Published May 16, 2022 © CC BY-NC-ND

Delta belt 3D-printer for automated series production

I needed a way to print a lot small parts (cable chain pieces) fast and preferably in an automated way, so I build this modular delta belt 3

IntermediateFull instructions provided16 hours396

Delta belt 3D-printer for automated series production

Things used in this project

Hardware components

42mm Nema 17 stepper motor

36 and 16 Teeth GT2 pulleys

280mm GT2 timing belt

Arduino Nano

A4988 stepper motor driver

3D-printed parts

5x10x3.5mm bearing

15x15x220mm aluminium tube

5x240mm shaft

5x255mm shaft

220x220 heated bed or aluminium plate

Hand tools and fabrication machines

FLsun Super Racer 3D-printer

Story

Video can be found here:

STL and Fusion 360 source files can be found here: https://bbprojects.technology/collections/stl-fusion-360-source-files/products/delta-belt-3d-printer

The Idea

I needed a way to print a lot small parts (cable chain pieces) fast and preferably in an automated way, so I build this modular delta belt 3D-printer for (small) automated series productions. It combines the best of both worlds, the speed of the delta printer and the automation of the conveyor belt.

Design

This design is mainly focused on series production (print a lot of parts in an automated way) and not so much on continuous printing (print very long pieces). The main reason for this is that for continuous printing the head needs to be tilted 45 degrees, which requires a lot of hardware changes to be made to the printer itself. With this design you need to make exactly 0 changes to the hardware and even the firmware of the printer (FLsun Q5 in my case). The belt is designed to be completely modular.

The belt is triggered by a limit switch which in turn is triggered by the homing sequence of the printer itself. The amount of parts you want to print can be chosen by copying and pasting the G-code the amount of times you want the part to print. I tried using some for loops in the G-code but the firmware of the FLsun Q5 doesn't seem to accept these codes.

The motor used to drive the belt is a 42mm 12V Nema 17 stepper motor. the stepper motor itself is driven by a A4998 stepper motor driver (see the parts list for a complete overview). To connect the motor with the roller shaft I used a 36 teeth GT2 pulley on the roller shaft, a 16 teeth GT2 pulley on the motor shaft and a 260mm GT2 belt to connect them both.

PCB design

I decided to create a small Arduino based PCB which was manufactured by JLCPCB, the sponsor of this project. The gerber files and Arduino code can be found in the files section of this project page.

I used an Arduino Nano to read the input from the limit switch and to control the stepper motor through the A4998 stepper motor driver. Also included on the PCB are 2 status LEDs with appropriate resistors. Next to the stepper motor driver are some pins (J1, J2, J3) to select the microstepping of the driver. Pins J4 go to the stepper motor. C1 is a capacitor to smooth out the power going to the Arduino power supply.

PCB case

To protect the PCB a bit I wanted to create a case around it. I started to design a square box like I usually would but thought it looked so boring. So I decided to put some time and effort in the design of the case and took some inspiration from Lamborghini to give it a modern and futuristic look. I personally like how the design turned out.

Code

Belt 3D-printer Arduino code

// Defines pins numbers
const int stepPin = 3;
const int dirPin = 4; 
const int Enable = 5;
const int GLED = 6;
const int RLED = 7;
const int LmtSwtch = A1;
const int Mspeed = 500; //delay between pulses to determine the motor speed (smaller delay = faster motor)
int Lastbuttonstate = 1;
int flag1 = 0;
int StepAmount = 0;
int StepAmountSet = 6000; //Amount of steps that have to be taken (distance the belt travels when switch is triggered)
int customDelay,customDelayMapped; // Defines variables
 
void setup() {
  // Sets the pins as outputs
  pinMode(stepPin,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dirPin,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(Enable, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LmtSwtch, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(GLED, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(RLED, OUTPUT);
  
  //Serial.begin(115200); //uncomment line to use serial monitor
 
  digitalWrite(dirPin,HIGH); //Enables the motor to move in a particular direction
  digitalWrite(RLED,HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GLED,HIGH);
}
void loop() {

  int Buttonstate = digitalRead(LmtSwtch);

  if (Buttonstate < Lastbuttonstate){
    flag1 = 1;
  }

  Lastbuttonstate = Buttonstate;
  
  if (flag1 == 0)
  {
    digitalWrite(Enable, LOW);
    digitalWrite(stepPin, LOW);
  }
  if (flag1 == 1 && StepAmount < StepAmountSet)
  {
      digitalWrite(Enable, LOW);
      digitalWrite(stepPin, HIGH);
      delayMicroseconds(Mspeed);
      digitalWrite(stepPin, LOW);
      delayMicroseconds(Mspeed);
      StepAmount = StepAmount + 1;
  }
  else {
    flag1 = 0;
    StepAmount = 0;
  }

  /*
  Serial.print("Buttonstate: "); //uncomment this section to use serial monitor
  Serial.print(Buttonstate);
  Serial.print(" flag1: ");
  Serial.print(flag1);
  Serial.print(" StepAmount: ");
  Serial.println(StepAmount);
  */
  
}

Credits

Bribro12

25 projects • 26 followers

I'm a maker. I design and create my own projects and build them from scratch. My favorite tools are my 3D-printer and laser cutter

Contact

Comments

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Delta belt 3D-printer for automated series production

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Video can be found here:

The Idea

Design

PCB design

PCB case

Schematics

PCB gerber file

Code

Belt 3D-printer Arduino code

Credits

Bribro12

Comments

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Delta belt 3D-printer for automated series production

Delta belt 3D-printer for automated series production

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Video can be found here:

The Idea

Design

PCB design

PCB case

Schematics

PCB gerber file

Code

Belt 3D-printer Arduino code

Credits

Bribro12

Comments

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