Klipper for a 2 wheeled robot

I’m looking to build a 2 wheeled robot with standard nema 17s and tmc 2209 drivers. I was initially thinking of using a teensy and Marlin, but I haven’t touched either of those things in years. Having just converted all my printers to klipper, I was thinking of using klipper to control it instead?

Right now I’m thinking of using the ERCF Easy Brd as the MCU (only reason being that it has 2 stepper drivers) and a Pi zero 2w as the host. I’m pretty familiar with klipper config and setup, but I was wondering if this would be possible at all?

In my view, Klipper is the wrong application.

  • It is heavily focused on 3D printing
  • It queues its commands
  • It has a lot of stuff you will never need
  • It is targeted to fulfill strict timing requirements needed for high quality 3D prints
  • Its trajectory planning is pre-calculated and executed to the point. Any deviation or reaction to outside events is neither wanted nor implemented, e.g. obstacle avoidance etc
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I was mainly drawn to klipper because of your last two bullets, being that I’m looking for really precise movements at almost the same level as a 3D print (it needs to run a really precise, pre-planned path).

But, I definitely see your last point being an issue, especially for things like wheel slip or incorrect set up. That is also why I planned on using encoder/closed loop steppers or servos to account for this, though I’m not familiar with using them (especially with klipper). What would be a viable firmware alternative? Or should I just use something like a teensy/arduino and code the path each time with the ide?

You might want to take a look at libraries that focus on such applications, e.g. https://ruckig.com/

I agree with @Sineos that this is not the right application for Klipper. Even for experimental 3D printers, such as 5D or 6D robotic, I would not use it as it is very specific to conventional FDM 3D printers.

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