April 23, 2014
Contance, Germany based startup 2PrintBeta has recently launched their new development, BAM&DICE, a powerful and flexible Arduino shield with multiple extension boards on Indiegogo.
Designed for numerous applications like 3D printing, motion controls and other automated systems, the BAM (Beta Arduino Mega) shield is capable of driving big and fast machines. The first DICE (Interchangeable Controller Extensions), DICE-STK for 3D printers, can drive up to 3 Amps and will offer up to 128 times substepping.
The BAM shield:
The connector on the BAM shield is based on the cost efficient and space saving PCI-E hardware. "It provides more contacts and thus, the DICEs can draw more current and can provide many different functions." The indiegogo page writes.
The BAM shield is based on the RAMPS (RepRap Arduino MEGA Pololu Shield) board for RepRap, and has integrated three temperature inputs for NTCs, six digital inputs for end-stops and the high current switches. "Other options (e. g. connectors for displays, SD card modules and bluetooth devices) can be soldered, depending on the use."
Since the design is compatible with the RAMPS (RepRap Arduino MEGA Pololu Shield) for RepRap, you can use all commonly used 3D printer firmwares without modifications, as well as a wide variety of existing software.
The DICE modules:
For optimum arrangement the DICE modules are placed vertically. This enables efficient cooling when an additional fan is mounted on them. The DICE-STK contains the integrated stepper driver IC STK682-010-E which can support up to 3A RMS and 128 times substepping. The module also contains two trimmers for current setting and decay control.
The BAM&DICE offers more flexibility and can be easily extended to drive more than just a 3D printer, it can also be used on milling machines, laser cutters and paste printers. And more additional DICE boards are currently in development.
The project will be completely open source after the campaign has ended.
Founded in 2010 by Holger Krautwasser and Dominik Wenger, 2PrintBeta started with a webshop selling parts and 3D printer kits. In 2013 they developed their Printupy 3D printer, avaliable in single print head and the DualX version (with two print heads).
Most recently, 2PrintBeta has also released a new stainless steel hotend (€69.95), designed for high temperature printing of ABS and other materials and is completely made from metal. The design allows temperatures up to 300°C and is extremely durable.
Now you can get your BAM shield with four DICE-STKs for €89 (Early Bird special).Check out more info or back the BAM&DICE here on indiegogo.
Posted in 3D Printer Accessories
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OFHHFHFHFHFHFHFHF THIS IS NICE. I LIEK THANK
Glenn West wrote at 7/16/2014 10:12:58 AM:
How about a update to this: 1. Turn the pci-express into saddle connectors (Pci-Expresss), so the steppers are in plane with the board. 2. Switch to a all-in-one with a due on board. Ie not a "carrier board", but a true main board, like a duet. 3. Support 3x motors and 4x extruders - e3d qracken, or do a full 4 x 4. glennswest at neuralcloudcomputing dot com
Cognac wrote at 6/18/2014 4:07:42 PM:
Hello everybody, we made it. The campaign is over and we produced the first series of BAM&DICE. All sources are available at www.2printbeta.de and we licensed every DICE board as Open Hardware with CERN OHL V.1.2. to give the most use to all community members. Please take a look at your webshop (www.2printbeta.de) in the category "Electronics". There you can find the schematics and some sourcecode for Arduino in the specific article. And last but not least: "The show must go on!" So I hope, it isn't the last time you heard about BAM&DICE. :-)
Cognac wrote at 5/1/2014 6:10:46 PM:
The BAM is intended to replace the RAMPS when more power and bigger motors are needed. I also like the options the board offers with different extensions and other applications. As the tests with the valvecontroller has ended and the termocouple board is ready we now plan to combine the shield with a simple pizza oven. Then we will be able to pick&place some of our prints manually and leave the rest to BAM&DICE. We surely need to write some minor code, and i'm looking forward to demonstrate our first reflow-soldered PCBs, when they are ready. The 1/128 and 1/256 microstepping drivers will be very useful in high precision tasks like telescope guiding and liquid handlers. Also, high available torque minimizes the need for gears -> less components.
tjb1 wrote at 5/1/2014 1:00:35 PM:
What is so great about this? The layout looks identical to a Ramps board except for driver positions and the supporting circuitry for them. This has nothing more than a Ramps board and the fancy drivers are overkill. The Mega can't keep up with 32x microstepping with the DRV8825 drivers as it is.
Domonoky wrote at 4/24/2014 3:00:01 PM:
Hey, The BAM Shield is fully compatible to the RAMPS, so all accessoires like LCD or SD-card still work without modifications. Also that is the cause why the first shield will traget the arduino mega and not the due. As the due uses 3.3V, is not fully software compatible and so on. We already plan adapter boards for the DICEs board to connect them to 3.3V Boards like the Due, the BeagleBoard Black or der Rasberry Pi. But that will come later. For the potis. We thought is too much hassle to install digipots on the simpler DICE Boards. If we want such features, it is much better to use SPI based Stepperdrivers, like the DICE-L6470PD, where you can configure everything in software. But that ofcourse needs modified reprap softwares. For the display: you can ofcourse connect a full graphic display to the BAM&DICE Board like you can for the RAMPS.
Ben wrote at 4/24/2014 1:28:30 AM:
@jd90- Have you tried one of the android app interfaces like GCodePrinter? I'm going to try that out on my RigidBot Big as soon as I receive my shipment in about a month. That should get you the touchscreen and better interface... although it looks like it's lacking a few features.
jd90 wrote at 4/23/2014 2:14:29 PM:
It looks very nice, but the say nothing about the LCDs that are common. I see an unpopulated header on the end that might replicate the RAMPS header used for LCD, it would have been nice they made it clear that still supports the LCD. I like this idea, but the Arduino Mega is at its limits, so another Mega shield isn't as helpful as one might think. Knowing if they've tested it with an Arduino Due would be helpful. I noticed at least one has a manual trim pot. On-board digi-pots like the RAMBO has would have been nice. Then the big one is the LCD itself, a 4x20 character LCD is looking pretty dated and it's a very poor user interface. I've been looking for something much better, a big color touch screen would be nice so I don't have to hook up a computer to do things that the LCD makes inconvenient and annoying.
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