Avrdude is a command line tool for uploading to and downloading from AVR microcontrollers. It is used in the background by Arduino to upload sketches.
It’s also the tool we used to upload the bootloader to all of the atmega644p chips provided in the TVRRUG OMC electronics kits.
Here are some useful commands when using avrdude. Continue reading Useful avrdude commands
In order to compile and upload Arduino sketches to custom boards like the TVRRUG OMC the configuration of the board must be specified, for example what chip it uses at what clock speed etc.
In version 1.6.4 the Arduino IDE changed the way custom boards are defined and managed in order to support a wider range of chip architectures.
TVRRUG member Bo has figured out the changes and made it as simple as can be for the rest of us to use the latest versions of Arduino with our OMCs and provided instructions at the TVRRUG githhub repo. Thanks Bo!
Here follows an idiot’s version of Bo’s instructions.
The default set up for RepRap Z endstops seems to be a minimum Z microswitch. It’s easy to set up, but soon becomes a right pain when you need to make an adjustment of a fraction of a millimetre – pretty tough to move your microswitch that small a distance. One alternative is to fix the microswitch at the maximum of the axis and adjust the known position of the endstop in the firmware.
Here are instructions on how to configure the TVRRUG Marlin firmware for a maximum endstop.
Continue reading Configuring TVRRUG Marlin for maximum Z endstop
Michel Pollet’s amazing Sappho’s Head print
At least three of our 20 first round TVRRUG printers are producing prints!
First past the post was Michel Pollet, and the quality he has achieved in just a few short weeks is absolutely incredible. As a reward, Michel has been helping us test and fix the electronics and give the rest of the group a helping hand. Continue reading First TVPrusa printers are printing!
Time has flown since the last TVRRUG post announcing the release of issue 3, and we’ve been beavering away to get all the last bits and pieces together to complete the kits. Here are the latest developments. Continue reading TVRRUG Update: Extruders, Electronics and Workshops
Tuesday night saw TVPrusa Part 3 released into the wild, and as ever instructions are up on the TVRRUG website.
This instalment contains the previously missing motors and belts, along with the X carriage and some other bits and bobs. With this, you will be ready to take over the world! Or at least be one step closer. Continue reading TVPrusa Issue 3 is Go
Season’s Greetings! We came bearing gifts to yesterday’s TVRRUG meeting, in the form of the second instalment of the TVPrusa build. Instructions are up on the TVRRUG site.
This issue has yet more goodies, including milled and etched wooden print plates, a PCB heated bed, glass sheets and motors along with the usual printed parts and nuts and bolts. Sadly we are still waiting on belts and some motors, but there is enough to complete the majority of the X, Y and Z axes.
Looks like Issue 3 will complete the axes, and Issues 4 and 5 will be the extruder and electronics (the order will depend on time needed for sourcing and printing).
Let’s hope the New Year will see lots of printing!
Curtis Fletcher’s frame assembly breaks speed records!
Since the first TVRRUG Meeting a few months ago, it has been all systems go! Our ‘Build Party‘ concept has evolved into a part-works series, where at each TVRRUG meeting we release the next lot of parts to progress in the TVPrusa build. This appears to be a popular approach, and we now have 20 budding RepRap-ers chomping at the bit to get their machines built.
Ever eager not to disappoint, we handed out Issue 1: the frame at last night’s meeting. By the time we got home from the meeting, the first frame was already assembled (well done Curtis!).
Continue reading TVPrusa Issue 1 Now Available at all Reputable High Street Stores
Thanks to some great work by some of the TVRRUG cohort, we now have our very own website tvrrug.org.uk. Shiny!
Last Tuesday, 27th September saw us descending on Copa with our RepRap yet again for the first ever meeting of the Thames Valley RepRap User Group or TVRRUG for short. The focus of the agenda – planning the first Thames Valley Build Party!
