I think I need to order one to test a sample config. They are more than willing to include a sample config for us, I just need to build and test it.
I should offer up my old boards and swap to the new ones…all these boards and firmware changes seem to hit at the same time and it gets a bit overwhelming.
They’re pretty helpful if you run into issues. I wouldn’t have gotten a working config without them troubleshooting with me.
The boards are definitely not plug and play unless you’re copying someone’s build; there’s a bit of a learning curve.
I ordered the one listed above, the FluidNC Pen/Laser CNC Controller TMC2209 and it was the last one in stock. You may need to contact Bart to see when he is planning on getting more.
This is the first part to my ZenXY build that will eventually happen. First, I’m about to build my Lowrider 3. (My 3D printing ends tomorrow and assembly will begin when I can find some free time.)
Out of curiousity, can I connect a power supply to the FluidNC board and connect it to the computer (via wifi?) to update it without anything else (motors, other wires) connected? Or would that fry the board? (I just want to see it connect to my computer and run in play mode with a virtual machine (per the GitHub page).
If so, can I use any power supply, like the one Ryan supplies?
I could try to run fluidnc on my zxy. I wonder if I could also use webui 3.0.
It wouldn’t be a drop in config file for the new boards, but it would make me better able to help. And maybe some new features would help me.
Did you purchase the esp32 from bart? If so, wifi is waiting to be setup using a hotspot. From there you can use OTA for updates. If it’s unflashed, then just use a usb cord and the install-wifi.bat and install-fs.bat scripts to flash and set it up. That should get you to the point of using the hotspot to configure wifi.
Otherwise, connecting Vmot and usb at the same time is generally fine with Bart’s boards. If it has a switching 5V supply onboard, it’ll have the diodes needed to keep the USB supply from causing issues. So no need to hack off the red usb wire for safety.
Also, I haven’t loaded up the diptrace files and the photos of the laser board are too blurry to read the IC he used, but I’m guessing the switcher can take inputs ranging 12VDC - 36VDC like his other boards.
Yes, I did purchase the wifi esp32 and its installed.
(I was wondering how I get it connected.)
I don’t think it has a USB connection on this board. Just a microSD and wifi, I believe.
I’m not sure what vmot is, but am about to learn. Time to research.
Eew, OK I see that Bart and the gang have done away with the ‘traditional’ method shown here under Setup/startup:
…this excerpt is quoted from that link:
“At startup the ESP32 will try to connect to the WiFi network it was connected to last. If it cannot connect to that network, it will enter AP (Access Point) mode, thus creating a WiFi network named GRBL_ESP, with password 12345678. Connect to that network with a PC, tablet or phone and use a web browser to load the WebUI to access the URL http://192.168.0.1 (on some systems you can also use http://grblesp.local, but that alternative name doesn’t work on Windows without a lot of extra effort to setup mDNS).”
I bet by default the firmware is still launching the AP, but maybe named something else like fluidnc.local (ip is likely unchanged as well). When I do this from my iphone, the esp3d page automatically pops up in safari so I don’t even have to know the hostname or ip. Once your router creds are entered in that AP page, you reboot the esp (power cycle), and now wifi should connect to your router. From there you can get to it from your lan using the same fluidnc.local, or IP address.
That should get you to the point where you can play with configuration. If not, you may have to use fluidterm to upload files. I’m not a fan of fluidterm (yet?), so I haven’t learned much about using it for initial setup like the wiki suggests. Luckily, as you’d guess from the quote above, once you’ve entered your router creds once future OTA upgrades will remember and use it. So it’s a one and done deal, unless you change router creds. Also wifi creds aren’t stored in the config file, so you don’t have to worry about messing that up playing around with configs.
edit: Also, it should have a micro usb port… on the edge of the esp32 board itself.
…and Vmot is just the stepper motor power supply… for a zen 12VDC is plenty.
Once this becomes available, I’ll want to switch, I’m sure.
You are correct, it does have a micro usb port on the esp32 board.
For the ZenXY using the FluidNC board, am I correct in assuming that I only need to connect a power supply (12V), X Motor, Y Motor, X-Limit Switch, and Y-Limit Switch to the board? I have all those parts for my lowrider’s build that is about to happen (the last part is printing now). If so, I may connect it all up to see if I get any action.
Yes I do believe that’s all you need to plug in and start playing with configs. I always like to do a dry run before building… like you plan just run motors and make sure the directions are correct, and endstops are working. It is corexy… so a bit counter intuitive. Before testing have notes on directions handy… something like left = left motor ccw/right motor cw, up =left motor cw/right motor cw (this is probably incorrect btw). That way you know right away what wires to need swapping and where configs need adjustment etc.
I can confirm this is all you need to start turning some stepper motors with this board.
I’m in roughly the same spot of my journey as Phil (in both project completion and skill level) and struggled to get this configured correctly initially. I discovered that Bart created a tool for converting GRBL ESP32 configs over to FluidNC configs on his github: Sign in to GitHub · GitHub so I converted the example config from the V1 wiki, double checked the pin assignments, and that was enough to get things going.
Attached is the converted config file (in a zip file as I can’t upload .yaml directly) with the disclaimer that I’ve only tested this with nothing but a couple of steppers and limit switches attached (no frame, belt, or anything else). “must_home” will need to be set to false in order to do some basic initial testing like I did.
converted_config.zip (907 Bytes)
Just a couple things for you guys to be aware of as you get started…
Beware of i2s_stream when using lasers. If you get “double vision” images, you’ll need to change to i2s_static instead. The devs have said i2s_stream is “faster”, in the MCU resources sense. So it’s the default, but it does cause issues with raster laser etching. FWIW, I’ve never had issues with static being too slow in any meaningful way, with either laser or spindle (or both).
Also, beware fluidnc is lacking a lot of basic sanity checks. One example: if you configure x to home in the positive direction, and you only have a x_min pin defined (no x_max defined), it will work as expected when you home all, but it will crash when homing single axis. Something like that could pass dry testing if you only tested home all. The devs said they will add sanity checks, but for now more important things are on the list. Just something to be aware of… it helps avoid config errors that can hide and bite later when you least expect. You won’t get a convenient compile error like with marlin.
Looks like the FluidNC Pen/Laser CNC Controller TMC2209 is back in stock. 4 are available as of this typing.
Hey folks,
I got one of the controllers from V1 and had some trouble setting it up. The example configuration on the OSHW Lab page (linked from Tindie) doesn’t work with recent versions of FluidNC.
I’ve got it working well now with FluidNC 3.7.11 and wanted to share my configuration. But… I can’t add links here or upload; the config is at pastebin [dot] com [slash] EJUuXscK.
I can post links. 
Copied David’s link.
I have a yaml on my fluid configs site. GitHub - V1EngineeringInc/FluidNC_Configs: Configuration and support files for the FluidNC boards typically used and V1 Engineering