BACK TO BASIC – MINI CNC PLOTTER
Introduction: BACK TO BASIC – MINI CNC PLOTTER
There are many projects and tutorials related to recycle old CD/DVD players into a mini CNC Plotter based on Arduino.
I have become too concerned with complicated details or new things, and now I should concentrate on basic, simple and important ideas. Getting back to basics, to start learning CNC, today I'd like to share how to easily build your own low-cost Arduino Mini CNC Plotter. With my version, I used the spring part of stapler as a main component for pen lift. During the process of doing this, I have referenced from many sources, studied & tried to clarify some point hard to grasp.
Let's getting started.
Step 1: THINGS WE NEED
Main components:
* 1pcs x CNC Shield V4.
* 1pcs x Arduino Nano.
* 2pcs x Stepper Motor Driver A4988.
* 2pcs x Old CD/DVD Players.
* 1pcs x Servo Motor SG90.
* 1 meter x 8P Rainbow Ribbon Cable.
* 1pcs x Aluminium Angle 20 x 20 x 1.4mm - Length 120mm.
* 1pcs x Stapler.
* 1pcs x Power Supply 12V.
* 1pcs x Aluminum Flexible Shaft Coupling, Inner Hole Size: 5mm x 8mm (or 8mm x 8mm).
* 2pcs x Copper Brass Pillars L-10mm.
* 2pcs x Copper Brass Pillars L-5mm.
* 2pcs x Bolts + Nuts + Washers M4 x 50mm.
* 3pcs x Bolts + Nuts + Washers M4 x 25mm.
* 2pcs x Bolts + Nuts + Washers M4 x 20mm.
* 1pcs x Bolts + Nuts + Washers M2 x 40mm.
* 2pcs x Bolts + Nuts + Washers M2 x 5mm.
* Some small cable ties.
Tools:
* Sawing Machine.
* Drilling Machine.
* Hand Grinder.
* Hot Glue Gun.
* Soldering Machine.
Softwares:
* MIGRBL firmware.
* INKSCAPE version 0.48.5.
* INKSCAPE MI-GRBL Extension.
* Universal Gcode Sender.
Step 2: IDEAS
The idea to build a mini CNC plotter is simple: use two old stepper motor-controlled CD/DVD player, one is used as a plotting surface that moving forward and backward - Y axes, and mount the other vertically on it to provide left and right movement - X axes. Then we mount a RC servo to X axes to lift the pen up and down during plotting- Z axes.
Step 3: DVD/CD DRIVE STEPPER MOTORS
* DVD/CD drive stepper motor specifications
It is difficult to find the exact specifications of these steppers. 1000
I found the specs of DVD/CD stepper motor which is similar to mine on the internet. The important parameters are highlighted in orange.
http://www.oncetop.com/Products/OTSM15L013Stepperm...
Motor type: 2-phase 4-wire system
Step angel: 18°
Voltage: 5V
Resistance: 14Ω
Phase: 2 - 2
Drive mode: Bipolar
Max.starting frequency: 900pps
Max.slew speed: 1200pps
Holding torque: 40
Lead screw major diameter: Φ3
Lead screw lead pitch: 3
Size of motor outer diameter: 15mm
* DVD/CD drive stepper motor disassembly
I tried to open a broken stepper motor to see the details inside. You can check the picture below:
The stepper operate at 5VDC, we should measure 2 coils resistance by a multimeter to check whether it is in good condition.
I had two different types of DVD/CD players, one was used for the X axis with coil resistance of stepper motor 14Ω and the other was used for the Y axis with 10Ω coil resistance.
Step 4: CNC SHIELD V4.0
CNC Shield V4.0 has 3 slots on the PCB board for stepper motor drive modules and one slot for Arduino Nano. It can drive 3 stepper motors by Arduino Nano. CNC Shield V4.0 has some GPIO pins available for connecting to other modules, like limit switch, as well as, I2C interface or serial communication. Power for 3 stepper motor drive modules and Nano board is supplied via an external power jack (DC 12V). 832