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And you can tune your output so you won’t ever overdrive your K40 if you don’t want to. #laser_module_pwm_period 20 # this sets the pwm frequency as the period in microsecondsĪs you can see, plain-english commands, with decent comments. #laser_module_minimum_power 0.0 # this duty cycle will be used for travel moves to keep the laser #laser_module_maximum_power 0.8 # this is the maximum duty cycle that will be applied to the laser
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# can be used since laser requires hardware PWM Laser_module_pwm_pin 2.5 # this pin will be PWMed to control the laser. Laser_module_enable true # Whether to activate the laser module at all. Which is great when it comes to tuning.Īn example of a command structure in config.txt: Laser module configuration Easier to read, easier to effect changes. The command structure is more intuitive, in my opinion, to that of grbl. No need to connect to a PC and flash using an IDE, for example. Configuration can be permanently changed on the fly. Onboard RAM to hold the current firmware, updated by having the right filename on the SD and powering on, after which a successful update will change the name from firmware.bin to firmware.curĪltering configuration is done via a text file, config.txt. The features aren’t so much in the controlling of the two axes as they are in living with the machine - SD card for updating firmware on the fly without needing to re-flash the board. You can get higher speeds without missing steps, where the same settings in grbl would result in a lot of stutter. It’s noticeable, by ear alone, how much smoother the smoothieboard is. The novice driver tends to go full-throttle and hard braking to try and gain overall speed, whereas being gentle on the throttle and brakes results in faster progression, with less loss of traction, more safely, with less wear and tear on components. Think of how a rally driver takes a series of slippery bends vs a teenager in an overpowered car Or in my case, and experience, how an advanced motorcyclist moves through a set of bends. this makes for a lot of wasted energy and is hard on machinery. Grbl, by contrast has a very jerky acceleration - stop to full speed is linear. It has a 120MHz processor with a lot of RAM, so has longer look-ahead and thus, can motion-plan further out. So, in layman’s terms, it starts off slower, builds speed longer, so higher speeds possible, and decelerates in a sine, giving you smoother, better motion. It gives smooth, jerk-free motion and higher speeds, due to the advanced motion planning. They accelerate/decelerate more gently, giving a ‘smooth’ operation, hence the name. Smoothieware has advanced motion control where the planning acceleration forms a sine, rather than a sawtooth.
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