Hi everyone, this is going to be a build/Explore/Information/Follow thread.
Situation; I’m building a Voron and the head is going to look like a disaster with about 17 or 18 wires to control everything. Don’t like that look, So apparently you can use CAN bus to operate an entire head with 4 wires, Positive, Negative TX and RX. Hopefully, this thread will help anyone who wants to take on this challenge as well.
Basic research: Originally found out about this CAN bus adaptor board from a long-time customer at our store (and a larger nerd than me, Meant totally as a compliment) Started digging and found some interesting info sites on it.
I am not positive if I “Have” to run klipper to use this but its looking like it.
I originally decided to use the Fystec Spyder board because it’s supposed to support CANBUS, however, after digging into it it’s not fully supported “yet”
Now on top of this, you apparently need a CANBUS control card that works on a Raspberry Pi. So I just received my order for this
So with a Raspberry Pi and these 2 devices, I am supposed to be able to control everything on the tool head.
Let’s see how this goes. If anyone else has already done this feel free to jump in and let us know your configuration.
I’ve looked at it in the past and I’m not convinced that there is a single bus that can replace all the functions of the hot end and extruder.
The biggest issue is the extruder stepper driver and, at the most basic level, the delays/complexities that come up with the STEP/DIR lines you get with sending the commands for these lines serially. A secondary concern is any limit/height switches/sensors that are part of the hot end (ie BL Touch, inductive sensor or microswitch) and the delays sending information asynchronously to the controller.
I think the optimal solution will be a simple serial communications (could also be SPI or I2C) for setting temperature, fan speed, extruder stepper set up, BL Touch set up with individual lines for STEP/DIR and sensor trips.
I now have HUVUD .61s on a Troodon, Voron 2.4r2, and a Raptor. I have had zero issues other than the initial job of figuring it all out, as when I started the first install there was no documentation out there.
You are right in needing Klipper, which is a benefit overall. I have converted every printer I own over to it as it prints better, faster, and is way easier to configure, especially when you tinker.
I print at over 300mm/s on both of my corexy machines, both with huvud boards, and no issues.
And now arksine released the can-boot boot loader, so flashing upon a klipper update is easy.
