E3D Cyclops, CoreYZ, and More! (Patreon)

#reprap #3dprinting

Hey Marlin fans… You might be wondering what I've been up to since the last update, since I've been pretty quiet on the social networks. So much new stuff… Let's get started!

New Release Imminent

Marlin has been getting a lot of testing since 1.1.0-RC6 was released a few weeks ago, and this has been a really good thing to help us catch the more subtle issues. Among the things we've been tracking and fixing:

• Z lowering improperly during M600 filament change
• Anomalous behavior in G29
• MAX31855 thermocouple read errors
• Mesh Bed Leveling issues with G28 and M421

All these issues are being addressed, and it looks like we should soon have them completely worked out in the "RCBugFix" branch. Some bed probing issues have been fixed by adding new probe types to the configurations, including a MECHANICAL_PROBE for probes (like those on TAZ machines) that use the nozzle itself as a probe. Mesh Bed Leveling also got a new option — to rest the extruder after G28 when MBL is enabled. The broken M421 (mea culpa!) has also been fixed.

We could use more testers for the MAX31855, as the proposed solution changes the SPI speed, something that affects all the devices on your SPI bus. It would be good to know if the solution is universal, or if some SD Card readers or other SPI devices can affect this.

SINGLENOZZLE and E3D Cyclops

One of the more common requests that we get is for the so-called "SINGLENOZZLE" feature, as found in the popular "MarlinKimbra" fork of Marlin. This allows you to use a multi-extruder —like the E3D Cyclops— which doesn't do proportional mixing, but does have 2 or more filament drives that you can switch between using T0, T1, T2, and T3 commands.

This feature has never been in the main Marlin code, so users of these extruders have been forced to use other forks (usually the respectable MarlinKimbra). I myself had resisted adding this feature, because it "felt" like a hack to me. Not being one to blindly trust my intuition, today I set out to implement this feature. Ten minutes later, it was done. Apparently not such a hack after all!

So, E3D Cyclops users rejoice! Marlin now supports your awesome newfangled extruder.

Mixing Extruders?

Yes, Mixing Extruder support is still in the hopper, and ready for integration. The feature appears to be in a robust condition, with no bugs yet reported, and I fully expect it to be included in Marlin 1.1.1 and Marlin 1.2.0.

What about CoreYZ?

After I added CoreXY and CoreXZ support I thought that was the end of it. But those H-Bot / Core Kinematic fanatics are unrelenting! Recently I've seen a few postings about CoreYZ, but I have yet to see any of these machines in the wild. Apparently RepRapFirmware-dc42 integrated CoreYZ support over a year ago.

Once again, I anticipated a whole raft of difficulties to get this integrated. And once again it turned out to be a piece of cake. It was a good thing to go through this code again, as I was able to fix a couple of minor issues with CoreXY and CoreXZ in the process. I'm really pleased to finally have this whole suite completed and ready to include in 1.1.0.

Release Schedule

The current tentative date for the Marlin 1.1.0-GA (General Availability) release is June 1. All new bug-fix issues are being marked with the "1.1.0 Milestone" to remind us of their importance, with a hard cutoff date of May 31. That gives us not much time to get the code tested and bring it up to full confidence.

Public Testing "Sprint"

Now is the time for all brave Marlin users to grab a copy of Marlin 1.1.0-RCBugFix, test it out, and give us your feedback! You can find the latest code at https://github.com/MarlinFirmware/Marlin/tree/RCBugFix — and remember this is beta code. Use with caution and read the warnings in the README before jumping in.

Marlin Enterprise Consulting

Since 2012 I've been getting into electronics, 3D printing, and the maker scene as a way to expand my skill-set, beginning from a purely software development-oriented base. Desktop, phone, web, and tablet apps are all well and good, but they tend to stay on the desk or in your hands, relying on the flat screen and its UI paradigm. As a programmer, I needed to step away from the desktop and start programming robots! I had a whole 2 to 3-year plan that I won't get into. It's taken a little bit of a detour, but continues to develop.

So I've been discussing this idea with Roxy of 3D Print Board, for programmers like me, who know Marlin intimately, to begin offering freelance consulting services worldwide for enterprises and individuals that want to integrate Marlin Firmware into their products and projects. I think this would be a great way for contributors to the project, maintainers of Marlin forks, etc., to contribute more to the ecosystem, and to receive compensation and recognition for their efforts.

What do you think? I've been in talks with a couple of startups, and it's clear that they really need this kind of expertise. Since Marlin is licensed under the GPL, both Marlin and the broad user community would directly benefit from this kind of integration work, as new and custom features will necessarily filter back to the main project. So I'm pretty excited about this prospect.

Monkey Wrench

Few people would describe be as "entirely realistic" or "totally grounded" — or "altogether conventional" for that matter. I've been a bit of a Pollyanna in my West Coast adventure, to say the least, and when I moved to Portland, Oregon a year ago I was quite certain that I would find a well-paying job in no time, and probably it would fall into my lap! But several interviews, online applications, and headhunters later, I'm still looking for steady work as a coder and a conducive living space.

So the "monkey wrench" is that I have to move out of my current place before June 1, but I'm not sure where my 20-year-old cat and I will be going next. I'm trying to stay positive, but as the end of the month approaches my outlook gets a little dimmer.

While I'm working this out, I hope to still keep focusing on Marlin. But I will surely need to spend a lot of time in the "real world" shuffling my belongings around, just at the moment when I most want to focus on the Marlin release. With luck, my situation will be sorted out quickly and I will be able to get back on track.

So, until next time, wish me luck!

Patrons, Friends, and Funders

Thank you all once again for your generous support of this endeavor! This past month I received more contributions than ever before, at a time when they are truly needed the most. Among the best donations I received was a very useful piece of kit. To wit, I happened to mention that I lacked an oscilloscope to do testing, and lo, one of our most prolific contributors suddenly gifted me a portable open-source oscilloscope from Amazon. Not only is this an essential device for any electronics hacker, but it keeps to the full spirit of open source in the process. Kudos!