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cri-s edited this page Mar 8, 2018 · 4 revisions

Grbl is a 3 axis CNC controller that can run on an Arduino. In it's default state it is not well suited for pick and place machines because a typical machine has at least 4 axes, but an effort has been made to convert Grbl to 4 axes and several people have had good luck with it.

Modified Grbl, with 4 axes is at https://github.com/openpnp/grbl. This fork is working but has not been maintained in some time. Volunteers to maintain and pull requests are welcome! The fork came from the work of Bob Beattie originally. For more information about the fork, see this thread.

Original Grbl, with 3 axes is at https://github.com/grbl/grbl.

In OpenPnP you will need to select the org.openpnp.machine.reference.driver.GcodeDriver driver.

GcodeDriver 4 Axis Grbl Notes

If you are using the 4 axis Grbl fork mentioned above, there are some important considerations to make sure it works with GcodeDriver:

  1. In the Gcode configuration, remove any comments that begin with semicolon. For example, change G21 ; Set millimeters mode to G21. This older version of Grbl is not compatible with semicolon comments. As alternative change G21; Set millimeter mode to G21( Set millimeter mode and no '(' or ')' on the same line.
  2. Change Gcodes to suit Grbl. In particular, remove M82 ; Set absolute mode for extruder from CONNECT_COMMAND and change MOVE_TO_COMMAND to use C for the fourth axis rather than E.
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