controlonline/polargraph_server_a1

polargraph_server_a1

Polargraph Server for Arduino UNO and MEGA compatible boards using Adafruit motorshields, serial stepper drivers (eg Easy Drivers, stepsticks etc) or signal amplifiers (eg ULN2003s).

It is called _a1 because it is the version for the first arduino (ie Uno, or Duemilanove).
Bit obtuse that, I know.

For convenience, I have pre-compiled and included two hex files:

1. polargraph_server_a1_adafruit_v1.cpp.hex - Is for motorshield v1.
2. polargraph_server_a1_adafruit_v2.cpp.hex - Is for the new motorshield v2.

Motor driver:

This firmware works for:

1. Adafruit Motorshield v1 that uses AFMotor as it's software driver
2. Adafruit Motorshield v2 that uses Adafruit_MotorShield as it's software driver
3. Generic serial stepper drivers, eg Stepsticks or Easy Drivers
4. Four-wire signal amplifier, eg UNL2003

To switch between the different drivers, and to configure a few other bits and pieces, comment out some lines near the beginning of polargraph_server_a1.ino.

There are five config sections:

1. Specify what kind of controller board you are using
2. Add some libraries if you have a MEGA
3. Specify what kind of motor driver you are using:
4. Adafruit Motorshield v1
5. Adafruit Motorshield v2
6. Discrete stepper drivers (eg EasyDriver, stepstick, Pololu gear).*
7. Signal amplifier like a UNL2003*
8. Turn on some debugging code
9. Disable program features if you need to free up space

• For motor drivers iii and iv, you will need to change the values in configuration.ino to set the exact pins the drivers are wired up to.

The program has a core part that consists of the following files that are common to all Polargraph Server versions:

• comms.ino
• configuration.ino
• eeprom.ino
• exec.ino
• penlift.ino
• pixel.ino
• util.ino

and

• polargraph_server_a1.ino

which is named for the project.

Polargraph

Polargraph is the name of the project, and is a portmanteau word invented by the writer solely for this purpose. Any machine that runs the Polargraph software is technically a polargraph machine. I usually reserve the big-P "Polargraph" for things made by The Polargraph Company, including the Polargraph software and PolargraphSD machine.

Other hanging-v plotters are probably compatible with Polargraph software, but unless they run it, they are not even polargraphs with a small P.

Project and software written by Sandy Noble.

Released under GNU License version 3.

http://www.polargraph.co.uk

https://github.com/euphy/polargraph_server_a1