Post by jrbean67 on Jan 24, 2018 5:53:20 GMT
After the old laptop I was using to run UGS died (again...I pulled it out of the "might work" pile of replaced home laptops), I decided to get serious about putting together a Raspberry PI based controller running bCNC. I'm using the standard Raspberry PI 7" touchscreen which isn't huge, but it is well supported.
I started out making a wood box using the Carve King (of course), but after several iterations of the faceplate, it just seemed like it would be too bulky to do completely in 3/4" wood (I used it with an open back for a while before I worried about all of the sawdust and the open PCBs. I've attached a picture of the front side of that (the screen mounts from the front with the boards going through the hole in the center. If anyone wants the vcarve file to have something to start with, let me know.
I decided I really needed to 3D print the case, so I pulled out my 3D printer, and (as usual) it didn't work. The controller card failed. Again. So that started a whole process where I ended up buying a new 3D printer and printing whole enclosure. I attached pictures of that too (it is on Thingiverse: www.thingiverse.com/thing:1503651). Having a 3D printer running distracted me for several weekends, but that is a story for another forum.
The software is a standard Raspian image, with bCNC loaded. The instructions are here: github.com/vlachoudis/bCNC/wiki/OS It is actually easier to load on the Raspberry Pi than it is on Windows. I had all kinds of issues getting Java installed and running under Windows.
How does it work? Pretty well. My normal usage is to connect to bCNC using it's web interface to upload the gcode from my desktop system, then I kick off the job from the touchscreen once I get everything zero'ed in. The performance seems ok to spool out the gcode, but don't expect amazing 3D performance in the preview or anything like that. It is helpful to still have a mouse attached, since the icons fit on that screen, but are still pretty tiny. A tiny wireless keyboard/pad for a home theater system would work too, and may last better covered in sawdust, but I just keep knocking the dust off of the mouse and it works fine.
The only thing I worry about is that Raspberry PIs tend to corrupt their SD cards if they aren't cleanly shut down (I've had it happen in some other embedded applications I've used them in), so I may eventually replace it with something more PC like.
I have seen a few others set up Raspberry Pi setups also. Are there any other hints/tricks anyone has figured out with them?
John
I started out making a wood box using the Carve King (of course), but after several iterations of the faceplate, it just seemed like it would be too bulky to do completely in 3/4" wood (I used it with an open back for a while before I worried about all of the sawdust and the open PCBs. I've attached a picture of the front side of that (the screen mounts from the front with the boards going through the hole in the center. If anyone wants the vcarve file to have something to start with, let me know.
I decided I really needed to 3D print the case, so I pulled out my 3D printer, and (as usual) it didn't work. The controller card failed. Again. So that started a whole process where I ended up buying a new 3D printer and printing whole enclosure. I attached pictures of that too (it is on Thingiverse: www.thingiverse.com/thing:1503651). Having a 3D printer running distracted me for several weekends, but that is a story for another forum.
The software is a standard Raspian image, with bCNC loaded. The instructions are here: github.com/vlachoudis/bCNC/wiki/OS It is actually easier to load on the Raspberry Pi than it is on Windows. I had all kinds of issues getting Java installed and running under Windows.
How does it work? Pretty well. My normal usage is to connect to bCNC using it's web interface to upload the gcode from my desktop system, then I kick off the job from the touchscreen once I get everything zero'ed in. The performance seems ok to spool out the gcode, but don't expect amazing 3D performance in the preview or anything like that. It is helpful to still have a mouse attached, since the icons fit on that screen, but are still pretty tiny. A tiny wireless keyboard/pad for a home theater system would work too, and may last better covered in sawdust, but I just keep knocking the dust off of the mouse and it works fine.
The only thing I worry about is that Raspberry PIs tend to corrupt their SD cards if they aren't cleanly shut down (I've had it happen in some other embedded applications I've used them in), so I may eventually replace it with something more PC like.
I have seen a few others set up Raspberry Pi setups also. Are there any other hints/tricks anyone has figured out with them?
John
