year.

[DeltaCon]

The issue is the firmware support to actually use the probing data to calculate delta calibration parameters - aka autocalibration

Yes, but I guess the question really is: can Rambo / repetier actually automatically set a correct Z-height (Z=0 with the nozzle touching the bed) with the help of FSR's (or any other Z-probe like you mentioned). I never succeeded in that, but must admit I was glad I didn't. It gave me reason for buying a Duet So I did not put a lot of effort into that part

[mhackney]

It should be able to touch off Z=0. But, if that's all you want to do, why bother?

[DeltaCon]

It should be able to touch off Z=0. But, if that's all you want to do, why bother?

Well, it could be (a bit) quicker as well as more consistent than the paper-drag method, and more easy to perform before each print. But you're right, it doesn't add much until you get a Duet.

[marvinsanremo]

Thank you for the clarifications, it helps me not be too frustrated now. I was under the assumption that calibration has gotten better since that thread, hence the reason I was looking for newer information.

So at this point, I have a newer rep firmware configured, and it seems to be working finally (92.9 I think, not home right now to check). I found some values that were not configured properly, and fixing those has made the current firmware work like the old one. I am able to do the calibration commands like g29 g30 g31 etc...G30 works great and allows me to adjust the distance in firmware between the nozzle and bed much more accurately. Although when I use G29, it always returns error messages when it gets to the end. I seem to recall its something about a boundary issue. So my real question is, without a board upgrade, is there anything the FSRs are worth using for right now. If I decide to do a board upgrade, is the duet the best option at the moment.

[marvinsanremo]

Well after a lot of reading and considering, I decided to pull the trigger on the Duet Wifi + Digikey parts to make the nice connections. I also ordered the new version of the EZstruder. I currently have a 450w atx PS. Since I will be running a new board, hot end, etc, will that be enough power? If not, what should I upgrade to?

[Xenocrates]

While the ~40W of hotend and ~ 130W of heated bed are a substantial amount of power, the rest of the machine is rather frugal (IE, less than 100W for all the fans and steppers, as the steppers need at most 1.6A @ 12V), leaving a massive 180W of total power. However, you need 12V power, which is likely at least 50W lower, and also, if it's the original Viotek power supply, those are underbuilt to begin with (For reference, I managed to kill a CX750M, which is a higher quality 750W power supply than the Viotek, due to thermally overstressing the fuse). If you want to do it "right", I suggest a 12V industrial power supply (Such as using the kit from SeemeCNC). However, I will note that I use a 760W ATX power supply now (Chosen for the cross loading capacity and rock solid voltages on a high efficiency design), as I need the 5 and 3.3V power for some things, alongside an external 24V power supply for the bed. Also, if you do go the industrial route, you have to do wall voltage wiring, which some people don't like or aren't cut out for.