How often do you get returns (or even just complaints) from folks that blew up a Jackpot by reversing the polarity of VMOT at the terminals?
You could easily have near-foolproof reverse polarity protection with clever use of a FET on the input side of the jackpot where a reverse polarity VMOT would mean nothing happens rather. Much better thn than “the magic smoke comes out.”
If you consider trading the extra headroom in the regulator for something potentially really ruggedizing for the board overall, this might be one area to look at.
Understood but cutting cost is not the main goal, just a side effect. We could use a more robust boot, There are several new esp32 options, possible diagnostic pin, more importantly easier to source components. Some of the ideas I have had already been knocked out (S3).
Nearly every single batch I have to make a component swap, and a few components have been discontinued.
So while I am looking into some changes I am also looking into optimizing each function of the board.
I guess to be even more clear, this is the first of many posts deep diving into the jackpot design. Each will be separate to prevent mega threads. There are a few things we talked about at RMRRF and they will be visited later.
That’s my understanding from reading the Marlin TMC implementation. I haven’t read Fluid’s. There are reports for which driver triggered in the output from M122. I think you can also poll the real time number for stallguard. But it isn’t fast enough to reliably trigger it. At least, I don’t think you can do it with purely software.
Is it worth it, or necessary, to have the diag pins from each driver go through a switch/jumper block so that you can enable/disable which diag pins participate in the diode-OR?
It seems that you can enable the StallGuard run mode on a per-driver basis (Catching missed steps and stopping - #36 by jeyeager) so no issues there, but are there any other triggers of the diag pin in other run modes that might get used for a 6th driver that should not trigger through the diag-OR?
I’m guessing no (not needed) is probably a safe choice, but I thought at least it should be a conscious choice. I suppose someone could always cut the pin off the driver.
Dang, the more I look at all the components, the more I am excited about how much I have learned during all of this CNC stuff…and also how little I actually understand. I have no idea why I find this stuff so fascinating.
There is a lot to be saved in an integrated esp32. Parts, ordering, inventory, assembly. The only real issue we have had is with people inserting the esp backwards and popping them, and the knock off’s not working well.
It is nice to be able to swap it out but dang, I feel like this might save $5 per board alone, plus time.
Very tempting… easy enough to have a supply of both for a while to see what people prefer.
Wonder if my hot air skills are good enough to esp swap damaged ones, maybe I would need a hotplate / reflow for that.
Biggest issue would be the massive footprint bump, and then do I do 5 and a socket, or 6 (wasted cost)?
(P.S. I just ordered 200 more V1 ESP32’s. Even with Tarrifs they will be $0.25 cents less than Espresiff direct, and I might get lucky and not get a tarriff )
Yea, I killed on putting it in backwards. I like being able to remove the ESP32 and bring it in the house where my computer is to update it. Maybe we just send people down the path of OTA updates. I used to use 2 different ESP32s: 1 for normal usage and 1 for experimentation/new versions. I don’t really do that anymore since I can easily back up what’s on flash and updates seem more stable lately. I’m not opposed to this, especially if it has 8MB of flash (so I can have more space and still support OTA).
I remember seeing a discussion on the FluidNC Discord talking about this and it sounds like Bart has had less issues once he switched to integrated ESP32s. I don’t know the details behind that.
I imagine a footprint increase wouldn’t be terrible if it’s only in one direction. I keep telling myself I’m going to add a rotary axis to my Lowrider someday but I’m not sure that will ever happen.
Does integrated drivers throw the idea of external drivers out the window?
Not going to happen, there are plenty of modules for that. The idea is the the least expensive board that CAN do it not, not that HAS it all on board (that is Biqu).
There is a module with an external antenna and a socket for an external.
No, the header holes can be there.
I can not figure it out myself, even the genuine esp’s can be wonky. I imagine if we optimize by integrating things could be better.
I am going to close this thread soon. I was digging into the power supply, I do not want this to be a mega thread of requests. I will open another thread about another aspect when this one is closed.
If I do make an integrated esp board I will keep the regular jackpot around for a bit to see if anyone prefers it. For kit sales it makes not sense to pay for assembly twice.
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