Erratic motor motion after softwarechange from estlcam to grbl-Mega-5X

[Keshly]

Hello,

I'm really getting desperate. I have the following setup, which works perfectly with estlcam. With Grbl I just can't get it to work.

Arduino Mega

Drivers: DM860 (1600=8)
Motors: Nema34 (1.8=200)

estlcam Settings:
(works excellently and extremely quietly)

Steps per revolution: 1600
Distance per revolution 24,13
Maximum feedrate: 8000mm/min
Inertia: 85%
Step pulse length: 5µs
Step pause: 0

grbl-Mega-5X settings:
(erratic motor motion, stuttering, losing Steps, extreme loudness)

$0=5 Step pulse, microseconds DEFAULT_STEP_PULSE_MICROSECONDS
$1=254 Step idle delay, milliseconds DEFAULT_STEPPER_IDLE_LOCK_TIME
$2=0 Step port invert, mask DEFAULT_STEPPING_INVERT_MASK
$3=0 Direction port invert, mask DEFAULT_DIRECTION_INVERT_MASK
$4=0 Step enable invert, boolean DEFAULT_INVERT_ST_ENABLE
$5=0 Limit pins invert, boolean DEFAULT_INVERT_LIMIT_PINS
$6=0 Probe pin invert, boolean DEFAULT_INVERT_PROBE_PIN
$10=2 Status report, mask DEFAULT_STATUS_REPORT_MASK
$11=0.02 Junction deviation, mm DEFAULT_JUNCTION_DEVIATION
$12=0.002 Arc tolerance, mm DEFAULT_ARC_TOLERANCE
$13=0 Report inches, boolean DEFAULT_REPORT_INCHES
$20=1 Soft limits, boolean DEFAULT_SOFT_LIMIT_ENABLE
$21=0 Hard limits, boolean DEFAULT_HARD_LIMIT_ENABLE
$22=1 Homing cycle, boolean DEFAULT_HOMING_ENABLE
$23=0 Homing dir invert, mask DEFAULT_HOMING_DIR_MASK
$24=25.000 Homing feed, mm/min DEFAULT_HOMING_FEED_RATE
$25=250 Homing seek, mm/min DEFAULT_HOMING_SEEK_RATE
$26=250 Homing debounce, milliseconds DEFAULT_HOMING_DEBOUNCE_DELAY
$27=5 Homing pull-off, mm DEFAULT_HOMING_PULLOFF
$30=12000 Max spindle speed, RPM DEFAULT_SPINDLE_RPM_MAX
$31=550 Min spindle speed, RPM DEFAULT_SPINDLE_RPM_MIN
$32=0 Laser mode, boolean DEFAULT_LASER_MODE
$100=66.308 Axis 1 (X) steps/unit (mm or deg) DEFAULT_AXIS1_STEPS_PER_UNIT
$101=66.308 Axis 2 (Y) steps/unit DEFAULT_AXIS2_STEPS_PER_UNIT
$102=66.308 Axis 3 (Z) steps/unit DEFAULT_AXIS3_STEPS_PER_UNIT
$103=8.889 Axis 4 (A) steps/unit DEFAULT_AXIS4_STEPS_PER_UNIT
$110=8000 Axis 1 (X) Max rate, unit/min DEFAULT_AXIS1_MAX_RATE
$111=8000 Axis 2 (Y) Max rate, unit/min DEFAULT_AXIS2_MAX_RATE
$112=8000 Axis 3 (Z) Max rate, unit/min DEFAULT_AXIS3_MAX_RATE
$113=4000 Axis 4 (A) Max rate, unit/min DEFAULT_AXIS4_MAX_RATE
$120=85 Axis 1 (X) Acceleration, unit/sec^2 DEFAULT_AXIS1_ACCELERATION
$121=85 Axis 2 (Y) Acceleration, unit/sec^2 DEFAULT_AXIS2_ACCELERATION
$122=85 Axis 3 (Z) Acceleration, unit/sec^2 DEFAULT_AXIS3_ACCELERATION
$123=85 Axis 4 (A) Acceleration, unit/sec^2 DEFAULT_AXIS4_ACCELERATION
$130=1723.500 Axis 1 (X) Max travel, unit DEFAULT_AXIS1_MAX_TRAVEL
$131=1825.500 Axis 2 (Y) Max travel, unit DEFAULT_AXIS2_MAX_TRAVEL
$132=200.000 Axis 3 (Z) Max travel, unit DEFAULT_AXIS3_MAX_TRAVEL
$133=360.000 Axis 4 (A) Max travel, unit DEFAULT_AXIS4_MAX_TRAVEL

Note: all axes move in the right direction and can be controlled separately.
I have already tried unsuccessfully by changing any number of parameters in config.h, defaults.h. However, I can't seem to find the right parameter. (Of course I restored the original settings after each change)

The strange thing is that estlcam doesn't let you adjust much. As soon as I program the control via esctlcam (without any hardware changes), everything works fine again... But since I can't operate a 4th axis here, I would like to use GRBL.

I would be very grateful to the solution provider, since I'm already spending a few days of my vacation on this problem :(

Thanks in advance.

Greetings
Chris

[fra589]

Hi @Keshly,

I don't know "Ectlncam"... Can you tell me more about it?
About your grbl-Mega-5X tests, can you post the $I command result?
Also post some GCode command/file which product the erratic movement.

@++;
Gauthier.
P.S. Don't forget to issue the grbl $RST=* command after each firmware upload, to reset the flash memory which may be corrupted by the firmware change.

[Keshly]

@fra589

sorry, I forgot to add the result

$I
[VER:1.2h.20220109:]
[AXS:4:XYZA]
[OPT:VNMGHT,35,255,24]
< ok

[fra589]

@Keshly

Do you use the same speed in estlcam and PlotterGBRL for the movement ? I see F4000 with estlcam but I can't see the value for PlotterGBRL... Your parameter maximum is 8000, perhaps it's too hight...
2nd idea, try to lower the acceleration parameters ($120-$123) with heavy moving parts, this can lead to loss of steps when starting. Wtah acceleration values are used by estlcam?

@++;
Gauthier.

[Keshly]

@fra589

I tried all acceleration parameters 10-100% ($120-$123)... with estlcam the maximum is 12000. 8000 cannot be too much. However, not even 2000 work in GBRL with my setup :(

if I increase #define ACCELERATION_TICKS_PER_SECOND 100 then it will be a little less vibration

disable "Comment" // #define ADAPTIVE_MULTI_AXIS_STEP_SMOOTHING also reduced the vibration, but I don't think that's a good solution...

Thanks

Best Regards
Chris

[fra589]

Hi @Keshly,

I tried all acceleration parameters 10-100% ($120-$123)... with estlcam the maximum is 12000. 8000 cannot be too much. However, not even 2000 work in GBRL with my setup :(

Are you confusing speed with acceleration?
8000 is the maximum speed in unit/second ($110-$113) and, depending of your resolution / max frequency available with Arduino mega, should be good (see #250 for more info about max frequency).

What I mean is to be carefull about acceleration. Parameters $120 to $123 are in units/second*second. This mainly depend of mechanical capability of your machine (motor power / inertia & friction).
Usually, they should be much less than the speed limit... On my own real machine, this parameter is about 50 mm/s^2...

@++;
Gauthier.