If you try to drive stepper motors with other interfaces you will get timing issues, because they have some buffering and delays that introduce jitter in the signals (which in turns means shaking, vibrations, poor movement). In fact, parallel port interfaces are the only "real time" ports that exist on regular PC, unless you buy expensive special hardware cards. Why? LinuxCNC handles everything, including the precise timing of the electric pulses for the stepper motors, that are precisely what the controller boards like RAMPS or Smoothieboards handle for 3D printers. The kind of plug that no printer uses anymore anywhere. Moreover, the PC that runs LinuxCNC needs to have a parallel port.
Raspberry pi parallel port cnc xylotec install#
Actually, it comes with a special Linux operating system, and as such, it is not just an application that you can install on your usual computer. LinuxCNC is a very capable piece of software for driving a milling machine, including very professional ones. It is extremely easy to setup compared to the latter: for example, you simply change one value in a text file from your explorer to tell that your printer is a delta!īut the board and the firmware are also known for driving other types of CNC machines. It is modern and it is an easy upgrade for 3D printers that still run on outdated Marlin dead-ends. Smoothieware is a firmware that runs on Smoothieboards and a few other 32 bit ARM controllers, like the Azteeg X5 Mini or the Cohesion3D ReMix.
![raspberry pi parallel port cnc xylotec raspberry pi parallel port cnc xylotec](https://www.smbaker.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/nixiecalc_complete.jpg)
I would think that the reciprocal would benefit everybody though. More annoyingly, I would end up having to tweak and modify an existing CAM tool just to handle the specific "milling behaviors" of this board. Even though my current overall hardware setup is much convenient and lighter, the milling process ends up requiring more manual and careful operations than before.
![raspberry pi parallel port cnc xylotec raspberry pi parallel port cnc xylotec](https://antennatestlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Raspberry-Pi-Antenna-Closeup-1024x768.jpg)
But my expectation here was to benefit from Smoothie as much as one can benefit from it for 3D printers. With time, I think it may be sorted out, probably with help from others if they are welcomed (and hopefully without breaking more mill bits).