Grbl...well Grbl Esp32 and the 6 Pack controller

Updates and News
21

Cool thanks for the info.

22

For his previous boards Bart has always released the gerbers and I found it much cheaper to get the boards made and shipped from China… just had a look and indeed the gerbers for the motherboard and all the daughter boards are in the github download…

1 Like
23

I was going to reply with some snark about supporting creators and such-like, but then scrolled back and saw that there was something about shipping to the Netherlands… Yeah… Although it might still be nice to at least leave a review (preferably positive) once you’ve got his work produced and in service. :smiley:

24

It seems much more efficient to get the parts from the source, and then send plain old cash across the border. I don’t know if bart has a paypal or direct sponsorship in github, but something like $28 to Bart would probably be several board’s worth of profit and he doesn’t have to solder anything :).

1 Like
25

I couldn’t agree more.

I’m glad you didn’t snark me… His Tindie page does quote “Tindie often over calculates the International shipping cost. If you want a better estimate, please email me.” (maybe Tindie will be including the VaT for American imports with the shipping like Ebay does) and if that is still no good then Bart does say on his buildlog.net page…

If You Want One…

The design is open source. The files are on Github. You can build one yourself or I will be selling them via my Tindie store soon.

1 Like
26

I wish his older “Grbl_ESP32 MPCNC CNC Controller" was still available. To get what I would need with the modular “6-pack” option would be twice the cost of that older single board controller.

1 Like
27

I thought there was a new version, it doesn’t say MPCNC but I think it is similar.

28

There’s a “CNC Development Board” that is similar in layout, but it’s only 3 axis rather than 5 axis.

29

Bummer. I was looking at them yesterday for the new Zen, so I didn’t pay attention to how many axes, sorry.

30

The gerber files are still available on Barts Github site for his mpcnc_ESP32 board so if you are confident in a bit of SMC soldering you could build one for yourself.

1 Like
31

I have 2 MPCNC_ESP32 Controllers that I am retiring. One is currently on my Lowrider and the other is a spare. I am switching to the 6-pack controller on my Lowrider and building a Primo using another 6-pack controller.

32

I considered that and actually looked through the BOM and sourcing components last night. But realized I have never done any SMD soldering before, do not have appropriate equipment to even try, so have absolutely no confidence in my ability to build one myself. Maybe one day, but not today.

Two questions for you, Tom. 1) Just out of curiosity, what are you looking to get out of the 6-Pack that you can’t do with the MPCNC_ESP32? 2) Would you be willing to sell one of your retired boards? If so, we could continue that conversation via PM.

33

I have a RS485 module on the 6-pack to control the spindle speed. PM me about the board.

1 Like
34

I’ve been studying up more on grblesp32, in particular what it has to offer WRT webui features. I think it is awesome for what it is, and will no doubt get better over time. However I’m already setup with bCNC, so the esp3d UI would be a big step backward for me. So when I upgrade to esp32 I would like to continue using bCNC. That brings me to a few questions…

Has anyone seen performance issues using grblesp32 as intended… cutting from files uploaded through the UI? This may require more intense moves… like a laser etch at high speed to test.

How about using grblesp32 with an external host… any issues with performance?

Is there any reason (other than wanting to use another UI) for sticking with esp3d vs using another host for the webui/sending?

35

I have done file uploads and sent commands from cnc.js and lightburn and it has been flawless.

1 Like
36

I have been looking around to find myself proof of grblesp32 handling laser etch faster than 8bit. So far all I’ve come up with is this:

141mm/sec and no stuttering, looks good at first glance… but then I maybe that image is too simple to push the limits? It looks like a basic bitmap with no shading, so could be just all very long moves for that particular image. On my ramps rig, etching more complex gradients at ~250dpi, I’ve seen grbl slow down to as low as 800mm/min (with 1800mm/min gcode). How slow depends on the details of the image… some images have lots of rapid S0/SX switching which I’m pretty certain is what chokes the 8bit mcu. The burns still come out looking perfect, but I’m interested in cutting down turnover time for laser etching by going to 32bit.

Has anyone found some more solid evidence of a performance increase?

I’m talking more like 80mm/sec or more (150mm/sec would be great!) on a 250dpi complex dithered image… no threshold b/w logos etc (8bit can print those fast too). I know my little 3.5W laser can still turn mdf pretty darn black at over 100mm/sec. So I’m hoping up to 150mm/sec stutter free is possible with 32bit.

[edit: Just noticed the mdf pendant in the video… LOL!]

37

@truglodite I recently discovered LaserGRBL has a telnet connection capability that appears to work well over wifi to the ESP32. However there is no ‘upload to the memory card’ feature although the small amount of testing I have done so far sending the file ‘live’ over the wifi have been pretty impressive. I much prefer LaserGRBL over ESP32_webui graphically and functionally, apart from the microSD card access.

@heath The only really tricky part is the 3 to 5v level shifter and you can leave that off if you don’t mind having a 3v3 pwm output and not using the pwm_enable feature …but I see that you are probably sorted now anyway…good luck.

1 Like
38

I’m ready to order my 6-pack, but wanted to make sure I have all the details sorted in case I need to also purchase addon boards for it. Looking at the schematics of the 6-pack, the mainboard already has pinouts for the endstops and zprobe (on the SIP next to the esp32 module). Looking further at the cpumap for the mpcnc:

Besides the 6 predefined limits pins, it appears that there may be 2 more inputs (4 really, but 2 are already broken out in the above mentioned SIP), and 3 more outputs that would be accessible through the expansion port headers. Wouldn’t it be possible to wire up my relays and other TTL level io to those pins without necessarily needing to buy an addon board?

I’m not allergic to buying the addon boards if there is a real need, but I don’t want to tear more than I have to apart and end up with more spares in my box that wanted. So if I can setup the fw to use those pins to operate my spindle/mist/airblast, that would be great. I’m well versed in the electrical part, so can design/wire up my own fets/relays/level invers/shifters as needed. I just need to know if this is doable or not, otherwise I’ll get whatever modules are needed.

39

I am in the process of swapping out an MPCNC_ESP32 controller with a 6-Pack controller. I did buy (2) 4x Input modules, (1) MOSFET module and (1) RS485 module for my board because I would not be comfortable building my own electronics. I am assuming you would also be comfortable dealing with line noise on the inputs.
I would suggest that you ask about what is doable on their Discord server. I can send you an invite if you are not already a member.

1 Like
40

I went ahead and ordered the 6pack board alone after assessing my needs and capabilities. Since I need 9 switch inputs, a fet, and 3 relays, and I have on hand a ton of 2 sided pcb and misc components, I decided to diy my modules. It is also an opportunity to get more experience milling pcb and learning the bcnc auto level stuff.

So far I have designed a quad input, and still have to do the fet and relay outputs. For those I may combine on one board to save the extra expansion slot for later. The quad input uses the same 74act14 Schmitt trigger and some RC input filtering (interesting choice to spec inverters then invert in code… I stuck with defaults anyways). It has screw terminals and no opto-isolators or leds. It is very simple yet utilitarian, and I plan to design the fet relay portion the same way.

I have already researched the fw to understand how to setup for a custom board if needed. So my thought of making a 1 fet + 3 relay board should work well.

[edit: I should add that making my own expansion boards is not a great alternative to just buying them from Bart, unless you just want the fun and experience of a pcb milling project. It will take more time and effort to do your own than it is worth for the price Bart sells those things. For around $150 you can have the 6 pack with all 5 modules filled up and fully supported by Bart. I have already spent more than that much in my time designing the quad input pcb, and I haven’t even cut them out yet. You can order from a fab house using his gerbers as well for probably less, but that to me is no fun… and milled boards are going to look great.]

2 Likes