3D Printing: What is the benefit of the Arduino schield based electronics? (2 Solutions!)
Channel: Roel Van de Paar
Date: 25/06/2019

3D Printing: What is the benefit of the Arduino schield based electronics?


The Question: Some electronics come as a single PCB. They have CPU and everything on just one
board.
Other electronics are a shield for an Arduino. So these are always two boards.
The Arduino and the other PCB.
You probably don't want to exchange the Arduino unless it is broken. Does it
break that often or are the two boards just the predecessors of the one board
solution?
What are the benefits/downsides to having one/two boards?

Solutions Sample (Please watch the whole video to see all solutions, in order of how many people found them helpful)

== This solution helped 6 people ==
Many 3d printer motherboards are based on Arduino/Atmega microcontroller and
just add some stepper motor drivers, MOSFETs and such in a single board. That
explains why you use the Arduino IDE to update or modify their firmware.
Now why you would want to use an Arduino + an Arduino shield board like RAMPS?
Well if you're not good at electronics, are happy with the cost of your own
board, don't care much about upgrades/modding beyond what is possible with your
board, maybe you shouldn't, it might be overwhelming.
There are several advantages with using Arduino with a shield for your 3d
printer, "two boards are not just the predecessors of the one board solution",
no.
1) It is moddable/exandable/upgradable/has replacable parts. If your printer
came with its own motherboard that doesn't have additional or enough pins to
add more fans, enclosure lights, a second extruder, an LCD and you want to, it
sucks. RAMPS can do that, it has plenty of extra pins. It is upgradable. You
want to replace the stepper drivers with a new one? Or you accidentally damaged
the one you have? Fear not, you can just replace that instead of the whole
motherboard. Think if it like other motherboards being PCs on which you can't
change the CPU, RAM and GPU.
2) It is here for a long time, you will be able to acquire one for a long time.
There isn't just one company making RAMPS or similar sheilds. Sometimes 3d
printing companies go out of business or stop producing your particular
motherboard. RAMPS is likely here to stay. Because Arduino is very likely here
to stay.
3) As said above, not just one company owns or makes RAMPS or other Arduino
shields. Besides the possibility of your motherboard not being produced
anymore, there's also the advantage of not being at the mercy of one companies
pricing and shipping policies. This is true for some other boards as well
though.
4) It is possibly cheaper than what have you. I don't want to post a link, but
one company right now is selling their derivative of Printrboard for like $180.
Check the cost of Arduino Mega, stepper drivers and a RAMPS board yourself,
quite a difference. That said, there are some boards which are close in price.
5) It's an Arduino. Why is this a good thing by itself? Because many people who
have a 3d printer are tinkerers/makers and they already use Arduino for other
projects. It is open source with a rich library to control many things. The
modding and upgrades for your 3d printer which can be done with Arduino is
another level higher. Or it can be a good learning experience for your future
Arduino projects. If on the other hand you already use Arduino and are
experienced with it, you might use it just because you know how to control it/
fix it better than some specialized board you haven't seen before. Plus for a
guy like you your 3d printer's motherboard will be an "off-the-shelf" part,
that's nice, right?
Video on RAMPS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJn6FuWOv4

With thanks & praise to God, and with thanks to the many people who have made this project possible! | Content (except music & images) licensed under cc by-sa 3.0 | Music: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music | Images: https://stocksnap.io/license & others | With thanks to user Tom van der Zanden (https://askubuntu.com/users/26), user Sean Houlihane (https://askubuntu.com/users/4927), user Leo Ervin (https://askubuntu.com/users/381), user Lars Potter (https://askubuntu.com/users/204), and the Stack Exchange Network (https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/514). Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Disclaimer: All information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. You are responsible for your own actions. Please contact me if anything is amiss at Roel D.OT VandePaar A.T gmail.com.