Ulendo Software (Smart 3D printing)

Ulendo can be used on low cost embedded systems microcontroller. We coded the method in C and shared the libraries here on Github; you can use them in any distribution or transfer them into any programing language to use them on your own systems.

The software contains two parts:

• A software with the vibration compensation method that runs on an embedded system;
• A modified Marlin firmware.

@misc{
        Author = {Smart and Sustainable Automation Research Lab, UM},
        Title = {Ulendo Software},
        Year = {2019},
        Email = {[email protected] (Xiang Lu)}
}

Contents of this document

• Preparation
• Architectures
• Configuration
• Run the code
• About LPFBS

Preparation

• Hardware:

  • Raspberry Pi 3 Model B/B+
  • USB Printer Cable
  • Monitor, Mouse and Keyboard for the Raspberry Pi

Architectures

├── Marlin                              // Modified Marlin firmware
└── RPI                                 // The software runs in the Raspberry Pi
    ├── Readme.rst                      // help file
    ├── Gcodes                          // Put all your Gcodes in this folder
    │   ├── Printing
    │   │      └── Groot.gcode          // Put the Gcode that you are going to print in this folder (delete others)
    │   └── Samples
    │          └── Cal_cube.gcode       // All sampling Gcodes
    ├── main.c                          // Main script, all algorithms are in this script
    ├── Makefile                        // Makefile
    └── Libs                            // All libraries (.h .so, etc.)
        ├── Ulendo_libs.h               // Header file
        ├── Ulendo_libs.so.0.0.1        // Shared object file
        └── Ulendo_libs.so.0            // Soft link of Ulendo_libs.so.0.0.1

Configuration

• Marlin Firmware:

  • Flash the modified Marlin firmware to the board on the printer.
  • You can follow the instructions from http://marlinfw.org/docs/basics/install_arduino.html

• Ulendo Software:

  • Download the “Raspbian Buster with desktop” from https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/
  • Flash the IMG file into the Raspberry Pi
  • Download the Ulendo Software with Github, and you will find the software in your home folder:

$ git clone https://github.com/luxiangnk/Ulendo.git

Run the code

• Make sure the Raspberry Pi is connected to the internet.
• Make sure the printer's board appears as /dev/ttyACM0, you can check it with:

$ ls -l /dev/ttyACM*

• Modify the Makefile based on your own system especially the path and version (python3.5 in our case) of Python as:

-I/usr/include/python3.5m/ -L/usr/lib/ -lpython3.5m

• Then you can build the project and make sure there are no errors after typing:

$ cd ~/Ulendo/RPI
$ make

• Run the code by typing:

$ ./main

• Select "Print with Ulendo->Start" from your printer's screen.
• The code will check the license first and it will take several seconds before printing.
• You can read the comments in the code if you want to call the APIs from the shared object file.
• If you want to change the Gcode, you can put your own Gcode in the folder of "RPI/Gcodes/Printing/" and make sure there is only one Gcode file in the folder.
• If you want to change printing parameters, you select "Print with Ulendo->Setting" from the printer's screen.

About LPFBS

The limited-preview filtered B-spline (LPFBS) approach minimizes errors in tracking long-duration desired trajectories which may or may not be entirely known a priori.

You can read the MECH17 paper or contact me (Xiang Lu) if you want to learn more about the LPFBS algorithm.

You can download the paper from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320114918_A_limited-preview_filtered_B-spline_approach_to_tracking_control_-_With_application_to_vibration-induced_error_compensation_of_a_3D_printer