M2 Auto-Leveling Kit (Beta)

[innkeeper]

PCS - thats an end stop switch.

[PcS]

PCS - thats an end stop switch.

Essentially that is all the stock makergear Z ...endstop switch is. No ?

[PcS]

Also this switch when running off of 24v outputs 5.8 volts when tripped.

[innkeeper]

hi pcs,

i think we are talking two different methods. That is an optical switch. you can use it to replace end stops or even the switch on a mechanical probe.

what i am talking about would replace the inductive proximity sensor with an optical one. the difference being, the optical sensor reflects light off the surface and triggers on the proximity of the surface, while the inductive sensor senses metal in proximity and will trigger based on the inductive reaction to the metal.

hope that makes sense.

[PcS]

It makes sense perfectly. I honestly can say I did not research the ultimachine one. I just saw optical switch and figured it had to use an optical beam to stop motion. Maybe if you posted a link to exactly what you are looking at I can fully understand the difference. On a side note research into more costly inductive switches reveals a model with working temp up to 250c. Looking forward to your mod.

[innkeeper]

Ok so got all the board i was expecting, and it didn't work initialy...
but did some modifications to it now so it at least triggers the board. but needs some more worrk.
it was designed primarily for an adc / analog input, not a digital in like on the rambo or smoothie so it is currently a bit of a kludge for digital, so i need to make some code changes to the avr and associated hardware change.
since my rambo board is bad, i cant trust it to test with it...so might be looking for a willing test subject

I just picked up a compatable avr programmer today so, should be set to go, will work more on this during this weekend more if i have time.

i took a cue form ED and am using the optical probe for both the z endstop and for bed level sensing.
this works out very well on the smoothie. and makes it so there is no intervention required after the initial install
no offsets to be input or to remember when chaining beds etc. it really does what i was hoping for.

not sure if the same exact same thing can be achieved on marlin/rambo or not, as i am no longer using that platform since i replaced my bad board with the smoothie.

i'll try and post a video of it in action if anyone is interested.

oh and for those using smoothie, i did try out both 3 point and zgird type of leveling. i found that zgird had an issue with offsets and tring to go outside the bed area when seeking when there is an offset between the probe and the head , and am figuring out how to get around that.

[Tim]

oh and for those using smoothie, i did try out both 3 point and zgrid type of leveling. i found that zgrid had an issue with offsets and trying to go outside the bed area when seeking when there is an offset between the probe and the head, and am figuring out how to get around that.

Nice to be forewarned. Yet another thing I would like to know about, if you find a solution for it. If instead you end up using the 3-point method and punting on finding a solution for the z-grid error, then I might get around to it before you do; but I haven't got my 4mm sensor yet, so it's not going to be any time soon.

[innkeeper]

i have to admit, watching it go though the zgrid calibration is very cool thing to see. i'll give it another go this weekend.

[Tim]

for the record, the 2mm proximity sensor does NOT work with the Zebra plate.

I just received the 4mm sensor in the mail, and immediately hooked it up to a 9V battery and confirmed that it definitely DOES work with the Zebra plate. Now I have a project to work on, evenings. . .

[KiddingMe]

Looking forward to the final product and hopefully tutorials to make this possible for the rest of us.

Is it possible for this to kit to also set the z gap automatically?