Can I use Klipper with a Craftbot Plus (+)?

General Discussion
1

Hello all,

I have an older Craftbot plus (2017) that I would like to bring into the modern age. The only issue is I am not sure anyone has done this yet.

The Craftbot uses a Pr3Dator board is based on the high performance ARM Cortex M3 Atmel SAM3X processor, which operate at 84MHz similar to the Arduino Due. The operating firmware is written and maintained by CraftUnique. The Pr3Dator board runs the motor controllers, plus the heating and cooling. Its voltage range is from 12V to 36V. All current CraftBot models are using 24V for driving the
motors. The 24V is used solely by the Pr3Dator board; the HMI is driven using 12V, which is provided
by the Pr3Dator board. You can see the replacement part for my printer here.

I am unable to find what kind of motor drivers this board uses and/or pinouts for the MCU. Is that something I can reverse engineer? I am no expert in Klipper, but it seems like this would be very important to know.

Is this enough info for an up or down vote on whether or not it is even possible? I can provide more information as needed…

Thanks for reading and responding!

2

Well, if absolutely no information is available, then this will require a lot of work and trial & error:

  • Get the ARM Cortex M3 Atmel SAM3X datasheet
  • Measure / trace all SAM3X pins to their endpoints
  • Establish your own pin mapping
  • Try to find the correct settings for the motor drivers (if they are exotic you may even completely fail at this point)

Have you tried contacting the manufacturer if he is willing to provide the information?

Otherwise I’d rather kick this board out, put in some recent 32bit board (BTT SKR 1.4 / Fysetc F6 etc) and go from there. Surely a lot less nerve-wrecking and more flexible.

3

Thank you for the reply… I took apart my printer and found the chips for the drivers. They are DRV8825’s which aren’t great according to my research.

I think your suggestion to get a new board is the best approach. The machine is a coreXY so I will probably look at what custom coreXY builds use and copy them.

4

Depending on how many drivers you need:

  • With both the BTT SKR 1.4 Turbo (5 driver) and Fysetc F6 (6 driver) I made very good experience
  • For my current work-in-progress printer it will be a Fysetc Spider (8 driver)

Be careful with the BTT boards. Some are real crap.

5

Ever attempt this conversion? Also have an old Craftbot that I’ve been using as an active drybhox for the last couple years. Would be nice to put it back to work.

6

Hello @sandwich !

It appears there was no success - even after 3 years.

It is more easy to start over with a new board.

7

For sure, would probably get a new board myself. His last post on the subject was him agreeing that a new board was the best approach.

So I am curious if he converted to Klipper with a BTT/Fysetc board, and if so, how did it go and if he had any tips.

8

Three years later there are better boards…

E.g. BTT SKR V3