I’m planning a 2x2 MPCNC build and the last piece of the puzzle is the electronics. I’m more of an intermediate in the 3D printing world but new to CNC. Ultimately I’d like to be integrated with a Pi 3B+ for ease of management. I have a few things laying around but not sure the best vs. simplest vs. most cost effective approach.
What I have on hand:
-Pi 3B+ (Is there a hat?)
-Arduino Uno (needs a hat then could run via Octo?)
-Creality 4.2.2 (would need to add a driver to extruder output and figure out firmware)
Any recommendations on component and how it all links together is greatly appreciated. I’m open to going SKR or Rambo route (or other) if that makes sense.
The Rambo and SKR pro v1.2 are both sold by Ryan and he maintained and tests the firmware (Marlin). This is the fastest, most mainstream way to get going.
I have a pi image (v1pi) that works pretty well but I don’t spend much time maintaining it. It is based on octopi and adds cncjs and a hotspot version using raspap.
Marlin can be installed on many controllers. You need 5 drivers if you want to use dual endstops to square the XY. Marlin also has a lot of options for screens. You can use them to set up the jobs or run them from SD. You can’t leave a CNC like you can a printer. So it isn’t so bad using a screen instead of a web interface.
Grbl is another popular choice. It can also be controlled by v1pi. There isn’t a good dual endstop version for it. But it is simple and made for CNC. The axis boards can be bought for cheap. There are uno hats for grbl, but I would save the uno for something else.
Grbl_esp32 (or it’s new name fluidNC) with somewhat like grbl, but they have a built in web interface and run on the ESP32. There are dual endstop configurations. But very few people have used them on fluidNC (if any). So you might be a guinea pig.
Klipper can also be used. I haven’t tried it myself on the CNC and I haven’t installed it on a v1pi. But it also has support for many boards. I use it on my printer and I’ve seen some users here that have used it. I suspect dual endstops is possible.
Actually there are other Grbl compatible alternatives. Grbl Mega 5X for arduino mega.
There is also grblHAL that support a ton of microcontroller and plugins.
And there is also µCNC (this one I know it can run on Uno with dual endstops ). All of these 3 are not very widely used so Again you might be a guinea pig.
). All of these 3 are not very widely used so Again you might be a guinea pig.