Arduino Nano 3.0 to control a homemade 3D printer ???

[Refrigerator]

As the title suggests i'm making a 3D printer but i'm making mine under 30 bucks and it will (i hope) be controlled by an Arduino Nano.
I'll be moving everything with the el-cheapo 28BYJ-48 stepper with the ULN2003 driver, Y and Z will have two on each and X will have one as it will be moving a smaller mass.
I did a quick google search but couldn't find anything readily available for my little project, so here i am asking for help.
Untill my stuff arrives i hope to have most of it sorted out and at least the chassis ready for parts.
From what i see Arduino nano has 16 I/O so it will all be taken up by the motor driving (4 for each stepper (X, Y, Z and extruder))

Dunno if i'll be able to make it work but i'll try.

I'm a newbie when it comes to micros so all help is wellcome, especially reading the G-code and interfacing the software.

Thanks.

[langwadt]

As the title suggests i'm making a 3D printer but i'm making mine under 30 bucks and it will (i hope) be controlled by an Arduino Nano.
I'll be moving everything with the el-cheapo 28BYJ-48 stepper with the ULN2003 driver, Y and Z will have two on each and X will have one as it will be moving a smaller mass.
I did a quick google search but couldn't find anything readily available for my little project, so here i am asking for help.
Untill my stuff arrives i hope to have most of it sorted out and at least the chassis ready for parts.
From what i see Arduino nano has 16 I/O so it will all be taken up by the motor driving (4 for each stepper (X, Y, Z and extruder))

Dunno if i'll be able to make it work but i'll try.

I'm a newbie when it comes to micros so all help is wellcome, especially reading the G-code and interfacing the software.

Thanks.

Those steppers doesn't have enough torque to pull the skin off a pudding, and if you don't use a high voltage
constant current driver you'll have to also have to run them very slow

[AlessandroAU]

Each Stepper needs at least 2 pins, step and dir probably also the enable pin but perhaps that's not essential.
You will also need at least 1 pin each for:

3x End Stops,
Hot end PWM (optional)
Fan PWM (optional)
Heated Bed PWM (optional)

Also you will not be able to do microstepper with the ULN2003 very easily so you will be more limited in accuracy.

Why build a printer with such limitations? How are you going to source all the mechanical parts for under $30?

Also as langwadt said, those steppers are terrible.

[kripton2035]

are the L298N better for stepper motor control ? they are still very cheap.

[Refrigerator]

Each Stepper needs at least 2 pins, step and dir probably also the enable pin but perhaps that's not essential.
You will also need at least 1 pin each for:

3x End Stops,
Hot end PWM (optional)
Fan PWM (optional)
Heated Bed PWM (optional)

Also you will not be able to do microstepper with the ULN2003 very easily so you will be more limited in accuracy.

Why build a printer with such limitations? How are you going to source all the mechanical parts for under $30?

Also as langwadt said, those steppers are terrible.

I've already got all the steppers, all the driver boards, the extruder and the arduino ordered for 16 bucks.
Linear sliders will be pulled out of a printer.
The rest will be made of plywood, except for the bed which will be made of 6mm plexi that i got from an old LCD monitor.

Accuracy is not important at this point because it can be improved once the printer is working.

As the title suggests i'm making a 3D printer but i'm making mine under 30 bucks and it will (i hope) be controlled by an Arduino Nano.
I'll be moving everything with the el-cheapo 28BYJ-48 stepper with the ULN2003 driver, Y and Z will have two on each and X will have one as it will be moving a smaller mass.
I did a quick google search but couldn't find anything readily available for my little project, so here i am asking for help.
Untill my stuff arrives i hope to have most of it sorted out and at least the chassis ready for parts.
From what i see Arduino nano has 16 I/O so it will all be taken up by the motor driving (4 for each stepper (X, Y, Z and extruder))

Dunno if i'll be able to make it work but i'll try.

I'm a newbie when it comes to micros so all help is wellcome, especially reading the G-code and interfacing the software.

Thanks.

Those steppers doesn't have enough torque to pull the skin off a pudding, and if you don't use a high voltage
constant current driver you'll have to also have to run them very slow

A 3D printer has already been made using these steppers ( look up ToyRep ) so they have plenty of power for a desktop project, for my use the speed is acceptable and will not bother me as long as the printer itself works.

More powerful steppers are a better solution but they are much more expensive and since i can not buy what i can not afford renders those steppers useless, thus in my case making this budget 3D printer faster than it would be otherwise.

Also exploring new grounds and pushing things to their limits will serve as a reasonable example of what can be achieved for under 30 bucks.

are the L298N better for stepper motor control ? they are still very cheap.

They might be a good choice for future improvements, since the the cheap unipolar steppers can be modified to be bipolar, in which case the L298N board would work out very well.

[AlessandroAU]

I admire your dedication and enthusiasm. You probably already know this but if you Google 'repstrap' you might stumble across some ideas you could use. 

I'm impressed you got all those components so cheap. BTW, don't forget a big-ish MOSFET to turn the heated end on/off.
Also I didn't realise those steppers were geared so the lack of micro stepping won't be a huge issue.

It will interesting to see what is possible with a $30 printer. When it's done you can also start printing parts for a better printer. 

[westfw]

From what i see Arduino nano has 16 I/O

How do you get that?  I see 20 pins that can be digital IO (including the serial com pins), plus two additional analog inputs.
Traditionally,  3d printers have used arduino clones with more pins - initially the "Sanguino" with a 40pin chip, and more recently MEGA clones...
(It might be interesting to see if you can get by with TWO nanos, given the potential cost savings...)

[Refrigerator]

It might be interesting to see if you can get by with TWO nanos, given the potential cost savings...

I've decided to use two nanos actually, the way i want to implement it would be to use one for XYZ driving and heater temp set, the second one for G-code reading, extruder, end stop switches and communication to the other nano both to send an instruction and receive feedback when the XYZ is at position.

Of course i need to find out how to read the G-code from the PC and how to properly execute it.

[RogerRowland]

Of course i need to find out how to read the G-code from the PC and how to properly execute it.

In which case, you might like to look at grbl, if you haven't already done so.

https://github.com/grbl/grbl

[hendorog]

This might be worth a read:
http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?13,119383,122498

You should be able to upload one of the standard firmwares as long as you can make it small enough to fit in the flash available.
In the early days Arduino Mega's were not used as much as they are now so going back to older source code versions should bear fruit.

Have you got a hot end already? If you are interested there is a fairly cheap way of building an extruder nozzle I could try to find or explain - pioneered by Vik Oliver I believe.

[Refrigerator]

Most 3d printers i've looked at use different driver boards than the ULN2003 driver i have, but i think an arduino nano could be configured to work the same.

[Refrigerator]

I'll get some plywood today, that'll add 5 bucks to the whole cost making it 21 bucks, now that i mention it i'll also have to get some wood screws to go into the plywood.

Anyways, at this point i'm not sure if i should configure one Nano as a stepper controller or if i should get the Geeetech EasyDrivers ( buck a pop ), in which case i might be able to get away with just one Nano.

From what i've read the Teacup firmware should work and from what i know so far it takes up about 14k and Atmega328 has 32 k so i would have roughly 18k remaining in the micro.

Of course at this point i am a bit lost but i hope to work all the software/firmware issues out.

[rob77]

that toyrap you mention is using those cheap steppers but hacked to bipolar (uln2003 darlington array is ok for unipolar only).
and actually they're using a arduino mega with ramps 1.4 and  drv8825 stepper drivers...

Using very cheap 28BYJ-48 stepper motors (with Bi-polar hack) in all axis and geared extruder, Arduino Mega 2560 with Ramps 1.4, DRV8825

nano is using an atmega328 - and it might have not enough RAM - so check if it's even possible to run the 3d printing firmware on it.

but why to mess with nano if there is a ready to go solution for the maga2560  ?
you can buy the whole thing for:
arduino mega : 8$ (the one with ch340 instead of 16u4)
ramps 1.4 board : 7$ (they range 7$ - 12$)
5x drv8825 board : 8$ (2$ a piece or 7-8$ for a bundle of 5)

[Refrigerator]

that toyrap you mention is using those cheap steppers but hacked to bipolar (uln2003 darlington array is ok for unipolar only).
and actually they're using a arduino mega with ramps 1.4 and  drv8825 stepper drivers...

Using very cheap 28BYJ-48 stepper motors (with Bi-polar hack) in all axis and geared extruder, Arduino Mega 2560 with Ramps 1.4, DRV8825

nano is using an atmega328 - and it might have not enough RAM - so check if it's even possible to run the 3d printing firmware on it.

but why to mess with nano if there is a ready to go solution for the maga2560  ?
you can buy the whole thing for:
arduino mega : 8$ (the one with ch340 instead of 16u4)
ramps 1.4 board : 7$ (they range 7$ - 12$)
5x drv8825 board : 8$ (2$ a piece or 7-8$ for a bundle of 5)

I've looked into that already and i might go for it but excluding the ramps 1.4 board since it looks like just a fancy break-out board for mounting things, i can do that myself and save the 7 bucks.

But for now i'll try to do it with the nano. I also noticed that the easydriver board only goes on during a high pulse and from what i understand can not be stepped, thus bringing the second nano idea back on the table.

[donotdespisethesnake]

I also noticed that the easydriver board only goes on during a high pulse and from what i understand can not be stepped,

I don't where you got that idea - the Easydriver is a bipolar stepper driver, it will step on a Step pulse, and drive the motor accordingly.

They should be fine for what you want, if you modify your motors to be bipolar. Will also save pins and be easy to use with the printer firmware, which nearly all are designed for this type of stepper driver.

If you want to run in 32K, I strongly recommend Teacup firmware.

[Refrigerator]

I also noticed that the easydriver board only goes on during a high pulse and from what i understand can not be stepped,

I don't where you got that idea - the Easydriver is a bipolar stepper driver, it will step on a Step pulse, and drive the motor accordingly.

They should be fine for what you want, if you modify your motors to be bipolar. Will also save pins and be easy to use with the printer firmware, which nearly all are designed for this type of stepper driver.

If you want to run in 32K, I strongly recommend Teacup firmware.

Thanks.

I will modify the stepper to be bipolar to accomodate the easy driver better and this way i should also have more torque on the steppers.

The mechanical part of the build is rather simple but the firmware part is driving me nuts.

I'll have to read a bit more about the teacup firmware to find out more about how it operates.

Edit: After a quick read i found out that the teacup firmware is compatible with the SinapTec AT328.02 and the NanoHeart controllers, which are both arduino nano based, thus meaning that the teacup firmware should work fine.

[Gmetal]

Awesome project, under 30$ is an impressive goal.

Could the arduino nano's limited flash be an issue with the software you are using?

Also, what extruder and what software are you going to run, its definately a project I was thinking of pursuing.

[Refrigerator]

Awesome project, under 30$ is an impressive goal.

Could the arduino nano's limited flash be an issue with the software you are using?

Also, what extruder and what software are you going to run, its definately a project I was thinking of pursuing.

As i mentioned it the post above the Teacup firmware is compatible with arduino nano, so that will be what i'll use.
For the extruder i'll try this here.

[mike_58]

Awesome project, under 30$ is an impressive goal.

Could the arduino nano's limited flash be an issue with the software you are using?

Also, what extruder and what software are you going to run, its definately a project I was thinking of pursuing.

Why not using * = http://www.ebay.com/itm/3D-Printer-Kit-for-Arduino-CNC-Shield-V4-Nano-3-0-A4988-Driver-GRBL-Compatible-/131818382833

Description
Features of CNC Shield V4.0
 
3 axis stepper motor driver
Compatible with micro-drive laser engraving machine, three-axis CNC engraving machine
2A can be controlled within the two-phase four-wire stepper motor.
Released the digital IO interface, easy to connect to other modules, such as ENDSTOP.
Released the I2C interface, you can connect to the LCD I2C or other I2C module.
Power DC5v interface, 7.5-12V voltage input.
GRBL compatible
Worked with arduino nano.
 
Kit list
 
CNC Shield V4.0 *1
Nano 3.0 board *1
A4988 driver *3
USB cable *1
3D Printer Kit for Arduino CNC Shield V4+Nano 3.0+A4988 Driver GRBL Compatible

[Refrigerator]

Awesome project, under 30$ is an impressive goal.

Could the arduino nano's limited flash be an issue with the software you are using?

Also, what extruder and what software are you going to run, its definately a project I was thinking of pursuing.

Why not using * = http://www.ebay.com/itm/3D-Printer-Kit-for-Arduino-CNC-Shield-V4-Nano-3-0-A4988-Driver-GRBL-Compatible-/131818382833

Description
Features of CNC Shield V4.0
 
3 axis stepper motor driver
Compatible with micro-drive laser engraving machine, three-axis CNC engraving machine
2A can be controlled within the two-phase four-wire stepper motor.
Released the digital IO interface, easy to connect to other modules, such as ENDSTOP.
Released the I2C interface, you can connect to the LCD I2C or other I2C module.
Power DC5v interface, 7.5-12V voltage input.
GRBL compatible
Worked with arduino nano.
 
Kit list
 
CNC Shield V4.0 *1
Nano 3.0 board *1
A4988 driver *3
USB cable *1
3D Printer Kit for Arduino CNC Shield V4+Nano 3.0+A4988 Driver GRBL Compatible

that would be a good choice if it has the firmware loaded.
So far i was unable to upload the firmware, my broblem being that my old PC only works with the old version of arduino IDE, which is not compatible with the teacup firmware i want to upload.
Would be nice if i could find/generate the raw code to manually upload it but i can't find it.

That sort of extruder is sold by some sellers on Ebay packaged with a Teflon feed tube and a fan for not much more.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/191821322122?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&var=490855499072&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Still it is a challenging project goal that appeals to me. I shall be interested if you post updates of your progress.
Good luck with it.

Making things with materials on hand just to see if you can reminds me of that scene in the movie Apollo 13 where the ground engineers cast a box of stuff onto the bench and say "we have to make this (square CO2 scrubber cartridge) fit into a hole for this (round CO2 scrubber cartridge) using just this".

30 bucks is my goal and i do have almost all the parts, only a little more planning for the frame is required and i still have about 5 bucks to spare.