Author: Jan

PnP – Designing my own Feeder

Having build BambooFeeder, BingFeeder and looked into PhotonFeeder I decided to design my own partly to solve issues I observed, partly to save space and partly to save cost! This was a proof of concept experience and it turned out very good. The 3D model of the 8mm Feeder is shown below. It is not…

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PnP – Feeder comparison

I finally got around to actually build a Bing Feeder using white PETG. I have bought 3Kg of Green PETG for later as I believe that color is better for camera support. Going from BambooFeeder to BingFeeder is a big jump – two completely different feeders and separate set of pros & cons. I will…

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PnP – Smart Feeder

Looking at Feeders I looked into PandaPlacer’s BambooFeeder, microsmt’s Bing Feeder as well as the T-2 Feeder. I am not able to use any of these “as is” because they are not truly open source – but BambooFeeder is very low cost < 5.- USD and I had their 3D images so I could print…

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New PnP Head Mounted

New PnP Head. It is the same old LumenPnP Head, but I modified it to use laser sensors on both side + Nema8 steppers. The rest of the machine is in 3D print behind me, so give me a few days and I will share pictures of the assembly. I do not have access to…

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Happy Easter

Just a picture showing what I am working on. I also think this is the first picture with Ethernet mounted. Both these boards will soon come in new versions. I need to experiment a bit with picture resolution since my screens now are 4K – I used to reduce pic resolution by copying pictures through…

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ECU Design

The block diagram below reprecent a single ECU Node – which in reality is a baby with many names. It is also called a VCU (Vehicle Control Unit) or Mini PLC if you like, I prefer the terminology “ECU” – Electronic Control Unit since it is assembled in a waterproof, small box and general purpose.…

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ECU – Dual Ethernet Main

Work in Progress – managed to finish schematics and place components – a bit more than I expected, but extended board on right side with 2cm so it goes wall-to wall in the box and SD-Card comes out as awell. Using KSZ8863RLL to achieve dual Ethernet on this. The MCU will see this as a…

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Simple CLI (Shell) Language

The ECU’s I make all have a small CLI included to execute a selection of commands including set/get commands accessing the dictionary. This started as a proprietary addition on 3 x CAN Hub, but is beeing upgraded to become standard on all as a minimal shell language. It is actually three modules involved as I…

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RTOS w/Dictionary

RTOS with a Dictionary is standard in any system I build. Most people will think FreeRTOS or a similar thread shifter then we say “RTOS” on embedded, but the hard reality is that most embedded systems are “barebone” and run some version of a round robin scheduler. Myself I do the same – I install…

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ECU – Dual Ethernet

I am using KSZ8863RLL to achieve dual Ethernet, This is a 3 port switch and it basically just replace the LAN8742. The MCU will just see an ordinary Ethernet not realizing that it is a switch. My initial idea was to re-use the ECU main board with minimal changes, but I underestimated the amout of…

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