Remora - Rpi Software Stepping Using External Microcontroller via SPI

hmm, i watched the video and thought there had to be an ethernet conneection to a W5500 to the LPC, but nooooo , the diagram removes that connection, only relying on rpi->spi->lpc
cool!
I'm waiting on 2 SKR v1.3 to arrive.
Thanks Bari
Thanks scotta
tomp

I have 20 or so of the Haoyu LPC1768-mini-DK2 boards... would these work? Happy to send one to fig the Hal pinout etc
www.hotmcu.com/lpc1768minidk2-developmen...p-55.html?cPath=1_21

I read through the docs but could not fig out the firmware required on the smoothy board or do we just run smooth firmware, also do we do the config for steps per mm, etc in smoothieware or in Linuxcnc.

There is Remora firmware which you put on your controller board. It does not work with Smoothieware on the controller board.

It works by having LinuxCNC do the motion planning etc and sends commands over a SPI serial connection to the controller board which does all the step generation and digital IO stuff.

As for those LPC1768 dev boards I would think it would load onto that just fine but since it's a dev breakout board, you'd have to have your driver boards wired and maybe level shifted if 5V TTL signalling is required. Same goes for any digital IO like switches.

Got it so I load the Remora on the LPC board v.s Smootie/reprat. does the firmware already have the HAL for the pinouts of the difrent boards, do i set up the steps etc in Remora or in Linux CNC like i would with a Mesa

Hi, Remora requires a config.txt file on the controller board to configure the firmware on boot.

Those Haoyu boards look very flexible but you'll need to go it alone for a config.txt to suit your needs.

On the LinuxCNC side you will need a custom HAL file to connector the Remora pins.

Looks like I'll need to get working on some more documentation as the config.txt file format is only in examples at the moment.

Scott

scotta wrote:

Hi, Remora requires a config.txt file on the controller board to configure the firmware on boot.

Those Haoyu boards look very flexible but you'll need to go it alone for a config.txt to suit your needs.

On the LinuxCNC side you will need a custom HAL file to connector the Remora pins.

Looks like I'll need to get working on some more documentation as the config.txt file format is only in examples at the moment.

Scott

The only thing needed for the fimware is to load the appropriate config.txt on to the sd card of the board (for example, skr1.4)? It will then configure the firmware using the remora component installed using halcompile? I bought a SKR1.4 mainboard yesterday to test this out, and I am now on the firmware section and unsure where to go with this and going by this github.com/scottalford75/Remora/issues/2
so for after installing remora with halcompile, the instructions for firmware and beyond,
step 1 - load config.txt onto (root?) sdcard , for the skr1.4, its this one github.com/scottalford75/Remora/blob/mai...es/SKRv13/config.txt
step2 - run linuxcnc and use the config "remora-xyz"

and the rest is done by the remora rt component for hal?
So all that needs to be done is configure the joints/axis in the ini?

Hi, there is documentation available, and being updated as feedback comes in to make it more useable and clearer.

remora-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html

For your SKR v1.4 download the LPC1769 firmware and copy it to your SD card.

github.com/scottalford75/Remora/blob/mai...LPC1769/firmware.bin

You will of course need to make a cable up to connect the RPi to your SKR board. Instructions are at:

remora-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/hardware/SKRV14.html

Ok, so I just copy it (firmware.bin) using an sd card reader, or is there a flashing process Im oblivious to? Just filebrowser copy/paste? The version I have is a regular 1.4 no turbo with a 1768 chip, so I load the 1768 firmware right? Cable is made and ready to go, even copied colours to avoid any confusion. The config.txt, I still also just load this on sd root with file browser? and so Im understanding fully, the 1768/1769 firmware is the remora firmware with all modules, and the config.txt is for the different pinout/module options? Both of which I put on the sd card?

Also, the halcompile of remora is a symlink to what ever directory I installed it from? so where ever I installed remora from (linuxcnc/remora) it has to stay there, correct?

Yes, a simple copy paste onto the SD card.

The following command will compile and install the component into the correct location for your system.

pi@raspberry:~ $ sudo halcompile --install remora.c