Free and Open-source Control Software for 3-D Motion and Processing

Authors

  • Bas Wijnen Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University
  • Gerald C. Anzalone Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University
  • Amberlee S. Haselhuhn Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University
  • P. G. Sanders Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Michigan Technological University
  • Joshua M. Pearce Department of Materials Science & Engineering, and Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.78

Keywords:

3-D printing, additive manufacturing, distributed manufacturing, firmware, free and open source software, FOSS, open-source, open-source electronics, open-source hardware, personal fabrication, printing, RepRap, rapid prototyping

Abstract

RepRap 3-D printers and their derivatives using conventional firmware are limited by: 1) requiring technical knowledge, 2) poor resilience with unreliable hardware, and 3) poor integration in complicated systems. In this paper, a new control system called Franklin, for CNC machines in general and 3-D printers specifically, is presented that enables web-based three dimensional control of additive, subtractive and analytical tools from any Internet connected device. Franklin can be set up and controlled entirely from a web interface; it uses a custom protocol which allows it to continue printing when the connection is temporarily lost, and allows communication with scripts.

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Published

2016-01-27

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2016)

Section

Software Metapapers

License

Copyright (c) 2016 The Author(s)

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