Having just acquired a BeagleBone, I'm really interested in finding the best way to drive my Mendel90 with it.
What bobc is working on looks almost ideal to me: http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS-FD , but obviously it's for the Arduino Due only
For BeagleBone alternatives are:
BeBoPr : ~ £100, a year old. Works with BB, but needs a bridge to work with BB Black
Replicape : Not being produced yet. Works directly with BBB
CapeR : Currently just an 'idea' by a guy called Charles Steinkuehler to have a RAMPS to BB Cape, in the same vain as bobc's Arduino Due adapter: [reprap.org]
In short, the only one suitable for the BeagleBone Black without some kind of adapter is the Replicape, which isn't even released yet, and will likely cost ~£150, which is very expensive for general uptake in the RepRap community I fear.
I was thus thinking that any new RAMPS 3.3v (such as bobc's) might perhaps have all the control in/outs go to say one end of the board with through holes to solder. Thus it could be soldered to either a blank Duo Shield, blank BeagleBone cape, or whatever. Hopefully then the added genericity would allow some decent fab run sizes, to bring the cost down? The other advtange is people can tweak the pin assignments easily.
I wondered also about the plugs used - I really like the screw block terminals on the Melzi, as it gives a secure connection, without having to solder on female plugs to motors/fans/heaters. Also I wondered if it would keep costs down a little to use say a 16-way block for four steppers, rather than individual 4 x 4-way blocks?
EDIT: Also think it's better for terminals to be outside the footprint of the two pin blocks (on either the Due of BeagleBoard), and point outwards, so that it doesn't have to be the top board. Helpful for LCD shields/capes.
What bobc is working on looks almost ideal to me: http://reprap.org/wiki/RAMPS-FD , but obviously it's for the Arduino Due only
For BeagleBone alternatives are:
BeBoPr : ~ £100, a year old. Works with BB, but needs a bridge to work with BB Black
Replicape : Not being produced yet. Works directly with BBB
CapeR : Currently just an 'idea' by a guy called Charles Steinkuehler to have a RAMPS to BB Cape, in the same vain as bobc's Arduino Due adapter: [reprap.org]
In short, the only one suitable for the BeagleBone Black without some kind of adapter is the Replicape, which isn't even released yet, and will likely cost ~£150, which is very expensive for general uptake in the RepRap community I fear.
I was thus thinking that any new RAMPS 3.3v (such as bobc's) might perhaps have all the control in/outs go to say one end of the board with through holes to solder. Thus it could be soldered to either a blank Duo Shield, blank BeagleBone cape, or whatever. Hopefully then the added genericity would allow some decent fab run sizes, to bring the cost down? The other advtange is people can tweak the pin assignments easily.
I wondered also about the plugs used - I really like the screw block terminals on the Melzi, as it gives a secure connection, without having to solder on female plugs to motors/fans/heaters. Also I wondered if it would keep costs down a little to use say a 16-way block for four steppers, rather than individual 4 x 4-way blocks?
EDIT: Also think it's better for terminals to be outside the footprint of the two pin blocks (on either the Due of BeagleBoard), and point outwards, so that it doesn't have to be the top board. Helpful for LCD shields/capes.