Encoder
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It would be nice to have a encoder of some kind, a optical scale or rotary encoder
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Do you mean to sense movement, to detect missed steps?
One of the most interesting ideas I saw was to use the sensor from an optical mouse to measure the movement.
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Yes, could use something like this as a replacement for the idler pulley, Could even use it for the extruder to sense the filament travel also.
at power up it could home in the config file as long as the power is on it would know the position at all times even if the motors are off and you move the bed around by hand.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UTIFCVA/ref=crt_ewc_title_srh_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1∣=A2CH56PPVFOUBF -
This is a great idea! There are a lot of motors on the market that have encoders built into them. We are using ones with 20,000 counts per revolution. It would be amazing to have a fully closed loop system.
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Joe, What motor are you using?
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https://www.applied-motion.com/products/stepservo-integrated-motors/tsm23p-2ag
They have a nice selection in their StepServo lineup.
The tuning features are pretty amazing. You can really dial in the accuracy based on the inertia and mechanics of your system.
Pretty pricey, but a really nice total package solution.