XBuddy board GPIO?  

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

I'll pull my Mini's filament sensor apart later today. I suspect it's a hall effect switch. I checked the harness and it had 3 wires. Then it's just a matter of determining NC or NO. My MK3.5 has the MMU3 attached and that will take some more looking into to see if/how it can be done.

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

Mini+ is optical.  The ball bearing / magnet spring assembly acts on a lever which puts an opaque flag into an IR sensor.  I know this because I printed mine and the black PETG I used for the lever wasn't opaque enough - had to add some copper tape over it.

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

it looks to me like the filament sensor on the mini has basically the same wiring as on the mk4, except Vcc is 5v not 3v3.

also, the signal from the sensor is (i believe) a simple high / low voltage indicating filament status, so the same wiring as above should work (it may need a pull up / pull down resistor)

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

oh, did i forget to mention: i might be wrong, and this will void your warranty

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

My mini and MK3s to MK3s+ soon to be MK3.5 are both out of warranty. Only 1 year in the US.

a simple high / low voltage indicating filament status

Simple pass fail test. Essentially just a switch. Just need to glean what it's states are. I suspect the resistors are already there either internal or on board. I will experiment later today. Have to go install a Roku for a beach rental first.

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

from this, the states seem to be:

low / GND / 0v = no filament present; high / Vcc / 5v = filament present

you could probably add a micro switch that disconnects the sensor from the buddy board (to avoid frying the sensor's mosfet), and instead connects the buddy's signal line to GND

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

On the Mini filament sensor opto

White = signal

Black = GND

Red = 5+

I read 3.8 volts when filament is present and .25 volts when it's not. Adding a switch in series should work fine...

However, color me surprised. I added a micro switch in series with the white wire. Activating the micro switch, opening the signal circuit, while printing does nothing. The mini continues printing... I can see the little filament icon (bottom left) change to N/A when I activate the switch, but the mini keeps on printing. Why? Does this mean the mini will keep trying to print when it runs out of filament? The filament sensor is only checked while loading or beginning a print but not after it's printing?

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

My switch isn't working. I suspect it is because the MCU pin for the sense circuit isn't being pulled low. My switch just cut the circuit off.

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

waaaay off topic, at this point, guys. Really should start your own thread for rewiring a mini.

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

Appologies

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

Alright. Interesting update:

Looks like GPIO analog input/output is not going to happen. That said, thanks to Rbuehlma on github, we have something possibly close enough. There is now access to the I2C connector (J23, below the usb-c connector), and Gcode to send/receive through it. M260 and M261, although the reprap.org page hasn't been updated, yet. J23 is connected to I2C bus 2 (PF0, PF1 = SDA, SCL)

I am a long way from my printer, and will be for a few months more, but if anyone wants to try their luck with this, I would love to hear how it turns out!

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

wait, is this in the main firmware now that its merged into the main firmware? or do i have to wait for 6.0.1 or something?

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

I don't know the process. I'm BETTING that we have to wait for the next update, or download the current "daily" firmware.

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

ok, i'm just happy it's here!

RE: XBuddy board GPIO?

In case anyone didn't see, our requests have been granted!

Mk4S upgrade has an optional $15 "hackerboard" here. Firmware notes says that *input* from the hackerboard to the printer is not yet supported, but should be in the next release. We're almost there.