Help with Chinese A3 laser engraver with SD-reader+LCD but no USB connector

[Zax]

OK, well now we know it's not an Atmel microcontroller or even a Chinese knockoff.

The STM32 ARM processors are usually pretty good but it's going to depend on the firmware.

Since you are getting burns when it shouldn't be I suspect it doesn't do grey scale, so the laser is either on or off. That's not the end of the world, you can use Velocity Mode.

I'm going to send you another file which should look correct.

[Lob0426]

That makes sense for it to be a STM32. The 328's are maxed out storage wise. The STM has plenty of room. If it was Atmel it would most likely be two controllers. One to run the laser controller and another to read the SD and control the LCD.

[Rzoega]

Hi Lob and Zax

Thank you for your time..

I tested the latest file and it burned fine. However that was also an outlined logo and text, which already works.

It is the filling out i can't get to work :-)

After you clarified the chipset, does it then tell you anything about model, maker or possible firmwares etc.?

Regarding the on/off versus powermode - what is velocity mode?
Is it possible in the gcode to control the speed on the fly, so that it moves faster when it should be "grey"?
During a burn, i can pause the machine and change the "Feed" and "Seek" settings - but i guess that would be a boring job, pausing and changing when i can see it is about to make something grey/lighter :-)

Does any off the values in the 2 menus mean anything to you?
I figured out that the "Laser" sets the low laser mode, so i can position it without hurting my eyes 

Since this is a 2.5w laser, is it just able to burn faster than a 500mA for normal use, or can I use the power for something else?
I would love to be able to cut out stuff from some thin wood and do some deep engravings.

Again thank you very much for helping me out, it is very nice of you :-)

[Lob0426]

Being that it is a STM32 controller you cannot use any of the grbl firmwares that are used on the Arduino controlled boards. I suspect that the grbl version is older than what is now available. It looks like possibly grbl 0.8. So that might be part of the continuous burn thing. Just not sure as I have not played with the STM32. You may be able to find a setting that cures that through your LCD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBtbAYmfEE
https://github.com/Meekdai/STM32-GRBL

[ggallant571]

Thanks for posting. I use the STM32F405 with home-brew firmware. Would be nice to try standard grbl.

[Lob0426]

Just the guy I hoped would chime in on the STM32!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehgXMa2spWM
https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Stm32%2C+grbl&type=Repositories

[Zax]

I will send you a raster file using Velocity Mode in a couple of minutes, I just wanted to verify that we could get working G-code to your machine which it sounds like we can.

[Rzoega]

Being that it is a STM32 controller you cannot use any of the grbl firmwares that are used on the Arduino controlled boards. I suspect that the grbl version is older than what is now available. It looks like possibly grbl 0.8. So that might be part of the continuous burn thing. Just not sure as I have not played with the STM32. You may be able to find a setting that cures that through your LCD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBtbAYmfEE
https://github.com/Meekdai/STM32-GRBL

Ok.
I only have the options showed in the 2 menus earlier, and i have no idea what the different values do! But it does not look to me like I can disable/enable any settings like that. The continous burning also only happens when i try burn something that is not outlined vector. However i just did a new file from Zax that turned out differently (See next post)

[Rzoega]

Thanks for posting. I use the STM32F405 with home-brew firmware. Would be nice to try standard grbl.

Hi ggallant.

So does your home"burned" firmware work better than mine, and would i be able to put it on my board?
You say it would be nice to try standard grbl, does that mean i should try to get the current firmware out of my board so you can play with it!? If so, then i need some guidance how to extract it :-)

[Rzoega]

Hi Zax.
Thanks for the latest file.
This turned out to take a loooong time to burn :-)
But the end result is a totally black monkey that i guess looks like it should. (no colours though, as the image you added to the email ;-) )

How was this file made (what software)!?

As a side note, i finally got a response from the seller with a link to a videoclip. The clip however was a complete joke. It showed a guy turning on the machine, selecting the preloaded file on the sd-card and then started to burn it.. that was it 

If there should have been some grey tones regulated by speed in the monkey, it seems like the laser doesn't change speed on the fly because every part of the monkey is totally black.
Here are some photos of the monkey burn:

[Zax]

I generated it with T2Laser using Velocity Mode, but since it's dark we could try the grey scale test file with higher feed rates to see if you can get shading.

I sent you another file to try (actually 2 but the first one I forgot Velocity Mode so just ignore that).

[Rzoega]

I generated it with T2Laser using Velocity Mode, but since it's dark we could try the grey scale test file with higher feed rates to see if you can get shading.

I sent you another file to try (actually 2 but the first one I forgot Velocity Mode so just ignore that).

Hi Zax.
Ok, so to me it sounds like T2Laser is the way to go, no matter what!?
I’m ready to try anything :-)
I didn’t receive any e-mails from you!?

[Zax]

I had sent it to the wrong e-mail (oops!).

Just sent it to you, I think it may work well.

[Rzoega]

Hi Zax.
Now I got it. Unfortunately it didn’t change much.

[Rzoega]

Just to clarify it, by using T2Laser and the velocity mode I will be able to burn filled logos, characters etc.?
Is it possible to mix the two, so I can do every second character outlined and the next filled?
And then the whole greyscale/photo is another issue!?