Introduction

This page is dedicated to describing the proper operational procedures for successful prints on the Gigabot utilizing Franklin firmware.

Currently, the following pages exists in dedication to either Franklin and/or the GigabotHX:

Application and material development pages are available in the following:

Further Franklin discussion can be found on MOST publication:

  • Wijnen, B., Anzalone, G. C., Haselhuhn, A.S., Sanders, P.G., Pearce, J. M. Free and Open-source Control Software for 3-D Motion and Processing. Journal of Open Research Software, 4: e2, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/jors.78 free access

Procedures

WORK IN PROGRESS 5/9/2016

  • Connecting Printer to Franklin
  1. Securely connect USB cable from Arduino to the operating computer
  2. Insure both power supplies, 12 and 24V power supplies are connected to a 120V standard outlet
  3. Start Franklin in command prompt "franklin" in the command prompt.
  4. Assuming Franklin in initialized correctly, proper connection to https://localhost:8000/admin should be possible
    1. If error occurs, e.g. "Cannot connect to local host", please refer to Franklin, Franklin:MOST and/or the Franklin connection section of Laser welding protocol: MOST
  5. The Franklin GUI (graphic user interface) should now be observable. GUI should look similar to the image below:
Franklin GUI
  • Set-Up
  1. File Generation (STL)
    • Utilizing open-source CAD software enables rapid and quality STL file generation. MOST utilizes the following open-source utilities for STL file generation:
  2. GCode Generation
    • Upon creation of an STL file, commonly, Slicer and/or Cura are optimal tools for print setting adjustment and subsequent Gcode generation.
    • GCode Optimization of Extruder A and Extruder E (Leader / Follower Principle)
      • Currently, Slicer and/or Cura are used to generate GCodes for a single extruder. The Gigabot, in total, has five (5) extruder heads. Franklin is set up to handle all of these extruders in a "leader-follower" principle. Specifically, one of the five extruders is designated as the 'leader' while the remaining 4 'follow' the 'leader'. This design allows for rapid printing of equivalent geometries while allowing singular (more detailed features) to be built separately by the 'leader' extruder. To organize this in the GCode the 'leader' is assigned command A and the follower extruder commands are labeled E. The 'follower' extruders are driven by a single command of E which follows "'A"' commands. A common command line is shown here: G1 X73.686 Y179.964 E1.70710 A1.70710
      • Thus, CONCATENATE() functions in LibreOffice allow for generation of the proper GCode including; A and E. LibreOffice .ods tool to be uploaded
        • Relevant, LibreOffice commands from .ods sheet. Commands assume that GCode is pasted as text in cell A1
          • =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("G1",A1)),RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-SEARCH("E",A1,1)+1),"NA")
          • =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("G1",A1)),RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-SEARCH("E",A1, 1))," ")
          • =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(" ",E1))," ","A")
          • =CONCATENATE(F1,E1)
          • =IFERROR(IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(" ",G1)),A1, CONCATENATE(A1&" "&G1)),A1)
Leader - Follower Extruder Locations


  • Uploading Files
    • Only .gcode type files can be uploaded to Franklin. Thus, proper file preparation is required as described in Set-Up.
  1. Browse
  • Printer Preparation
    • Homing, Parking and Zero-Positioning
    • Build Surface
    • Extruder 'Priming'
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