PRYADARSHINI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY , NAGPUR

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Design of controller for

3D Printer

Guided by Dr J. P. Sathe
Group members :-
1. Trusha Tagade (07)
2. Karishma Basule(11)
3. Pooja Yadav (31)
4. Rohan Durbude(32)
5. Shraddha Borkar(38)
6. Darshana Gulhane(40)
7. Aditya Wasnik(67)
Contents :
1. Aim
2. Introduction
3. Block diagram
4. Flowcharts
5. Operation
6. Hardware/software used
7. Plan of implementation
8. Cost of project
9. Application
10. Future scope
11. References
Aim:
• To design control system for single nozzle 3D extruder.
• Materials such as PLA(polylactic acid),ABS(acrylonitrile
butadiene styrene ), Nylon, PC(polycarbonate), HIPS(high
impact polystyrene ),ASA (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate),etc.
• Design limitation – gives working space of 20*20cm.
• Nozzle size of 0.4mm.
Introduction :
• The 3D printing process builds a
three-dimensional object from a
computer-aided design (CAD) model,
usually by successively adding
material layer by layer, which is why it
is also called additive manufacturing,
unlike conventional machining,
casting and forging processes, where
material is removed from a stock
item (subtractive manufacturing) or
poured into a mold and shaped by
means of dies, presses and hammers.
The main components of a 3D printer:

1. Print Bed (Tray)

This is the flat surface where the 3D
models are layered during printing

2. Hot-end:
the hot-end is composed of a heat
source, a temperature sensor, and an
extrusion tip where plastic filament is
fed though to deposit molten material, Fig1. The Printerbot hot-end / extruder
it is often confused with the extruder.
3. Extruder:
The extruder is the part that thrusts out
and feeds the plastic filament (or any
other filament) into the ‘hot-end’.

4. Filament
The filament is the input material
which is formulated as a 3D solid
object by the printer. Like an Fig2. a extruder
inkjet inject ink, a 3D printer emits
melted filament.
 Block Diagram
Stepper
Extruder Heat Bed LCD Driver Motor 1
Controller SMPS X Axis
Thermistor Thermistor

Stepper
Motor 2
Computer Controller Ramps 1.4 Driver Y Axis

Stepper
Driver Motor 3
Z Axis
X min Y min Z min
X max Y max Z max
Mechanical limit switch

Heat Bed Fan

Arduino mega:
• The Arduino Mega is a
microcontroller board based
on the ATmega2560.
• They operate at 5V
• Each pin can provide or receive
20 mA.
• It has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as
PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports),
a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an
ICSP header, and a reset button.

RAMPS 1.4:

• It satisfies the need for a single

controller board that used the
arduino mega and stepper drivers to
manage all functions of 3d printer.
Drivers:

• stepper motor driver features adjustable

current limiting, over-current and over-
temperature protection.
• It operates from 8 V to 35 V and can deliver A4988 driver
up to approximately 1 A per phase without a
heat sink or forced air flow .

Heat bed:

• Heat beds prevent issues like poor adhesion

to the print bed, poor adhesion between
layers, thermal runaway and warping.

Heat bed
Limit switch:

• A limit switch is an electromechanical device

that consists of an actuator mechanically
linked to a set of contacts
Limit switch

Stepper motor :

• a brushless DC electric motor that

divides a full rotation into a number
of equal steps.

Stepper motor
 Flow chart:
start
no

is there
enough
material

yes

Heat the
material

Enough no
Save heating

memory
yes
Forming
layer (0.1
mm)

Layer no
finish
?
yes
Finish no
object
?
yes

end
Operation:
• Step I: (CAD)(3) file — is created using a 3D modeling program, either
from scratch or beginning with a 3D model created by a 3D scanner.
Either way, the program creates a file that is sent to the 3D printer.
Along the way, software slices the design into hundreds, or more likely
thousands, of horizontal layers.

• Step II: (motoring) the operating of 3D printer requires motoring with

low torque, high accuracy the best motor to do this function is stepper
motor: : is an electromagnetic device that converts digital pulses into
mechanical shaft rotation. Advantages of step motors are low cost,
high reliability, high torque at low speeds and a simple they are a
special type of synchronous motors which are designed to rotate a
specific number of degrees for every electric pulse received by its
control unit
Operation
• Step III: (processing) The AM335x microprocessors are enhanced with
image, graphics processing, and industrial interface options. The device
supports the following high-level operating systems (HLOSs), The
AM335x microprocessor contains these subsystems 1) Microprocessor
unit (MPU) 2) Graphics Accelerator subsystem for 3D graphics
acceleration to support display.
• Step IV: (drives) Bipolar stepper motor with MOSFET drive, which will
allows the motor to move in both direction, since stepper motor is
open loop system, high accuracy component will used in order to print
in the specific place, so that MOSFET was used, because it has a fast
frequency operation.
List of Hardware/ Software used:
• Software
– AutoCAD/123D(3d design)
– Repetier/Marlin (firmware)(used to communicate
with hardware)
– Arduino(programing)
– KISSlicer(slicing software)
• Hardware components:
– Ramps 1.4
– Arduino mega
– Stepper motor
– Heat bed & Fan
– Drivers (A4988/DRV5825)
– SMPS
– LCD Controller
– Heat bed & extruder thermistor
– Other miscellaneous things
Plan of Implementation:
TASK NAME ESTIMATED HOURS SPENT DEADLINE DATE
WORKING
Topic selection 1-2 done
Abstract Proposal 2 done
Requirements 1-2 done
Specifications 2-3 done
Block diagram 1 done
Literature survey 4 done
Cost estimate 2-3 done
Report 1 6 done
Software model 5-6 Ongoing - 12th sept
Analysing software model 2-3 15th sept
TASK NAME ESTIMATED HOURS SPENT DEADLINE DATE
WORKING
Test & Debug 2-3 16th sept
Components(check 2 20th sept
availability)
Buy components and 2 25th sept
miscellaneous things
Report 2 5 30th sept
Assembly /hardware 15-20 15th dec
making
Analysing hardware model 5-6 18th dec
Report 3 3 20th dec
Test& debug 3-4 25th dec
Final Testing 5-6 30th jan
Report 4- Final report 15 15th feb
Cost of project:
COST DESCRIPTION OPTIMUM COST ESTIMATE JUSTIFICATION
Stepper motors -5 1500 For 3 axis and extruder
Customized frame metal 1000 For support structure
LCD controller 500 Status screen for printing
Arduino mega 700-800 controller
Raw material 1200-1500 Raw material required
RAMPS 1.4 700 Shield Arduino MEGA
SMPS 1400 Power supply
Thread rods/smooth rods 1000 Support hardware
Extruder MK8 300 output
GT2 timing Belt+2-GT2pully 400 Support hardware
3-limit switches 100 Support hardware
Other miscellaneous things 2000 Support hardware
Total cost estimate 15000/-
 Applications:
• Soft sensors and actuator.
• Education and research.
• Circuit 3D MID.
• Sensors structures.
• Transformers Design.
• Stator/Rotors.
• Transformer core.
Future scope:

In aircrafts In medical field

In construction
references
• Alvarez Daniel ,Vásquez Christian,”Improvements to control system of
a multi-extruder 3D printer using a Controller Duet card”, Congreso
Internacional de Innovacion y Tendencias en Ingenieria (CONIITI),2017
• Victor Romero-Alva ; Witman Alvarado-Diaz ; Avid Roman-Gonzalez,” Design of a
3D Printer and Integrated Supply System”, IEEE XXV International Conference on
Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computing (INTERCON),2018
• Yin He ; Wen Quangang ; Lin Gang ; Li Tingting,” Research on the control method
of 3D printer based on FDM technology”, 8th International Conference on
Mechanical and Intelligent Manufacturing Technologies (ICMIMT),2017
• A. Abilgaziyev ; T. Kulzhan ; N. Raissov ; Md. Hazrat Ali ; W.L.KO Match ; N. Mir-
Nasiri,” Design and development of multi-nozzle extrusion system for 3D printer,”
International Conference on Informatics, Electronics & Vision (ICIEV),2015
Thank
You