Hello,
I cleaned up the motor code and added 2 new ramping types. The new arc-tan ramping is the default style now. It is much smoother that the old sinus shaped ramping. The used ramping can simply be selected in the code’s main file in line 133 (e.g. for going back to sinus shaped ramping). I also added limit-switch checks to the motor phases (every 150ms). And finally, the motor phase is no longer (fully) blocking. I added a check for SELECT key presses to the it. So one is now able to stop the engine even during motor phases.
Shield update
The shields are ordered and currently in production. If everything goes well, I will be able to send them out to you very soon. This is how hey will look like:
Have fun!
Airic
good work, i already build a miniEngine on a proto shield and it works like a charme … also the source code looks pretty self explaining to me, i will buy one shield just because to support your work 😉
Thanks for your feedback and also for supporting the project!
Hello from France Airic !
My miniEngine works well…very good code , just a little problem with my stepper setup, the stepper is stalling sometimes not enough torque I suppose ?.
Waiting your MiniE board even if my protoshield is ok ! Just because I prefer a very cute board instead of my protoshield 🙂
Regards
Hello from Sweden,
a stalling motor can be caused by loose contacts or by too less torque. Did you try the adjustment potentiometer on the Easydriver for max. torque?
yes i’ve got 1.8N nema 23 motor with ED v3 and a igus dolly with an omega drive with HTD5 15mm belt. Maybe my dolly is to heavy for the job.
Hi Airic
early this morning , clear minded, everything works fine, maybe a pb with my breadboard and a motor coil …
Thanks for the advice
regards
I used to get told that all the time – 'Don't worry, you'll KNOW when you're having coa&inctronst#39; but still second guessed every ache and twinge once my due date came and went. But there really is no mistaking the real thing, when they do decide to start. It's true what they also say though – the end result is well worth it!! Good luck! x
Ok, these are good news! I will order…
I’m looking forward to ordering one. This will be my first Arduino based project and I’m excited to tie it in with my love for photography/videography. Thanks for your help!
This looks great. I’m curious, is the miniE shield designed so that the DFrobot LCD shield can sit on top, making a nice arduino, miniE, DFrobot stack? I’d like to purchase a shield whenever they are available too.
Thanks!
Yes, the shield will hold all components needed for the full system. It is designed to sit between the Arduino and the LCD shield.
Wondering if you can post an updated photo of how it all looks together? Your newest shield, between the Arduino and the LCD shield. Have you built any sort of enclosure for it?
Great news put me down for a couple of boards.
Good news! I am working on a timelapse rail and ordering one of these shield will make life much easier! 😀
Hi Airic
On the new shield are the Camera and motor points suitable for actual connectors? ie, are the holes suitably spaced for a through hole connector that aligns with a cutout in my enclosure for the plug? or are they for the screw connectors?
Man that is really hard to describe!! Hopefully you get what i’m trying to say
Hope the boards are ready soon! i need a couple 🙂
Oh also for those that are interested the freetronics LCD shield also works. this has the advantage of having buttons that are the same height as the screen and button caps are available to buy if you want the whole unit in an enclosure.
Hi Airic, thanks again for your great work on miniE. Just finished my dolly rig (https://picasaweb.google.com/110161483001058852427/DIYDolly?authuser=0&feat=directlink), it works fine and it gave me a lot of pleasure in building the whole thing, starting from almost zero knowledge, plus an Arduino clone (https://picasaweb.google.com/110161483001058852427/DIYArduino). Now it’s time to try some timelapse … Oh, just a though, it would be nice to have the capability of accelerate at the beginning of the carriage travel and decelerate at the end (I mean variable cycle times during the sequence) …
Cheers
Wow thanks for all the pictures of your project! Looking forward to doing something similar but I think I’ll wait for the miniE. If you have a second, what did you use for the LCD Shield to extend the buttons?
No modifications, The shield that DFRobot sent me has built-in ‘tall’ buttons, as showed in the pictures. Cheers
Hi Airic
I’ve not done any arduino projects before but i will definitely try this one. Please update me when they are ready for shipping. Thanks
-marvin
This looks brilliant, I’d definitely by keen to purchase a board or two, I presume with some modification to the code it would be possible to daisy chain a couple of these to drive a multi axis rig?
Hello.
FIrst of all, I want to say it’s a GREAT software/hardware.
I will be using this to take timelapsed movie of my 3d printer.
I had a custom shield and now I have one problem I cannot resolve, and will REALLY appreciate your help!
I am not using DFrobot shield, but a custom shield. I’ve managed to use the 16×2 display but couldn’t use my buttons to navigate through the menu.
The reason is that DFrobot shield uses resistors for each button, so one could read the analog pin and recover the button that is pressed.
I from the other hand have buttons connected to analog0 — > analog5, how can I “override” the code, so it will read the state of those buttons?
Thank you very much!
Eran, Israel
Hi Airic,
Thanks for all the work you’ve done
My first tests in continous mode : https://vimeo.com/47316676
I’m about to do better “move shoot move” TL , testing the Canon T3i/600D under clear sky sooner.
Hej, thanks for the link to the video! I am looking foreward to the next ones.
Airic