Using the Diamond Hotend with DuetWifi

(Guest post by Ian Pegg, deckingman on the Duet3d forums and www.pegdecking.com)
(update, Ian now has his own blog, check it out for lots of interesting 3d printing ideas, especially around making multi extrusion even better!)

Julia vase #11 Heatwave by Virtox
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:126567/
Printed Ian Pegg

I have been using a Diamond hotend (3 inputs and one output) on my custom built CoreXY printer, controlled by the DuetWifi for some time now. This blog post is is documentation on how to setup the DuetWifi with a Diamond hotend however it can be generalized to other multiple input - single output hotends. They might use different configurations but the principles will be the same. I have taken the definition of a mixing hot end as one which has multiple filament inputs and a single output (nozzle), although see the "issues with mixing" section at the end.

Hardware requirements.

Assuming you have the necessary number of extruders for your particular hot end, you will need to be able to drive them all. The new Duet WiFi and the older Duet v0.8.5 both have support for 2 extruders. If you have 3 or more extruders, then you will need to procure an expansion board or use another method to connect additional stepper drivers to the Duet expansion connector.

Important note. A mixing hot end must have filament loaded into all inputs at all times. Failure to do this will mean that extruded filament will find it's way up into any unused inputs where it will cool and solidify causing a blockage which will be very difficult to clear. 

Software and Firmware requirements.

You should have a slicer that is capable of supporting multi part objects. Although some things can be done by post processing the gcode file, objects which share the same Z position, would be very difficult to deal with using this method. Also, the slicer and the printer firmware should ideally be capable of supporting firmware retraction (G10) – more on this later. At the time of writing, Slic3r (version 1.2.9) is known to support these features. David's (DC42) branch of RepRapFirmware supports firmware retraction as of version 1.10.  

Some slicers support multiple extruders but not necessarily multicoloured objects (although there may be workarounds). It is often possible to use different extruders (tools) for perimeters or infill or support materials.

Connections.

Refer to the Duet wiring diagrams and connect the first extruder motor to E0, the second to E1 and any others to the relevant connectors on the expansion board. I highly recommend that you put a label on each extruder at this time to act as a reminder of which is which when you come to load filament. Remember that the first extruder drive is always D0 (not D1). This may initially confuse you when you start using slic3r which uses D1 for the first tool instead of D0.

E0 and E1 Plugged into the DuetWifi

E1 Plugged into the Duex5

A mixing hot end will only have one heater so connect this to the first heater (marked E0). Similarly, connect the thermistor to the first thermistor connector (also E0). It's not strictly necessary to use these exact connections but if you decide to use some other terminals on the Duet board, make a note of what you have connected to where. Finally connect the hot end cooling fan to wherever you prefer. The most common configuration is to connect the fan to one of the “always on” terminals but my fan is very high air flow and so quite noisy. Therefore I prefer to have it connected to one of the PWM fan terminals and run it in thermostatic mode so that it only comes on when the hot end is above 45deg C.

Configuration settings – tool definitions.

The first thing to do is define the tools. To do this, it is necessary to edit the confg.g file which can be done using the web interface:

DuetWebControl Web interface allows easy editing of all configuration files.

There are a few different ways that you can define the tools. You will probably need a tool for each of the “solid” colours. That is to say, tools which will only use 100% of one filament. Then you will need a tool or tools that combine different filaments in various proportions.

So to define a tool which uses only one colour, it is only necessary to set which extruder and which heater it will use. The gcode to define a tool is M563. So for the first 3 tools you could use something like this;

M563 P0 D0 H1

M563 P1 D1 H1

M563 P2 D2 H1

This would define the first 3 tools (P0 to P2) to each use one of the extruders (D0 to D2) but the same heater (H1).

IMPORTANT. Be aware that Slic3r and perhaps other slicers, use a different numbering system and the first tool is defined as 1 not 0. This can be easily rectified by either defining tools starting with tool 1 and up, or by using the M563 S1 command in config.g to tell the firmware to add a 1 to every tools number

If we want to mix filaments, we'd need create more tools and turn on mixing. So, we might have another tool defined like so;

M563 P3 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 3 (P3) to use all three extruders (D0:1:2) and heater 1

M568 P3 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 3

M567 P3 E0.34:0.33:0.33 ; Set mixing ratio for tool 3.

What this does is to define the tool T3 to use all 3 extruders (D0:1:2) then it uses M568 to enable mixing for that tool. Finally, it sets the mixing ratio using M567. In this case roughly the same quantity of each of the 3 filaments. However, this mixing ratio should always add up to 1. So, I've used 0.34 of extruder 0, and 0.33 of extruders 1 and 2 (0.34+0.33+0.33 = 1.00).

We could also have other tools. Say for example we had Red filament in extruder 0 and Yellow in extruder 1, we could define another tool which would blend equal amounts of the tool to create Orange. It would look like this:

M563 P4 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 4 (P4) to use all three extruders (D0:1:2) and heater 1
M568 P4 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 4

M567 P4 E0.5:0.50:0.00 ; Set mixing ratio for tool 4.

Of course, we can define as many tools as we like. The upper limit of tool numbers is constrained only by the Duet's free memory so over 400 tools are possible on the DuetWifi.

Managing a large number of tools would become cumbersome though and there is another way. Once a tool has been defined to use all the extruders and mixing has been enabled, we can simply change the mixing ratio before or during the print. It can be done before the print commences by putting the mixing ratio into the start gcode file. It can also be done during a print by entering the required M567 command in the web interface or by post processing the gcode file that the slicer generates. In theory the tool mix ratio can be set differently for each gcode move.

So we can simply have one tool which is defined as a mixing tool. In practice, this won't work with slicers which expect different tools for different (coloured) parts of an object. So, I have found the best compromise is to just define 4 tools (or one more than the number of extruders), one for each of the primary filaments and one which is a combination of all three. Coincidentally, in slic3r, if you set your printer to have 3 extruders, it will give you 4 tools to choose from for any object.

Taking this a step further, it is still useful to be able to use any combination of filaments for any tool. For example I could have red green and blue filaments loaded but want to print with Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. So all of my tools are defined as mixing tools but the first three use 100% of only one filament (actually this is not strictly true but we need to consider retraction before I elaborate more). Then if I subsequently want to change a tool to use a different filament or combination of filaments, I can do so but simply changing the mixing ratio at the start of the gcode file, without having to bother with all the other configuration settings. It can also be done “on the fly” from the web interface. This can also be used if one wanted to print a number of copies of the same object but in different colours. Simply slice the object once, then edit the start of the gcode file to change the mixing ratio and/or tool number.

Here is what the tool configuration part of a config.G file might look like.

; Tools
M563 P0 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 0
G10 P0 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 0 axis offsets
G10 P0 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 0 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P0 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 0
M567 P0 E1:0:0 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 0
M563 P1 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 1
G10 P1 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 1 axis offsets
G10 P1 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 1 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P1 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 1
M567 P1 E0:1:0 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 1
M563 P2 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 2
G10 P2 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 2 axis offsets
G10 P2 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 2 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P2 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 2
M567 P2 E0:0:1 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 2
M563 P3 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 3
G10 P3 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 3 axis offsets
G10 P3 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 3 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P3 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 3

M567 P3 E0.34:0.33:0.33 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 3

This is not quite how I have my tools defined but to understand the reason for that, we need to look at extruder retraction which is discussed later in this document.

A view of the three e3d Tital Extruders suspended as a flying extruder above the diamond hotend.

Tool offsets

You will notice that in the above tool definitions, there is no X or Y offset, or more precisely the X and Y offsets are set to zero (G10 Pn X0 Y0). That is because there is only one nozzle. X and Y offsets are only necessary where there are more than one nozzle and where they are physically offset from each other. Theoretically these offsets should default to zero but I always like to set them to zero, just in case something should get changed in firmware which might affect the default settings. 

Heating and standby temperatures. 

You will also notice that in the tool definitions above, the initial active and standby temperatures are set to zero (G10 Pn R0 S0). That is because I don't want the hot end to start heating whenever a tool is selected. Instead, I have the heating and standby temperatures set in my start gcode where I can also put the specific temperature as needed for a specific filament.

With a mixing hot end, we only have one heater and one nozzle so if we are using the same type of filament in all 3 inputs, we can instantly switch between tools without having for the next one to warm up, or the previous one to cool down. Therefore, we can (should) set the tool active and standby temperatures to the same values.

This is what I have in my start gcode for PLA in all 3 inputs.

G10 P0 S195 R195     ; Set tool 0 operating and standby temperatures
G10 P1 S195 R195     ; Set tool 1 operating and standby temperatures
G10 P2 S195 R195     ; Set tool 2 operating and standby temperatures

G10 P3 S195 R195     ; Set tool 3 operating and standby temperatures

Then when the print runs and a tool change is needed it can be instantly switched with no warm up or cool down delay.  

Obviously, if we had different types of filament in one or more of the extruders, we would need to change these values for those extruders (tools).

Extruder retraction.

With “normal” retraction, only the “active” extruder will retract. That is to say that if we are only pushing one filament into a mixing nozzle, normal retraction will only pull that single filament back. In effect, all that happens is that filament is drawn from the unused inputs rather than from the nozzle tip. In practice, this is just like having no retraction at all.

What is needed is for all filaments to be retracted, regardless of whether they are actively in use or not. Fortunately Duet hardware and firmware give us the ability to accomplish this. It is done by using firmware retraction using the codes G10 (retract) and G11 (unretract). This might be slightly confusing because G10 is also used for tool offsets but without a tool number, it is used for firmware retraction.

G10 is used in conjunction with M207 to define the retraction amount and speed.

Here is what I have in my config.g file.


M207 S1.5 F3000       ;set firmware retraction

S is the amount in mm. F is the Feed rate mm/min (divide by /60 to get mm/sec).

Optionally one could also have R (additional length on unretract) and Z (additional Z lift in mm)

It is vitally important to use this firmware retraction with a mixing hot end so, the slicer software must also be configured to use this. In Slic3r this is simply a matter of ticking a check box which is in the Printer Settings tab under “General”. Whenever retraction is needed, Slic3r will insert a G10 command (and a G11 command to unretract). For other slicers, there is sometimes a facility to post process the gcode output and one could use this to replace whatever retraction codes was output with G10. Another option would be to use some sort of text editor to do a “search and replace”.    

Tool Definitions revisited. 

Now that we have set our firmware retraction to retract all 3 filaments simultaneously there is another little issue that will become apparent but can be avoided. With a mixing hot end we must have all the inputs loaded with filament at all times otherwise extruded filament will simply find it's way up into unused inputs where it will cool and solidify. We must also retract all filaments simultaneously for reasons discussed above. Therefore, when we print using just a single filament and extruder for a prolonged period of time, what happens is that on the unused inputs, the same piece of filament is constantly being retracted and unretracted. Eventually it will just get worn away and will cease to move and retraction stops working and our prints get stringy.

There is also another issue, which is that most filaments will degrade if reheated and cooled a number of times which is what will happen if we primarily use just a single filament for an extended period of time.

There are a couple of things which can help. The first one is, before starting a print heat the nozzle and extrude some filament from each of the extruders. This will ensure that there is a fresh piece of filament in each of the extruders which may well last for enough retract and unretract cycles without getting so worn that it fails to move.

The way that I prefer to do it is to define the tools so that every tool always uses the main filament plus a small proportion of all of the other filaments. In theory, one might think that this would result in muddy and muddled colours. In practice, it is hardly noticeable and it uses the main filament but just enough of the other inputs to keep them moving so that retraction isn't always moving the same piece of filament back and forth and the same piece of filament isn't being constantly reheated and cooled. Of course, if the colour was absolutely critical, one could always load the same filament into all 3 extruders but in my experience it's unlikely to be necessary.

Here is what my final tool definition section looks like.

; Tools
M563 P0 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 0
G10 P0 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 0 axis offsets
G10 P0 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 0 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P0 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 0
M567 P0 E0.90:0.05:0.05 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 0 (90%,5%,5%)
M563 P1 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 1
G10 P1 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 1 axis offsets
G10 P1 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 1 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P1 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 1
M567 P1 E0.05:0.90:0.05 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 1 (5%,90%,5%)
M563 P2 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 2
G10 P2 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 2 axis offsets
G10 P2 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 2 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P2 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 2
M567 P2 E0.05:0.05:0.90 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 2 (5%,5%,90%)
M563 P3 D0:1:2 H1 ; Define tool 3
G10 P3 X0 Y0 ; Set tool 3 axis offsets
G10 P3 R0 S0 ; Set initial tool 3 active and standby temperatures to 0C
M568 P3 S1 ; Enable mixing for tool 3

M567 P3 E0.34:0.33:0.33 ; Set mixing ratios for tool 3 (34%,33%,33%)

These are what my mixing ratios will always default to. If I want to print a 2 or 3 coloured object using "solid" colours with no mixing, then what I tend to do is simply add M567 commands to the start gcode which will override the default values that I set in my config.g file. i.e. M567 P0 E1.00:0.00:0.00, M567 P1 E0.00:1.00:0.00, M567 P2 E0.00:0.00:1.00.

For example the snowflakes were printed with White on Gold. In this case, I had two tools. Tool 1 was 100% Gold, Tool 2" was 100% White. The base and the flake are separate stls. I added the base (gold part) to Slic3R platter, then in settings set it to use Tool 1. Then I used "Add part" to add the flake and set it to use Tool 2. So, when it printed, the first part of the flake started out Gold until the White filament purged through but that was only about an eighth of the first layer and there are 3 layers of white.

Example of two colour printing with the Diamond Hotend.

Tuning and tweaking

With the exception of getting the mixing ratios right for whatever printed outcome is desired, there is very little tuning and tweaking necessary for a mixing hot end compared to a non-mixing hot end. The only thing that springs to mind is that, because we retract all filaments together, the retraction distance can be less.

On my particular machine, with Bowden tubes around 250mm long for PLA at 195 deg C and print speed of around 60mm/sec, retraction of 1.5 mm at 3000mm/min works well.

Of course, using firmware retraction makes setting it up a breeze. Simply print two small cubes spaced about 50 mm or more apart then during the print use Duet Web Control to change the retraction on the fly and observe the difference. Use M207 Sn.n Fnnn where S is the amount in mm and F is the speed (feed rate) in mm/min. Start with a small number and increase it slightly until signs of stringing disappear. Repeat for other materials, print speeds and temperature if necessary but you'll likely find one value that works well for most situations. 

Scripting mixing ratios

Another way to use a mixing hot end is to post process the gcode file to enter mixing commands at various places. I have a little python script which an M567 command after “n” layer changes. It runs through loops, each one progressively decreasing the mixing ratio for one filament and increasing another. So the colour changes throughout the height of the printed object from colour A to colour B, then colour B to colour C. This can be extended to go from C back to A and then the entire sequence repeated. This is how I produced the following objects:

Ian's vase

A big version of the Julia vase #11 Heatwave by Virtox
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:126567/
Printed Ian Pegg

The big Julia vase is printed with Red, Yellow and Clear translucent filaments. Starting at 100% red, reducing the Red by 1% and increased the yellow until 100% Yellow, then repeat going from Yellow to Clear. The mixing is changed at every 5th layer to get one complete iteration over the height of the object. The smaller rainbow Julia vase shown at the beginning of this post used Red, Blue and Yellow and changed the mixing at every layer change so ended up with Red,Purple (Red and Blue), Blue, Green(Blue and Yellow),Yellow, Orange (Yellow and Red) then back to Red and repeat the sequence.

Thoughts and ideas.

Most people think of multi coloured objects but even if your slicer doesn't support multi part objects it may well support multiple extruders. This means that one could choose to use one extruder for the infill but a different extruder for the perimeters. One could then use an exotic or expensive material on the outside but cheaper “everyday” filament for the inside. Or possibly use a clear filament for the perimeters to give the object a clear coating.

Printing support material using a different extruder is another possibility that springs to mind.

Then there are other exotic materials such as electrically conductive filament. It could be possible to print an electrical circuit within an object.

Issues with mixing.

There is a fundamental restriction with the Diamond hot end. This is that there is no mixing chamber as such. The advantage of this is that when changing form one filament to another, the changeover period is very short. Usually, if the printer is set to have two perimeters, by the time the second perimeter is being printed, the transition from one filament to another is complete. Obviously this depends on the size of the object. The disadvantage is that when filaments are “mixed” they come out of the nozzle like stripy toothpaste. So the colour is biased towards each input. This effect can be partly negated by using translucent filament. Or it can be exploited for decorative purposes. I have printed a 3 sided pyramid with each face a different colour by using a single tool with a mixing ration of 0.34:0.33:0.33 and orientating the pyramid on the build plate such that each face is directly opposite a filament input.    

The same pot, taken from 3 angles, showing the different sides
This due to partial mixing in the Diamond hotend.

Video

This is a video of my custom CoreXY printing the large Julia Vase by virtox shown in the picture above:

Updating RepRapFirmware and PanelDue firmware using Mac OS X as a host

(Guest post by Michael Hackney, SublimeLayers.blogspot.com and www.EclecticAngler.com)

Recently, I worked out the process for updating Duet and PanelDue using a Macintosh computer as a host. Once you have the right tools and information, it's quite simple. I've tested this on Mac OS X Yosemite and El Capitan.

Firmware updates for both the Duet and PanelDue are performed via USB. Before we can update that firmware though, we need to install the right tool. This tool is called BOSSA and is an Open Source flash programmer for the Atmel SAM microcontroller used on both the Duet and PanelDue. Unfortunately, there are many different versions of BOSSA, including both command line (BOSSAC) and GUI versions, but only a few of them will actually work! Not to worry, I'll make sure you get a workable version.

1) Get BOSSAC
You can get the BOSSAC command line utility with the Arduino IDE 1.6.1 release. This release is no longer supported but since you can install multiple versions of Arduino IDE on OS X, it isn't an issue to install it. Another option is to find a copy of the BOSSAC utility and use that. I've extracted BOSSAC from the Arduino 1.6.1 IDE and made it available on my Google drive: BOSSAC for Mac OS X.

2) Get the new firmware
Once you have the BOSSAC utility, you need to download the firmware you are planning to install. These are found on David Crocker's GitHub here:

RepRapFirmware-dc42
PanelDue firmware

I like to keep the BOSSAC utility and the firmware versions all in one place in a single folder for convenience.

3) Find the Duet's or PanelDue's port number
This is the most finicky step in the process but this should make it a little easier. The tricky part is that the device we need is not available until you press the Erase and Reset buttons on the Duet or PanelDue. But, there already may be devices with similar names so it isn't obvious which one to use. So, I look in the device directory (/dev) first, then Erase-Reset the board and then look in the device directory again to see what's new!

• Launch the Terminal application and type "cd /dev" and press [return] (without the quotes). /dev is the directory where Mac OS X keeps all of its device files.
• There are lots of devices in the directory but we are only interested in a particular type. You can see everything by issuing the "ls" command. But to narrow it down to the USB device we need, run "ls | grep tty.usbmodem". 
• Now hook up the USB cable to your Duet or PanelDue and press the Erase button and then the Reset button. 
• Run "ls | grep tty.usbmodem" again and watch the output for the new device that should be found. It will look something like tty.usbmodem14444421 but most likely with a different number sequence.

4) Run BOSSAC

Now we're ready to flash the new firmware. I'll show two ways of doing this depending on if you are using the Arduino IDE BOSSAC or the "naked" BOSSAC. In both cases you run BOSSAC from a Terminal window, so launch Terminal if needed. Then, "cd" into the folder where you keep your firmware .bin files to make it easier.

4a) Running BOSSAC from the Arduino IDE

Type the following command into the Terminal window but replace the YOUR_PORT_# with the port number you found in step 3 and the firmware version you are uploading. Note that this assumes several things: 1) that you installed the Arduino 1.6.1 IDE in your Applications folder and that you have "cd" into the folder that contains the firmware. Make sure you type it exactly and don't forget the "-R" at the end:

/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/tools/bossac --port=tty.YOUR_PORT_# -U true -e -w -v -b RepRapFirmware-1.09o-dc42.bin -R

4b) Running BOSSAC directly

This example assumes that you have placed the bossac utility in the same folder with your firmware .bin file and you have "cd" into the folder in a Terminal window. Make sure you type it exactly and don't forget the "-R" at the end:

./bossac --port=tty.YOUR_PORT_# -U true -e -w -v -b RepRapFirmware-1.09o-dc42.bin -R

Here is an example of what you should from bossac as it runs:

./bossac --port=tty.usbmodem1444431 -U true -e -w -v -b RepRapFirmware-CHTest-3.bin -RErase flashWrite 309308 bytes to flash[==============================] 100% (1209/1209 pages)Verify 309308 bytes of flash[==============================] 100% (1209/1209 pages)Verify successfulSet boot flash trueCPU reset.

When bossac finishes, it resets the board and you are ready to go.

How to compile RepRapFirmware-dc42 for Duet on Mac OS X

(Guest post by Michael Hackney, SublimeLayers.blogspot.com and www.EclecticAngler.com)

As RepRapFirmware gains momentum, more users will want to contribute to its development. There are some good resources for setting up a development environment for Windows computers but very few resources for developing on Mac OS X. I tried for several months to setup my environment and wasn't able to, so I pushed forward and started with a clean slate and documented every step along the way.  Now that it's done, I can install the development environment from scratch in about 15 minutes.

As I discovered, one of the more significant challenges I confronted was the interdependence of specific versions of the various tools and even the operating system. I worked through each of these with the goal of using the most up-to-date version for each component possible, starting with the operating system. Please pay particular attention to these versions as you work through the setup process - they are highlighted in bold. I highly recommend starting with the specific versions I used and once you have your environment running, update components one at a time if necessary. And if you do that successfully, please leave a comment here so others can benefit.

The reference date for this process is 2/14/2016.

Start with your Macintosh updated to Mac OS X: El Capitan 10.11.3 I have not attempted this on earlier versions of OS X so if you are successful, please leave a comment. I'll also leave comments when new versions of OS X come out.

1) Get the tools and setup the basic environment

The first step is to download the development tools. This development environment is based on the Open Source Eclipse IDE. However, a special plug-in to integrate the Arduino tools is required. Putting together this environment was a big challenge but now there is a pre-built Arduino Eclipse  IDE that eliminates the grunge work. A big thanks goes out to Jantje for this work!

• Download the V2.3 version for Mac OS X of Arduino Eclipse here:  http://eclipse.baeyens.it/download/product/V2.3_mac64.2014-07-12_02-06-35.tar.gz 
• You also need to download an earlier version of the Arduino IDE. I tried using a more recent version without success, so please download Arduino IDE version 1.5.8: http://arduino.cc/download.php?f=/arduino-1.5.8-macosx.zip This version is absolutely required!

Create a folder to use for the root of everything. Please note, once you start this process you can not change the path later. Eclipse is very finicky about installation path so pick something you can live with. Also, DO NOT include spaces in the pathname. NONE!  I created a folder named "Development" on my desktop and will use that for this document. My path looks like:

/Users/mhackney/Desktop/Development

Now copy the Eclipse tar file and Arduino file into Development and unpackage them (on OS X you can simply double-click the tar file to untar it). You can delete the tar file once you've unpackaged it.

Next, open the Arduino.app package (by control-clicking it's icon) and navigate to /Contents/Resources/Java. 

• Copy the /libraries and /hardware folders into your Development folder.

At this point, your Development folder should look like:

• Create a folder named workspace inside the eclipseArduino folder.

2) Configuring Eclipse

Now you can launch he Eclipse application - called eclipseArduinoIDE in the eclipseArduino folder. When Eclipse asks you for the workspace, click [Browse...] and navigate to your Development/eclipseArduino/workspace folder and click the [Open] button. Check the "Use this as default" box and click [OK].

Click the EclipseArduinoIDE menu and choose "Preferences..." then select the Arduino tab in the list on the left. 

• Set the "Arduino IDE path" to your Arduino.app
• Set the "Private Library path" to the library folder you copied to your Development folder
• Set the "Private Hardware path" to the hardware folder you copied to your Development folder
• Click Apply then [OK] (choose [OK] for the dialogs that tell you Arduino is newer than the plugin)

Here's what the dialog should look like (with your Development path substituted of course) when you are done:

Next, click the Arduino menu and select New Sketch. Set the project name to RepRapFirmware and then make sure sam/boards.txt is selected. Select Arduino Due (Native USB Port) for board. You can set the COM port now also but if you don't know it, it can be set later.

Quit Eclipse.

3) Setup the RepRapFirmware

Download the latest version of dc42 dev branch of RepRapFirmware: https://github.com/dc42/RepRapFirmware (Click the [Download ZIP] button at the upper right). At this writing version 1.09r-dc4 is the latest). Copy all of the files to the RepRapFirmware folder in your workspace folder.

Copy the patched libraries out of RepRapFirmware/ArduinoCorePatches into the Arduiuno.app package. The path is Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java/hardware/arduino/sam. Use the "Merge" option and "Apply to All" when the copy dialog asks what to do. Remove the ArduinoCorePatches folder from the RepRapFirmware folder (you can delete it).

Launch EclipseArduinoIDE and setup the project like this:

• Remove the RepRapFirmware.ino file from the RepRapFirmware Project list on the left - this will delete it from the filesystem too.
• Select the RepRapFirmware project in the Project Explorer and control-click and select Refresh. All of the source files should appear in the list.
• Select the RepRapFirmware project in the Project Explorer and control-click and select Index->Rebuild. 

Select the RepRapFirmware project in the Project Explorer and control-click and select Properties... at the bottom of the menu.

• Find the C/C++ General/Paths and Symbols page. Now you need to add each of the library folders in the workspace/RepRapFirmware/Libraries folder to the GNU C list. Do this by clicking the [Add...] button. Then check the Add to all languages box and click the [File system...] button to navigate to the workspace/RepRapFirmware/Libraries/EMAC (the first folder library to add). Do this for each of the folders in the Libraries folder. It's a little tedious but gets the job done. 
• You also have to explicitly add SD_HSMC/utility the same way.
• You also have to add hardware/arduino/sam/system/libsam/include (this is the hardware folder you copied to your Development folder)
• Then click [Apply] and click [Yes] to rebuild the indexes.

When you are finished, your list should look like this:

• Next click the C/C++ Build/Environment tab on the left list. 
• Set JANTE.EXTRA.C.COMPILE to -std=gnu99 
• Set JANTJE.EXTRA.CPP.COMPILE to -std=gnu++11
• Find the A.BUILD.USB FLAGS variable and remove the manufacturer and product part - it looks like this: 
• '-DUSB_MANUFACTURER=${A.BUILD.USB_MANUFACTURER}' '-DUSB_PRODUCT=${A.BUILD.USB_PRODUCT}'
• Now find all occurances of the compiler flag "-Os" and change them to "-O2". This is in:
• A.COMPILER.C.ELF.FLAGS
• A.COMPILER.C.FLAGS
• A.COMPILER.CPP.FLAGS
• Remove the '-w' option in A.COMPILER.C.FLAGS and A.COMPILER.CPP.FLAGS
• Click the [Apply] button and click [OK] to exit the dialog

That's It!

It might seem a little tedious but you'll be rewarded with a RepRapFirmware development environment when you are done. I've successfully installed on four different Mac computers.

If you have any questions, comments or additions please post a comment.

RepRapFirmware config files

Unlike Marlin and most other firmwares, RepRap Firmware does not require recompilation for different printers. The changes that you would normally make to configuration.h in Marlin are now all made with gcode. At the most basic level you can type gcode commands into pronterface each time you want to setup the printer - however that would quickly get very tedious. Instead the printer configuration is set within /sys/config.g on the SD card.

This tutorial will walk through the common parts of config.g for a Mendel90 style printer with dual extruders. If you have a single extruder printer then the comments will highlight what to leave out. It is assumed you are using DC42's fork of the RepRap Firmware and was written while version 1.00f was the most current version.

It is helpful if you refer to the gcode page on the reprap wiki as you follow along.

The order of the commands is not always strictly important however in some cases it is, for example you should define your tools before setting their offsets.

Gcode format

in general gcodes are formatted in the following manner:

[gcode_letter][number] [switch][information] [switch][information]

example

G1 X10 F3000

So its a "G" command, number "1", with the first switch being "X" with the information "10", the second switch being "F" with the information "3000". This command moves (G1) 10mm in X (X10) at 3000mm/m (F3000)

Another example is

M550 PMendel90 

Where The command is an "M" command, with the switch "P" and the information "Mendel90". This sets the printer name to "Mendel90".

Name and Networking

Much of this is similar to the RepRap Ormerod at this point as it is the same for most machines:

; Configuration file for Mendel90 Example

; Think3dprint3d.com

;

M111 S0                             ; Debug off

M550 PMendel90                      ; Machine name (can be anything you like)

M551 Preprap                        ; Machine password (currently not used)

M540 PBE:EF:DE:AD:FE:ED             ; MAC Address

M552 P192.168.1.14                  ; IP address

M553 P255.255.255.0                 ; Netmask

M554 P192.168.1.1                   ; Gateway

M555 P2                             ; Set output to look like Marlin

G21                                 ; Work in millimetres

G90                                 ; Send absolute coordinates...

M83                                   ; ...but relative extruder moves

You should set the IP address to be within the same subnet as your network, and not to an address that could be allocated to something else (eg, outside of your DHCP range). The MAC address should not be the same as one already on your network.

M83 sets the extruder to relative extruder moves which is intuitive when sending gcode commands by hand to move the extruder - for example when doing calibration. Cura (and Slic3r by default) expect gcodes to be absolute, rather than relative so I add M82 to the start.gcode to ensure when printing the firmware is in absolute gcode mode.

Set Axis and drives

;axis & drives setup
M906 X800 Y800 Z800 E800:800  ; Motor currents (mA) (Extruder set below)
M92 X80 Y80 Z4000             ; axis steps/mm
M92 E649:639                  ; Set extruder steps/mm
;set axis/drive directions
M569 P0 S1                    ;x axis +'ve
M569 P1 S0                    ;y axis -'ve
M569 P2 S0                    ;z axis -'ve
M569 P3 S0                    ;E0 drive -'ve
M569 P4 S1                    ;E1 drive +'ve
M201 X800 Y800 Z15 E2000            ; Accelerations (mm/s^2)
M203 X15000 Y15000 Z180 E3600       ; Maximum speeds (mm/min)

M566 X600 Y600 Z30 E20              ; Minimum speeds mm/minute

The Duet and Duex4 have digital control of the stepper current - this is set with M906, note the extruder parameter is delimited with a colon ":", this allows for different currents to be set of each extruder drive. This same delimitation is used for M92, allowing different extruder steps/mm to be set for each drive.

M569 sets the axis direction, in this example the printer is wired up in such a manner that X and E0 move in the +'ve direction when a positive movement is send, however Y,Z and E1 move in the negative direction. To correct that the switch "S0" is used, after this command a positive movement to Y,Z or E1 will move them in a positive direction.

M566 is the minimum or instantaneous speed change numbers, they are referred to as X,Y or E Jerk in Marlin. In all these cases I have used a single number for E, that sets the same for all extruders. if your extruders have different designs then you may want to set different speeds and accelerations for each one.

Thermal Settings

;Thermal Settings
M305 P1 R1000 B4267.0          ;1K bias resistor, B value  for Semitec 104-GT2
M305 P1 T100000                ;100K thermistor
M305 P2 R1000 B4267.0          ;1K bias resistor, B value  for Semitec 104-GT2
M305 P2 T100000                ;100K thermistor       
M305 P0 R1000 B4540            ;1K bias resistor,B value for Epcos B57861S104F40
M305 P2 T100000                ;100K thermistor  
M140 S0 R0                     ;set the bed to "0,0" at start up

M305 sets the heater thermistor information. P1 = hotend 0, P2= hotend 1, P0 = Heated bed. R1000 = a 1K bias resistor, if you are using a RepRapPro Duet then use R4700 as they use a 4.7k bias resistor. T100000 = 100K @25C thermistor. Finally all heaters are set to -273C by default so the M140 sets the bed to 0 active, 0 standby at startup which helps when using a control panel such as the PanelDue to control the printer. The hotend stat values are set later.

Define Tools

M563 P1 D0 H1                       ; Define tool 1
M563 P2 D1 H2                       ; Define tool 2
M563 P3 D0:1 H1                     ; Define tool 3

RepRap Firmware modifies the concept of a "Tool". No longer does the tool change commands "T0", "T1" etc, select an extruder drive and hotend combination that is designed into the printer with no easy way to change it, other than change the hardware. A tool now consists of any number of extruder drives, and heater combinations. The first line above

M563 P1 D0 H1                       ; Define tool 1

defines a tool (number 1, "P1")  that uses drive 0 (the first extruder drive, E0), and the second heater ("H1"). It is important to remember that the Heated Bed is the first heater configured in firmware, so the extruder 0 heater is H1. In a similar manner the second line

M563 P2 D1 H2                       ; Define tool 2

defines tool number 2 which uses the second drive (D1) and the third heater, which is the E1 heater (H2).

The third tool define is where it gets interesting and shows off the potential power of this method of defining tools.

M563 P3 D0:1 H1                     ; Define tool 3

This defines tool 3 to use both drive 0 and drive 1, but just heater 1. This sort of tool would fit a hotend like e3d's Cyclops.

Set offsets

RepRap Firmware can use G10 to set temperature and position offsets.

G10 P1 S0 R0                        ; Set tool 1 operating and standby temperatures
G10 P2 S0 R0                        ; Set tool 2 operating and standby temperatures
G10 P2 X18                          ; Set tool 2 offset on X axis

The first line sets the active and standby temperature of Tool 1 to 0, the second does the same for tool 2. The third sets the X offset to +18 for Tool 2, the second nozzle on an e3d Chimera is in line on Y but +18 on X, an alternative would be:

G10 P2 X-9                          ; Set tool 2 offset on X axis
G10 P2 X9                          ; Set tool 2 offset on X axis

Which would keep the hotends centered around 0,0 - better for a delta printer.

That concludes the config.g settings required for a standard cartesian printer.

Other files within the /sys/ directory

The concept of using gcodes to perform all printer functions, rather than precompiled routines extends to homing, probing and tool changes. Also within /sys/ on the SD card are the following files as standard

homeall.g
homex.g
homey.g
homez.g
tfree1.g
tfree2.g
tpost1.g
tpost2.g
tpre1.g
tpre2.g

Homing routines are galled in the notmal manner (G28 X for home x for example) however when that command is set, the RepRap Firmware uses the gcode within the relevant "home__.g" file to perform the homing. For example homex.g:

G90                 ; absolute movement
G92 X0              ; set X to 0
G1 X300 F6000 S1    ; move  fast to a large +'ve value, stop when an endstop is hit
G92 X200            ; set X to value of X max
G1 X195 F200        ; move back 5 mm
G1 X205 F200 S1     ; move forward again, slowly stop when endstop hit
G92 X200            ; set X to value of X max

This routine will home quickly until the endstop is reached, the back away and home slowly until its reached again. It makes use of the addition "S1" to the G1 command which stops when an endstop is triggered. Note that our mendel90s home to Max on all axis.

"homeall.g" would normally be a combination of homex.g, homey.g and homez.g:

G90                 ; absolute movement
;home X
G92 X0              ; set X to 0
G1 X300 F6000 S1    ; move fast to a large +'ve value, stop when an endstop is hit
G92 X180            ; set X to value of X max
G1 X175 F200        ; move back 5 mm
G1 X185 F200 S1     ; move forward again, slowly stop when endstop hit
G92 X180            ; set X to value of X max

;home Y
G92 Y0              ; set Y to 0
G1 Y300 F6000 S1    ; move fast to a large +'ve value, stop when an endstop is hit
G92 Y190            ; set Y to value of Y max
G1 Y185 F200        ; move back 5 mm
G1 Y195 F200 S1     ; move forward again, slowly stop when endstop hit
G92 Y190            ; set Y to value of Y max

G1 X100 F6000       ; center the X carriage before homing Z to clear the bowden tubes

;home Z
G92 Z0              ; set Z to 0
G1 Z300 F200 S1     ; move fast to a large +'ve value, stop when an endstop is hit
G92 Z200.85         ; set Z to value of Z max
G1 Z195 F200        ; move back 5 mm
G1 Z205 F60 S1     ; move forward again, slowly stop when endstop hit
G92 Z200.85         ; set Z to value of Z max

Note the "G1 X100 F6000 line before the Z home. This means that the X carriage will be centered before homing Z, ensuring that the bowden tubes pass easily out of the enclosure. 

The "Tfree1.g" etc are called on tool change in the following way:

TfreeN.g is run when tool N is freed

TpreN.g is run before tool N is set active

TpostN.g is run after tool N is set active

so for example in Tpost1.g you may have:

M116 P1

to wait for tool 1 to get to temperature before continuing with the print.

Or you may have

G1 X10 Y10 F6000

in Tfree1.g to move the extruder outside of the object being printed before changing tools. 

DC42 is working on further macros, specifically for Delta printers and probing. Examples of these can be seen here.

Web Interface Upload

You can use the web interface to upload all the modified files so changes are very quick and easy to make and save:

You can also view the current config.g contents in the web interface.