You have my utmost respect both as a person and as a great builder. I’ve been enjoying your CNC build and are amazed that you actually made it print. Most of us can assemble a MakerBot printer, some of you can build a RepRap printer from scratch, -but very few can build a complete MASSIVE cnc machine and use it as a 3D printer.
I understand that you’re using Mack 3 for the CNC part, but have you had a look at the http://replicat.org/ for the printing?
This instrument is the reason I joined this site- it’s a fantastic response to the brief yourself and your brother set for yourselves, and your post is very instructive and informative-
My motives for posting are not entirely selfless, however, I found this post as a result of a search for an x,y, stage, and since you mentioned that your stage could have other uses…
I’m working on an application that is very similar to this one - a large format film scanner, using a DSLR. It seems your machine could form the movement stage with very little modification, the pump head being replaced by the film holder- 4"x5" film, though it could be any size…
I’m afraid I’m more at home chopping up pieces of wood and pointing lenses than I am with electronics, though you have to start somewhere, and I’ve bought an Arduino Uno, and some 28 BYJ-48’s to start off- and thanks also to Craig for linking to Dave’s information about those… I think I might have to investigate the application of your sketch, though it looks like it could be written in Aramaic, for all I know- but it does perform the exact function I need to apply.
Apologies for the sidetrack, fantastic and inspirational design/build
Thank you for your nice comments jb7 and good luck with you project. Like you it was photography that led me into the world of electronics. I started with building a high speed trigger to freeze drops of water hitting the surface (not all that original…) Then I made this https://www.robotshop.com/letsmakerobots/node/16230 I’m not all that in to robotics in the way of having something running around avoiding the walls, but there are lots of fun projects to do. If I can help you in any way, please contact me via my profile. Regards Geir
Thank you Geir- you might come to regret your generous offer- I was struck by the way the function of your machine is almost exactly the control needed for a scanner- except for the grid, which will be 60º triangular, and the pump, replaced by the camera. It looks like you could make a stage for the film (up to about 6x9cm) and use this as the positioning stage, with very little additional modification- well, except for the addition of the camera, and light source…
This is the Holy Grail of motion control for a DSLR Scanner…
I am in the middle of my Senior Design project here at Georgia Tech and am integrating a Bartels-Mikrotechnik mp-6 into my design. could you share with me how you controlled the micropump with the arduino?
As I don’t have the pump any more this is by memory. But I used the mp6-OEM driver to control the pump. As I recall the driver was set up for full flow and I just switched it on and off for a period based on a setting from a potentiometer. Best of luck with your project.
I like your branding ‘dead bug prototypes’ . But instead of the roach for an image you could use an upside down ic, which is what they call it when you mount an ic upside down on a board. But I think you chose that name because you knew that already. Just thinking some people might be creeped out by the cockroach image. I’m wondering which ic you are using for the steppers as well and have you found any limits to speed or other issues. I remember an LMR member here going to great lengths to build stepper drivers, but your setup looks so simple.
Hi Merser and thank you for your comments. Yes I know about the upside down IC and the name reflects that, and stomping out bugs in my design. I don’t see myself getting rich or drawing in a crowd by this brand. But I felt like adding some sort of brand to my work. (Probably some sort of ego thing….)
Anyway. The IC’s I’m using is a M74HC595B1R shift register and two SN75441ONE H-bridge drivers. Nothing fancy but it works very well.
Thank you Chris. You might also notice that I don’t use the spring as a belt tensioner on this version. The spring did not work that well with these fast steppers. So I used cable ties and that worked much better.
I am a scientist in need of an addressable XY-table for microtiter plates when - voilá - I stumbled across your project. This is great stuff! Being a chemist I don’t know ■■■■ about electronics but I did buy an Arduino Uno before to play around with. I am always one for learning new things. I need the table so that I can attach an ultrasonic level sensor to it to see where in my microtiter plate too much fluid has evaporated and needs to be replaced. Much to my surprise, there is no commercially available device that does this.
Geir, do you still have a board of the 2nd prototype you built and if so, would you be willing to part with it? I could buy these Phidget motors, but I already have two Canon stepper motors lying around (labelled CN38-21702, apparently with controller unit). Could I be using these as well? As I said, I am shamefully ignorant about electronics, so please be patient with me.
I am a chemist and I decided to construct such XY table in order to use it in auto-sampling for kinetic measurements.It was fortunate to find your creation. I am greatly impressed by it! I’ve read your instruction thoroughly (here and at Thingiverse) but I haven’t found .stl files for new NEMA 14 motors which you are using in 2.0 version. Would you be so kind to share these files?
Sincerely yours, Ilia Kochetygov.
Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Hi Geir,
We are trying to replicate your XY table to use for the same purposes (dispense over a 96-well plate). We have a few questions regarding some of the details of your design:
What kind of ICs did you use in your stepper driver board?
For the second version of the table, did you custom make your circuit board?
We noticed you have sensors in your design, which presumably are used to reset the table to a starting position. Do you think these are necessary, or could we track the position of the table by the number of steps of the motors?
Thank you for your help!
