SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-11-10T22:36:55Z

Brad, how has your experimentation with arduinos/ sanguino and i2c communication been going? I have been rereading this thread and am wondering if you've been able to code/use the arduino as an add-on board yet.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-21T08:06:44Z

Well I'm glad to hear that. My main point is anyone with the printer already would know better than me, but is it overall going to be better to have marlin>sprinter or vice versa. I come from a cnc machining background, I definitely understand the issues involved with only reading one line at a time, so in my eyes the switch to marlin seems almost crucial for print quality among other things. But I'm not anything more than a 3d printer noob at the moment.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-21T06:23:23Z

In 8-10 weeks I'd say it will be well documented. There are at least two people who have taken the plunge and ordered the LCD controller/SD card combo. The firmware has already been prepared:

https://github.com/mlaws/solidoodle2-marlin

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-21T01:48:31Z

So here's my question regarding this. If solidoodle is reverting back to sprinter firmware and this is used for marlin firmware, if when I get my unit in 8-10+weeks would it be smart to perform this upgrade mainly on the basis of wanting marlin to begin with and also really liking the idea of sd card/ computer less printing?

Although it doesn't necessarily seem smart just to buy a unit to upgrade it, but I also feel the upgrades are worthy enough to make an exception. Hopefully by the time I get my unit someone has this detailed fairly well by then

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-13T10:35:30Z

I have also ordered the same kit from ebay.

Looking forward to seeing your progress, Ian.

Wish I could contribute more with the heavy lifting, but I'd need a Solidoodle for that.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-12T12:23:45Z

I saw those kits Ian, and am really interested in knowing how well they will work, definitely keep us informed! BTW, thanks for all of your great involvement in the Solidoodle community, Between your blog and all of your poss here and on google, you are rapidly becoming the go-to-guru of Solidoodle

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-11T20:48:18Z

I just ordered the Panelolu kit with SDSL, 1284, and soldering. I will need to put together the cable and add the headers to the Sanguinololu. It was about $70USD. I don't know how long it will take to ship from the UK, but I can use that time to practice soldering headers into dead electronics

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-11T16:37:49Z

The communication is actually a simple serial based protocol, you could use the softseriallibrary to communicate with the solidoodle over the serial pins (Not the usb of course).

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-11T14:08:52Z

I already have a bunch of arduinos including the new Leonardo, an Ethernet card and LCD displays so I am going to dig into the solidoodle firmware and determine what they are looking for on the communications.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-11T03:21:11Z

I'm going to order some stuff and start some experimentation.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-11T02:51:48Z

cool, thanks Gordy. Now, what needs done and how do I help

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-10T20:50:31Z

To just use the existing. Board, it would probably require solidoodle to make changes to their firmware. If a second processor were added, code could be developed in the open source arena. It is pretty apparent that solidoodle does not have the time to take on another project yet. Also, these processors have limited memory and adding too many features could make the firmware too large, requiring an additional processor any way. I would prefer to keep the solidoodle processor doing what it does best as well as keep my processor as factory as possible so future firmware upgrades are still possible.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-10T18:29:25Z

So here's a question, why look at a separate arduino board to feed the S2 instead of just using the built in board with an upgraded main chip to drive things?

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-10T18:23:48Z

If you had a seperate Arduino to control the printing, an LCD panel would be easy to mount and control. In fact, there are a number of boards available that already have up/down/left/right buttons along with an LCD already mounted. Frankly, this type of control would probably be best suited for a secondary controller so the current processor can handle what it does best, control printing. The Arduino can handle multiple boards stacked on one another so you could conceivably have the Arduino, Ethernet with SD card, and LCD board with push button controls all in one unit talking to the Print controller.

Re: SD card reader (kinda port from Google groups)

2012-08-10T18:19:02Z

Network attached with an SD card buffer? I like where this is going, though I think I'd still like and LCD/control panel like panelolu on there for control.