Using another Slicing

[David Mason @davidmason83 My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version]

Noticing some of my prints have got blobs on them. If this can be done to the Slicing and GCode, can we use another slicing tool. If so, how?

[click @click My Robox is a Green Kickstarter Limited Edition]

@pelgrim Actually, I think what you said is not 100% true. AM has stream gcode option along with another that involves ‘manual’ gcode… So, theoretically you *can* use other slicer and pass that slicer’s gcode directly to Robox. There are, of course, issues about two heads (but you can stick T0 or T1 in the resulting gcode and select only one nozzle for the duration of the print - similar to ‘fine’ settings which prefers one nozzle for almost whole print) . Also, there’s an issue of retraction as Robox uses needle valves and not retraction. If you go pass these two, three things - you can just pass gcode directly to Robox. After all, many, many other printers do exactly that and nothing else!!!

Now, is that simple way we’ve spoiled with AM and Slic3r? No. It needs a bit of knowledge to understand how Robox works (and many other printers operate on exactly that premise that users *know* how their printers work) and maybe a bit of tinkering with gcode between some other slicer and sending it to Robox. What I’ve learnt since I’ve got Robox - it is not that bad nor horribly complicated.

But, one thing is true what @pelgrim said: you can’t do it from inside of AM as simply as switching one option to different slicer. At least not yet. And even if new version provides for it - it won’t be for any other slicer - but one AM code was designed to work with…

[David Mason @davidmason83 My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version]

We will have to see what the New Year brings in terms of changes to AM

[click @click My Robox is a Green Kickstarter Limited Edition]

Hopefully sooner! My math skills told me that (15th - the date Pete said that new AM is due to be released in 7 days) it is due before Christmas! 🙂

[Benraay @benraay My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version Montpellier]

Hi people,

A few years later lets give some news about using another slicer.

I have tried some things with slicer and generating gCode but got stuck with the needle system.

@click Is there a simple command that opens the needle valve and maybe make it possible to use gcode generated from another slicer.

and at the end of it closing the needle valve.

Most things missing to the actual gcode is making the robox take a pause on tiny layers (like pikes).

The only way for now is slowing down the print speed but it does’nt help when making tiny spikes the head is melting the lower layers down end we got a messy bubble at the end instead of a nice spike.

Would also be very good to have variable layer height like in slic3r

C# .Net, PHP, Angular JS, Fullstack and mobile développer and CO-Founder of www.crossshopper.com

[Benraay @benraay My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version Montpellier]

I’m not so sure we can’t make our own postprocessor, we have code before postprocessing and after it’s just a matter of analysing it.

a bit of code here :

before post processing

G1 F1800 E0.00000
G1 F480 X83.745 Y74.694 E6.88062
G1 X83.745 Y76.394 E0.30621
G1 X45.545 Y76.394 E6.88062
G1 X45.545 Y74.694 E0.30621
G0 F12000 X45.545 Y74.094

After

M109
G1 B1
G1 F480 X83.745 Y74.694 E6.88062
G1 F480 X83.745 Y76.394 E0.30621
G1 F480 X45.545 Y76.394 E6.88062
G1 F480 X45.545 Y74.694 E0.30621
G1 F12000 X45.545 Y74.094

you also have full documentation on cel ROBOX GCODE :

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/890196/Robox-Rbx01.html?page=101

I haven’t spend much time to do it but I will try the challenge to print a tiny thing with another slicer.

C# .Net, PHP, Angular JS, Fullstack and mobile développer and CO-Founder of www.crossshopper.com

[Benraay @benraay My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version Montpellier]

@pelgrim exactly I had already a talk about that on another topic :

http://www.cel-robox.com/forums/topic/g-code-console/

I’m a bit afraid of damaging the printer head

C# .Net, PHP, Angular JS, Fullstack and mobile développer and CO-Founder of www.crossshopper.com

[click @click My Robox is a Green Kickstarter Limited Edition]

@benraay sorry not being able to answer earlier 🙁

“Is there a simple command that opens the needle valve and maybe make it possible to use gcode generated from another slicer. … and at the end of it closing the needle valve.”

Theoretically it should be quite easy:

T0 (or T1) to select nozzle and

G0 B1 (or G1 B1) to open nozzle (B1 by documentation is fully open nozzle) and at the end:

G0 B0 (or G1 B0) to close nozzle.

No idea why post processor outputs G1 not G0! What post processor is really doing is to detect whole paths and gradually close the nozzle (values in ‘B’ part of G0/1 commands are between 0 and 1 including 0 and 1) knowing what’s the nozzle’s volume while at the same time stop pushing filament through extruder (never invested time to find out if extruding completely stops when needle starts going down or not).

“Most things missing to the actual gcode is making the robox take a pause on tiny layers (like pikes).”

What is slicer sending out? It should know how to do those pauses. If we know what Slic3r would do (what command is there) we can always replace it with moving nozzle out of the area and slowly around until it cools down. Maybe it is worth slicing example through AM and then investigating what it is really doing and emulating that.

“I’m not so sure we can’t make our own postprocessor, we have code before postprocessing and after it’s just a matter of analysing it.”

I agree. I am yet to respond to another thread where such question was brought out to the open - I am just waiting to get at least full hour to write all my thoughts down…

“I haven’t spend much time to do it but I will try the challenge to print a tiny thing with another slicer.”

I am sure that a lot can be achieved with properly commanding needle valves in such case. How? I don’t know - lots of experiments could help…

“I’m a bit afraid of damaging the printer head”

That’s always an issue. What kind of head do you have? Old one or new, S2, variant?

The safest way is to get head to heat up, select nozzle, open it up completely and then do what ordinary printer would do. That way it should be safe - not pressure should mount anywhere to damage seals. (at least *I don’t think so* + proper disclaimer of some sort)

And close the nozzle at the end. Pretty much the way you put in example.

[Benraay @benraay My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version Montpellier]

Waouw that’s a huge one !

Let’s reply,

thanks for all this code it would help me doing it better.

The head is a RBX01-SM as I read in my prefs.

I thing also that I won’t damage the head with some safe advise like you said.

I wanted to use Slic3r I already made some tries to get code and plug the ROBOX stuff at the beginning and at the end (bed leveling, and other things).

I would start with just opening the needle and replacing G0 by G1 but don’t know if this important.

I’m just thinking also on bed temp and head temp I don’t know why the head does not start heating together with the bed, at the beginning of a print you always need to wait for bed heating before the head starts, in my mind there is no point of doing this.

I changed this in a custom code I made for cleaning the head.

C# .Net, PHP, Angular JS, Fullstack and mobile développer and CO-Founder of www.crossshopper.com

[Benraay @benraay My Robox is a Blue Commercial Version Montpellier]

First of all I got it working !!!

it took me some tests before it was ok

Two essential settings are important int the printer settings check “Use relative E distance”

and Use volumetric E

You can find attached the whole config bundle with printer settings, printing settings (0,2 mm height) can be changed easily

and I have put also a white pla filament setting, but works with all Robox PLA

With this settings you “can” print I tried it for a pyramid a cube and a tiny spike.

for the spike I have commented out some gcode that make a pause at each layer so it makes a pause on each layer but it takes a very long time to print, the result of the spike is a bit better but not that much better.

also when starting because of the opening of the valve the filament starts to come out a bit too early.

a good thing is to move the B1 code to the first print move but you need to do it manually, it works if you don’t do this change but you have a bit plastic coming out and normally sticking on the skirt.

Be careful with this solution you need to know about gcode and look at the code before sending it to the Robox, I will not be responsible of any damage that could happen on the printer.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 2 weeks ago by  Benraay.

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C# .Net, PHP, Angular JS, Fullstack and mobile développer and CO-Founder of www.crossshopper.com

[click @click My Robox is a Green Kickstarter Limited Edition]

“The head is a RBX01-SM as I read in my prefs.”

Hm… Please do not take me for word here. SM is known to blow the seal out of nowhere. My last head lasted around 16 hours (3rd replacement) before it blow its seal 1 week after warranty period expired. That, combined with pogo pin breaking (when I was swapping broken head with DM and back several times) set me back slightly over than £200 back (Robox is expensive printer to repair).

Also, I think you should be careful to heat the head before operating needle valve (M109 should be there to wait for it to heat up).

Last thing is to have some way of ‘finishing’ print after you have aborted it for any reason. Currently if you paste your gcode in (or select file) and abort it have way through it will just sit there with what ever was last command. I usually had a small project ready which I would, then, start, wait for pause button to appear and then stop if immediately after. That last stop would raise head and stop heaters (and maybe close needle valve before all of that?).

Alternatively you would need ‘stop the print’ script ready to send after abort command… Such script is pretty much one of ‘macros’ hanging somewhere in config folder…

As for worst case scenario: definitively put money for new S2 head aside - no matter of your experiments or not. It is supposed to be more robust and original SM head does break down (sooner, or, for lucky, later).

[Pete @pete I have both RoboxDual and other Robox versions CEL HQ Bristol UK]

@click I just resurrected a post from ben above yours.

For official support please visit www.cel-robox.com/support/ and create a ticket

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