Abalone

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Inspired by the 3D printed version of Abalone that appeared on thingiverse I laser cut my own board so I could see what it was like to play. Glass beads brought from ebay. (svg here)
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Wiring the Ruida Controller

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The RDC6442G controller from Ruida This is going to be quite an image heavy post describing the rewiring needed to convert between the Leetro controller and the Ruida controller. It is also pretty straight forward on the old Just Add Sharks laser cutters because all of the wires are clearly labelled. The controller was prepared in the previous step in order to make this conversion process as smooth as possible. The Leetro (Pad03) panel on the left and the Ruida panel on the right The view from inside the laser looking up at the control panel The control panel is an easy place to start, both panels have just a single cable that runs down to the controller, both panels are a very similar size, with the Ruida panel being slightly smaller underneath so it will fit in the hole left behind easily. The Pad03 panel clips into place so you'll need to reach up inside the machine to work the clips loose. The cable runs down the inside of the laser and is cable tied onto mounti...
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Tweaks and Changes

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The laser upgrade went remarkably smoothly and the laser cutter was functional but there were a few minor changes and improvements that needed to be done. Fixing the screen image Image flipped on the controller The first and most noticeable tweak for my new Ruida system was to fix the screen display. Most of my cuts are symmetrical so it was a day or two before I noticed that the image on the screen was mirrored. The laser cutter was cutting the correct way so I knew this had to be a simple setting on the controller. In the menu system is an option called 'Screen Origin' we have to set this to 'Top Right' so that the controller knows it's cutting from the same corner as the laser. Screen origin setting Screen Origin should be set to top right Image corrected on the controller Wiring in the water protection The additional wire patched into the WP line on the PSU The lid switch and the water flow detection were already wired direct...
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Testing the Ruida Controller

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So far in this series of blog posts I've talked about setting up the ruida controller and wiring it into the laser cutter , now is the point where it needs to be tested to ensure that it actually works as intended. In the previous post I failed to mention that the power connector needs to be rewired but it's a straight forward swap of GND and +24V. Once the controller can actually be turned on we're ready to start testing. Testing Automatic Features Safety is all important while testing the machine, there are moving parts and laser beams during this whole process so care should be taken. The big red emergency stop on the machine is always close to hand, the key switch similar. The safety interlock lid switch for the laser is still wired directly to the high voltage power supply so the laser will not fire with the lid open or the water pump off. The first test is to ensure that both axis move in the correct direction. The controller was set up to initia...
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