Official call for Feedback on new Board in development

Chris,
Iā€™d prefer the standalone version, easier to position, I have mine mounted to the left on a shelf. I like the integrated unit, but am concerned about extended vibration/dust infiltration and if that would impact reliability. Both options have their strengths and weakness but I find the moveability and easy of repositioning the control unit to be very handy.

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I wish you would have considered it is the integration of closed loop steppers within your system. Understanding that it would make things difficult as being retro-compatible and would require new stepper motors and drivers.

The other consideration that would be interesting would be to have the ability to run homing independently on both side of the Y-Axis squaring up the machine.

I have spent a considerable amount of time squaring up the machine and I use to drive the machine to the end of travel to ensure squareness between jobs but with the addition of the inductive sensors and the use of soft limits, it is much more difficult to do it.

The combination of these two features would ensure that the machine is consistently square and that machine components would fit together perfectly every time.

@Etienne.Marcoux I have GrblHAL running on my machine (not a LongMill, but the principle is the same), and I do have Y-Axis auto-squaring running.
My controller has two Y channels driving 2 stepper motors, and each Y axis has a homing sensor.
If separate homing sensor inputs is part of the intended PCB design here, then I believe auto-squaring will work as you hope.

May I ask you what controller you are using?

A Teensy 4.1 (an ARM core processor) module on a Phil Barrett Break-out-Board

Hi Chris. I donā€™t know how useful it would be to you guys but have you thought of recovering the old longboard model from customers making the switch to the new one (with or without financial incentive)? You know, being green, recycling, saving the planet and all that jazzā€¦

Were you thinking in context of shipping back to us so we could refurb to resell? Or rather something like us recycling them?

One or the other really. I canā€™t speak for others but once I switch I wonā€™t have any use for the old model other than backup if the new fails. Of course I could send it myself to the scrapyard to be recycled but I was wondering if you saw any value in having them returned.

That would cost them a lot. Better to take them to a local recycler to take care of that. Most metal recyclers like here there is Triple M recyclers in Kitchener that does electronics. I take all mine there. www.triplem.com

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I prefer the existing stand alone controller style.

I had limited flat space for my LongMill so I mounted the controller on the left wall of the enclosure just high enough to clear the machine comfortably.

The controller is out of the way, air circulation around it is good, itā€™s easily seen/accessed and most of the wiring is behind the wall making for a clean installation. I use the vacuum boot so sawdust has not been a problem.

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You may be able to make the best of both worlds. The integrated design looks like you could 3d-print or injection mold a plastic back plate that could be attached to the case to close off the back to dust and give screw holes for mounting to the side or bottom of a table.

I have my controller mounted to the side of my table, along with the IoT relay, laser controller module, and power supply. The laser controller module and power supply donā€™t have mounting holes, so I built a little shelf for them and built a cover over all of them to help keep dust out. This does make it impossible to see the LEDs or use the buttons on the controller, but Iā€™ve never had a need for them, honestly. I can tell if itā€™s working because it will jog, and the couple times Iā€™ve needed to stop the machine, I just hit the emergency kill switch. That isnā€™t as good as pause because gSender doesnā€™t know. When I have time to pause, I do that in gSender. It would be nice to be able to add a remote pause button that I could mount near the kill switch.

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I use an IOT relay like many others and I would want add ons like that to be easily adaptable. I vote for keeping it the same.

With all the possibilities available for adding additional control options, my electronics board looks like the fuse panel on the outside of my house, :rofl::joy::rofl:

Hereā€™s what Iā€™m talking about,

The rotary is next and Iā€™m already looking for a space to put it. Iā€™m considering getting a metal box like my fuse panel to house all of this stuff? :rofl::joy::rofl:

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Any update on new board. Thinking about using it as it would have better static resistance. Let me know would be happy to beta test it as well as pay for board.

Best Regards

Scott

@Scooter2014 Scroll down on this page, Scott, for the latest.

Id be interested in beta testing the 2nd release. I am willing to pay for the board as well.

Best Regards

Scott

@Scooter2014 I donā€™t work for Sienci, Scott. Iā€™m not sure what their process is, but you can use the contact page on their website to let them know of your interest. Iā€™m deleting your email address from your post. There are spammer everywhere. :unamused:

Sorry and Thanks I didnt know that much appreciated

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Just for everyoneā€™s benefit, an update on the SLB has been posted with a lot of details on new features and board development

You can find the post here

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Good sugestions i agree