Shapeoko 2 Raspberry Pi B+ Workstation

thingiverse

In an effort to secure my Shapeoko 2's safety and reliability, I designed this workstation from scratch. The combination of TGFX and CoolTerm with the TinyG controller proved to be unstable and inconvenient for me, so I created a workstation that employs software capable of maintaining continuous connectivity without unexpected interruptions or a user interface hostile to beginners. Additionally, an old computer monitor I had been storing in my closet made a great secondary screen. For this work station's construction, I relied heavily on the designs of two individuals: The creator of Thingiverse model number 396858, and a modified version of the design located at thing number 269745, used to install the NEMA 23 motor onto the Z axis. My sole modification was to eliminate the short posts by adding three spacers on the other side of the bracket, removing the need for those cumbersome washers Inventables provided for motor installation. To automate control and management, I created a Raspberry Pi application using Gambas3. A shell script was also designed, providing an alternative command prompt text version with jog control features through keyboard input in the GUI version. Users can adjust jog increments to 1mm as needed. To assist other makers who may wish to expand upon this workstation's capabilities, a repository is linked below for users to collaborate and improve its functionality. One user interface enhancement idea could include implementing a display showing real-time feedback on machine positioning data. While using the commands specific to my setup might appear unorthodox at first glance, it was necessary in order to guarantee uninterrupted connectivity and stability each time. Following my development process and this workstation's configuration has yielded promising results with an outstanding performance record to date. As evidence of its functionality and robustness, I have created a printed circuit board based on the settings specified by Synthetos documentation; however, for expediency I resorted to finding solutions that circumvented certain documentation inaccuracies whenever applicable. Here's where to find additional guidance, specifications and code needed to duplicate this project successfully: http://www.shaputer.com/tinyg.