Guess what I was playing with today (well playing as in drawing stuff to design something for that)
However, my approach is to use the printhead for that with a fifix-like mount to it and just use the existing bed sensor. (the circular thing is connected to thee pin (one part) and is covered with something metal for the bed sensor to detect it.
Can then be connected to the the side of the printhead.
Alternative that I had in mind was using an existing dial indicator that I attach to the toolhead and read out the values (I have connected an ESP32 to it that reads out the values from the dial indicator).
Advantage of this second approach is that it could be used with any existing toolhead so there is no need to swap toolheads if you want to cnc or laser on a curved toolhead.
The z-probe with the 3D print head shows up on the can bus as an end stop trigger. My idea but I have not yet tested is to send the exact same probe message with the CNC head. The trigger could be a ruby-tipped probe or just simply an alligator clip on a copper PCB. Ultimately enabling surface mapping for pcbs and other CNC surfaces
After spending some time on this and making some prototypes I came too the conclusion that my design worked but was too complex and especially fragile. Having another look at the fifix and typical āalan key probeā approach Iāve simplified it to this:
yes, basically a tube where my probe part can fit in
Prototype looks like this. i.e. an 8mm metal rod with a small tip done on the bench grinder. For quick prototyping I just taped a aluminum tape little disc on it. (the tape on the shaft is to make it fit the hole a bit better as I didnāt get it to the exact right size.
Works actually rather well. I get very similar results using this mounted and doing a calibration vs using the sensor directly. Which is more or less to be expected as it just a modified version of the Fifix.
Advantage here is that it can be used on non flat surfaces to probe a workpiece using simple G30 commands for which it should be relatively easy to write a small script/macro for.
Is this useful, not so much right now, for leveling on glass, the original fifix is better as you donāt have to jog up 200 times by 0.5mm for the manually setting the last calibration point and with that one you donāt have to worry about a different offset.
In this setup it will only work with the print head and not the other toolheads.
So maybe Iāll continue on the path of my initial idea to use my digital dial indicator which I can read out with an esp32. With that ESP32 I could also connect to the SM to have that jog it around to different points and then just read the value from the dial indicator.
The tolerances on the dial indicator shaft will be better than with this metal rod in the 3d printed tube.
(On the other hand, this was my initial idea and I havenāt done anything with it for almost a year apart from making a connector for the dial indicator and some code to read out the values from the dial indicator)
OK, this has gotten me triggered. As I didnāt feel the urge to get a real Renishaw 3d touch probe. (or even a cheaper variant frome a Chinese webshop, usually still $100) And wanted to see if it would be useful I decided to try and create one myself.
OK, so the easy part is done . Now just doing the code part and the connection with the can bus. Will have to reread some of the related topics to get upto speed with that. Have teensy available that I could use. (or esp32). Probably need some other extra hardware though.
Let me see if Iām following this, as there are a lot of tangents in this topic.
You are using a floating probe to map a surface, with a sufficiently thick/massive metal disk on the probe whose relative distance will be read by the metal-detecting bed-sensor? Thatās ā¦ a very good idea. I had kinda given up on the bed sensor, decided a glass bed was more useful. This has me wanting to read up on one of those old threads that discussed its resolution.
Yes. Itās a variation of the FiFix discussed in this thread: For all who want level on glass
(if you want to level the bed, the FiFix is superior. If you want to scan a surface, this might be a better approach). Far from perfect though. Needs more work.
In my last post itās actually another type of probe (that can also detect the edges of objects) two different things and this one does not reuse the print head probe)
The probe gives you nice digital feedback. Neato. Im currently workign on a stripped down version for my expensionboard (over did it massivly for my knowledge). will post when i have something new on it.
Not really in the movie itās just testing continuity. So not that digital Then again, easy enough to just test if a pin is high or low.
I forgot to order some can transceivers . so will have to get one of those first.
@Streupfeffer and @Ronin, did you share somewhere the source code of what youāve been developing? So far Iāve been able to just read whatās being sent on the CAN bus. So my set up of an ESP32 I had laying around combined with a CAN transceiver I ordered functionally works.
I donāt have any real experience with CAN so just tried a minimal sketch in Arduino IDE with this CAN library: https://github.com/sandeepmistry/arduino-CAN to sniff the CAN bus.
Since there are ādozensā of us wanting to something like this, it could be interesting to start sharing stuff, and getting a head start is always fun
Hi
a few days ago I contacted with @Ronin on private messages - I had a few questions about his module and the files he shared with the video on Youtube. There are PCB files, schematic and HEX file for the DIY module he made. Based on these files, I also make now its module - before I do something myself, I prefer to have hardware that has already been tested in practice by someone .
He wrote to me that is on vacation with his family right now - they are skiing at some mountain resort and that he is finishing writing a long article / guide where he exactly describes the principles of CAN Snapmaker communication - allegedly is almost ready. There will also be a description of his program. So we still have to wait Unless someone else from this forum has such knowledge and will share?
@brvdboss I am also trying similar tests to myself. Basis of the MCP2515 module and example sketch arduino, I made a simple CAN sniffer - so far everything that reads from the CAN bus is displayed in the Serial Monitor on Arduino IDE. I know itās not a big deal - but as a beginner I enjoy it if something works
From a sniffer to a āIf button then Send IDā its not that far of a step, im working with switch cases in my usage sofar.
I didnt check recently (didnt use the SNs not realy) but a list of IDs for what purpose would be good. I have a unfinished one local which im using for my extension module. Will have to check github at somepoitn again for an update on used functionIDs.
A list of IDās would be helpful indeed. However, Iāve noticed that (between reboots) the inductive sensor has been using id 0x604 and 0x605 Donāt have a clue why thatās the case. (or where in the source code those IDās are determined for that matter)
Any way, Iāve made progress on my 3D touch probe (the software side/connection to the CAN bus) this time and decided to create a separate topic for it:
Iām definitely willing to collaborate on that Snapmaker CAN library.
(well playing as in drawing stuff to design something for that)
where my probe part can fit in
. Now just doing the code part and the connection with the can bus. Will have to reread some of the related topics to get upto speed with that. Have teensy available that I could use. (or esp32). Probably need some other extra hardware though.
. so will have to get one of those first.
Unless someone else from this forum has such knowledge and will share?