FilaWinder Documentation (Page 8 of 16)

The firmware you have loaded already is correct, there is no need to change it.  Communicating through writing isn't working, so I have to make a video, which is taking a little time.  There will be specific steps spelled out so you can tell me that you did each step, and what happened.

Got it pretty well assembled.  Three questions.

-With the sensor mount, what is the advantage of using the printed one?  The laser pathway is wider than the wood version.  I guess you also need to extend the wires from the laser to get all the way to the sensor board.

-What is the printed servo mount for?  I don't see it referenced videos or the instructions.

-Is there any difference in performance from the wood guide to the printed guide?  I started printing parts before I got the kit (but not by much since the order-shipping process was very fast!).  It seems the small screws in the slots of the wood version would provide more positive back-forth movement.

The small gear wasn't strong enough at the top where the nut goes.   Just a little pressure and snapped on one side.  I think Cura printed it with maybe two or three 'threads'.  I tried to print a beefed up one, but it didn't turn out - I think because I was trying to print it in ABS all by itself.  A small bit of clear packing tape wrapped around the end a few times  and then trimmed to length and tapped for the set screw seemed to give me the right amount of strength.  I see there are some alternate versions that are beefed up on Thingiverse.

Are there any modified versions of the firmware that make use of a PID loop for the winder motor?  Bang-bang keeps dropping my filament below the laser (takes a few hours, after calibration).

What is the problem you are having with guiding the filament?  Does the guide not reach far enough?  Or is the 3mm filament so stiff the guide can't push it all the way to the edge?  You can try setting the servo mount in one of the slots farther from the spool.

Using a stepper motor isn't just a coding change.  You will also need a driver, maybe installed in a breadboard.  The Filawinder has pins you can use to supply the needed 12v, GND, Step and Dir to it.  With an analog gear motor, you send a speed value to its pin and it keeps spinning until you tell it to do something else.  With a stepper, each time you switch the STEP pin on then off it turns one step.  To keep it turning you need to keep switching that pin, and you can't wait for the rest of the program to finish between steps.  Instead the stepper needs to run in an interrupt.  An interrupt causes the rest of the program to stop what it was doing so it can run whatever function is in the interrupt, such as stepping the motor.  I don't remember the details of how to do that, but this is where I started - http://basbrun.com/2009/07/10/arduino-timer-interrupt/.

You can look into using a 360 servo instead, which would be simpler.  That is a servo that is designed to spin continuously.  You would use the same connection, and the code is less complicated than running a stepper.  Since you are sending it speed and direction instead of position, I don't know if there is a way to set the limits in software.  You could use limit switches instead, and plug them in to the pins used by the left and right buttons which would no longer be needed.

Hi everyone,
I'm having a power issue with my filawinder. My DC adapter is plugged in and I get 12V on the multimeter, but no power is going to the board or motors. The board lights up whenever I plug in the USB, but that's about it. I'm pretty sure I upload the lastest firmware (v9a) and I can run the serial monitor log. However when I lonly have the power adapter plugged in, nothing happens. Any suggestions?

A separate thread should be fine.  I'm interested in seeing what you come up with.  I understood what you meant, and suggested a 360 servo instead for simplicity.  You would need to make come kind of coupling to go between the servo horns and the threaded rod.  A servo won't have as much torque as a stepper, but it may be enough. 

It's possible that the guide just isn't moving far enough at the ends of the spool.  As it nears the edge of the spool, each degree of rotation will result in a smaller linear rotation, so if your spool is much wider than normal, the default amount of rotation for 3mm may not be enough.  In the firmware look for this code around line 300, under void guide_control()-

    if (guide_direction == 0) {               //If the current direction of the guide is forward
    if (digitalRead(12) == 1){                // If there is no jumper on Pin 12
    guide_angle = (guide_angle + 1.17); }     //Move the guide +1.17 degree for 1.75mm filament
    if (digitalRead(12) == 0){                //If there is a jumper on Pin 12
       guide_angle = (guide_angle + 1.90); }     //Move the guide 2 degrees for 3mm filament
    servo.write(guide_angle);}
    
   if (guide_direction == 1) {                //If the current direction of the guide is back
      if (digitalRead(12) == 1){              //If there is no jumper on Pin 12
    guide_angle = (guide_angle - 1.17); }     //Move the guide -1.17 degree for 1.75mm filament
     if (digitalRead(12) == 0){               //If there is a jumper on Pin 12
       guide_angle = (guide_angle - 1.90); }     //Move the guide -2 degrees for 3mm filament
     servo.write(guide_angle);}

Change the guide angle to something larger than 1.9 to make the guide move more, and experiment until it seems to reach the edges when it needs to. 

To use a stepper, you will need something like the Easydriver set up on a breadboard somewhere - https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10267 .  At the bottom left of the control board there are a pair of pins marked Fan, which were never used.  You can use this to connect 12v and GND to the easydriver.  You can use the header marked S (Pin 8) that was used for the guide servo and connect it to STEP on the easy driver. You can use D9 from the expansion header at the bottom of the board to connect to DIR on the driver.  When the hall sensor triggers, you will need to switch pin 8 (STEP) to HIGH and then back to LOW one time for every step the motor needs to take to turn the rod the right amount.  The direction will depend on whether DIR (pin 9) is set HIGH or LOW, which will change when the endstop gets triggered.

Anyone have the dimensions/measurements for the laser cut wood plates? Height and width would be great and anything else would be gravy. Much thanks!

avrdude: stk500_getparm(): (a) protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x14
avrdude: stk500_initialize(): (a) protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x88
avrdude: initialization failed, rc=-1
         Double check connections and try again, or use -F to override
         this check.

avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0xfc

Who can tell me what is wrong?

've already tried everything.
Power is also. Connected via USB only.

Buttons can be made to either connect when pushed, or disconnect when pushed.  It looks like my supplier slipped on of the wrong kind into the last batch.

Look for this line in the firmware, in the void loop() area-

if (digitalRead(8) == 0 && digitalRead(3) ==1) {

Change that 0 to a 1 and see if it works.

When i buy "electronics set only" does that mean i get absolutely nothing else like nuts and bolts and what ever else or just not getting the boxes and gears and things like that that can be printed ?

Confused. Product page does not specify any of that

Oh cool.
$59.99 seemed to be pretty good, almost bought it