TechZone Communications Huxley

What is this? (aka Connection to the present)

Firmware build for the old TechZone Communications Huxley RepRap 3D printer

The initial contents of this repo come from here, or from links found there: https://reprap.org/wiki/TechZoneHuxley

I found that the last firmware left at reprap.org for posterity had some details, so the first thing to do is obviously put it under version control, then implement fixes.

Where did this come from? (aka Connection to the Past)

The initial commits are (minor fixes already included):

Sanguino core 0023r4, as found here
TechZone Huxley firmware MonotronicsFirmware02182011 as found here
Arduino IDE 0021 as found here

I suppose I could do away with the old Arduino core and just provde a link, but I want to have everything in one place.

Where is this headed? (aka Connection to the Future)

My idea is to eventually build Marlin for the Monotronics board. However, due to some special tip/bed handling code, I think the Marling firmware can't be built as-is. The current recommendation is to remove the tip/bed managers, but that requires modrifying the hardware, and I don't want to do that. So, I want to study what is so special about the tip/bed managers, and then introduce that code into the Marlin source base. At this time, the roadmap is:

[x] build the original firmware as it was
[x] fix the most glaring bugs
[] port the old firmware to build with a newer [Sanguino core](https://github.com/Lauszus/Sanguino) in a newer Arduino IDE
[] fill in the most glaring missing features to get the firmware to work with modern slicers like Cura
[] figure out what the special code for the tip/manager is
[] trace the code to figure out how it works
[] build a bare-bones Marlin for the Monotronics board (no tip/bed handling, just move the 4 axis and have the end stops working)
[] patch in the tip/bed manager code
[] submit a PR to Marlin with the proposal

Let's see how far I get in the above...

History (aka why?)

I bought this printer kit something like 10 years ago. To receive it at an affordable price (i.e.: not pay a ridiculous amount for international S&H etc), I had to impose on a new colleague. Back then, new hires were sent on a training trip for a month, and as part of the "initiation", they are "required" to be the "mule" for the senior colleagues, i.e.: bring back stuff we had bought. So this new guy got the short straw with me, and had to come home with a bags full of screws, nuts, steppers, electronics, etc :) I assembled it, calibrated most of the settings, did exactly 2 test prints, and had only 1 setting left to calibrate: the amount of filling (the roof of a cube ended up sagging inwards), when life intruded, and I got married.

I gave it a few tries shortly after, but the Y axis started acting weird, and I could never get the straight of why. Then, the revolution happened, and today we're flooded with brand printers at low prices.

10 years after purchasing, and I finally have the opportunity to bring it back to life. I found that the problem was that the Y axis cog was cracked. I bought a cheap Ender 3, found the stl designs on reprap.org, printed a new one, and done: it works.

I also figured out how (again) how to build the original firmware, with the Arduino core from back then, with the Arduino IDE from back then. So I can meddle with it again.

Given the adventure, I don't want to get rid of it.

I could do away with the eletronics and buy a ramps. I could do away with the tip/bed managers and figure out how to connect them the way things are done today. I could do away with the entire printer and just stick with my new Ender. But what would be the fun in that?

Contribution Policy

This is primarily a personal project.

If you want to contribute, sure, I'll take a look at your PR.

If you want to discuss and work together, sure, open an issue.

If you want me to use time to help you, you're in the wrong place.

License

According to reprap.org, the designs and firmware are GPL.

According to the Sanguino project on the Google Code Archive, the core is also GPL.

I think the old Arduino IDE is also GPL, per the github page here.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to @moose4621 for finding the info again at reprap.org, I had long lost the links. And for getting me back into XYZ machines!

Thanks to TechZone Communications and the engineers who published the details for posterity. I consider the info left behind an example of future proofing a product, and it is certainly an example in open source. 10 years later, and I am able to print replacement parts, tweak and rebuild the firmware, follow the assembly instructions, and overall figure things out, all thanks to things having been done right. I hope somebody who was a part of all of that reads this some day.

devyte/TechZoneHuxley