Buildbotics 4-Axis CNC Controller User manual

Buildbotics 4-Axis CNC Controller
Getting Started
Contents
➔ Letter from the founders
➔ Disclaimer
➔ What’s Included
➔ Quick Start Guide
➔ Gamepad description
➔ Running a test program
➔ Upgrade to latest software
➔our Bill of Materials

To our valued customers:
Thank you for choosing the Buildbotics 4-Axis CNC Controller. t is our sincere
hope that it meets and exceeds your expectations in every way.
The Buildbotics Controller is fully Open-Source. You’ll find all hardware and
software design information for the Buildbotics CNC Controller on GitHub at:
github.com/buildbotics/
We’d be delighted to hear how you use the controller, and want to help resolve any
problems that come up. Please consider joining our forum at:
forum.buildbotics.com
A comprehensive User Manual is available at:
docs.buildbotics.com
Of course, we understand that you would like to get going right away, so we’ve
included a “Quick Start Guide” that will help you do exactly that.
Sincerely,
Doug Coffland &
Joseph Coffland
Buildbotics LLC Founders

DISCLAIMER
CNC operation is inherently a dan erous activity with si nificant risk of personal injury or even
death. When a person participates in CNC operation, they accept the risk inherent therein.
Buildbotics LLC makes no warranty that the use of its products or parts uarantees personal safety
or freedom from physical injury or operates as a life savin device.
BUILDBOTICS LLC PRODUCTS AND PARTS ARE SOLD “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY
WHATSOEVER. EXPRESS WARRANTIES, IMPLIED WARRANTIES, WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
EXCLUDED. THE ENTIRE RISK OF QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF SUCH PRODUCTS AND
PARTS IS WITH THE BUYER, USER SUBSEQUENT USER, OR AGENT THEREOF (HEREIN
“USER”). SHOULD SUCH PRODUCTS OR PARTS PROVE DEFECTIVE FOLLOWING THEIR
PURCHASE, THE BUYER AND NOT THE MANUFACTURE(S), DISTRIBUTOR(S), OR
RETAILER(S), ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICES OR REPAIR.
Buildbotics LLC disclaims all liability for any special, direct, incidental or consequential dama es, or
any dama es whatsoever, includin , without limitation, the loss of life or limb, or dama es due to
bodily or personal injury, which may arise or result from the sale, installation, or use of any of its
products or parts.
It is the user’s responsibility to inspect and verify the dimensions, specifications, and performance of
all products and parts as bein appropriate for the use to which the user will put them prior to any
actual installation and/or use of said products and parts.
Buildbotics LLC products and parts are to be inspected by the user before each use for evidence of
dama e, defect, or wear. Any deviation by the user from the manufacturer’s specifications
concernin use, maintenance, repair, alterations and modifications constitutes willful ne li ence.
The installation of Buildbotics LLC products or parts may adversely affect other safety equipment or
manufactured oods (collectively “ oods”). Buildbotics LLC assumes no responsibility for any
dama e to other oods, or bodily injury that may arise due to failure of other oods, due to
installation and/or use, either proper or improper, of its products or parts.
The liability of Buildbotics LLC is limited to the replacement of defective products or parts found
under examination by manufacturer to be defective in material or workmanship within 60 days after
purchase, and which has not been caused by an accident, improper use, alteration, tamperin ,
excessive use, misuse, modification or abuse. The dama e of the user shall be deemed liquidated in
the costs of replacement of the product or part.
Buildbotics LLC assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, dia rams, pictures, illustrations or
text in instructions or the documents accompanyin its products or displayed on its Websites.
By purchasin or usin this product, the user a rees that if any provision of this Disclaimer is held to
be ille al, invalid or unenforceable under present or future law, such provision shall be fully severed
from the Disclaimer and this Disclaimer shall be construed and enforced as if such ille al, invalid or
unenforceable provision never comprised a part hereof, and the remainin provisions hereof shall
remain in full force and effect and shall not be affected by the ille al, invalid, or unenforceable
provision.

What’s included:
The followin items should be included with your purchase:
You may have also purchased some add-on options. Please check for those options on
the bill of materials (included at the end of this document) to verify that they were
included as well.
If any of the equipment is missin , or if anythin appears to have been dama ed durin
shipment, please contact us at 1-[phone].

Quick Start Guide Overview
Buildbotics CNC Controllers that were purchased after July 1st, 2018 do not require an external
computer for control, but rather allow users to connect a monitor, a USB keyboard, and a USB
mouse to confi ure and operate the controller. The ability to confi ure and operate the
Buildbotics CNC Controller from another computer via an Ethernet or Wifi local area network is
still provided. It’s also possible to have local and network interface control simultaneously.
Local interface control Network interface control
The followin Quick Start Guides describe local interface control and network interface control.
Quick Start Guide (Local interface)
Followin this quick start uide section should et you up and runnin with a local monitor,
keyboard, and mouse. Refer to the Buildbotics Controller Manual for more complete and
concise descriptions.
Things yo need
Buildbotics CNC Controller
Stepper motors (NEMA 23 or smaller)

Buildbotics premade motor cables
Four wire connectors for each motor. (16-22
AWG wire nuts work fine). You may want to
solder final connections.
DC power supply that supplies between 12 and
36 Volts and a Buildbotics premade power
supply cable.
Alternatively use a power adapter with a
matchin plu . The Meanwell GST280A24-
C6P is an excellent choice.
Lo itech F310 amepad (if you plan to do local
jo in )
Computer Monitor
Monitor Cable
USB Keyboard
USB Mouse
Manual or datasheet for your stepper
motors.

Connections
Connect motors
Refer to the motor manual or datasheet to identify the A+, A-, B+, and B- coil wires. Attach the
motors to the Buildbotics premade cables usin the followin table.
Motor wire Premade cable wire color
A+ Red
A- Black
B+ Yellow
B- Purple
Connect gamepad (optional)
Plu the Lo itech F310 USB amepad into a “USB” port on the back of the controller.
Connect power s pply
Attach the red wires on the premade power cable to the V+ connections on the power supply
and the black wires to V-. Plu the premade power cable into the power connector, “12-
36VDC”, on the back of the controller. Alternatively, if you have a power adapter with a
compatible connector (e. . Meanwell GST280A-C6P), just plu it directly into the power
connector.
Connect the monitor
Connect one end of the monitor cable to the port on the back of the Buildbotics Controller and
the other end to the monitor. Plu the monitor into its power source (e. . AC wall outlet) and turn
it on. Confi ure the monitor input source on the monitor.
Connect the USB keyboard and mo se
Plu the USB keyboard and the USB mouse into USB ports on the back of the Buildbotics
Controller.
T rn on the “Enable” switch

Plu in the power supply and turn on the “Enable” switch. The controller LCD screen will
illuminate. The Buildbotics lo o will appear on the monitor while the controller is bootin . When
the controller has fully booted, the Control Screen will appear.
Jog motors (if gamepad attached)
This would be a ood time to try your motors and ame pad. Use the joysticks on the amepad
to move the motors. They should move (at least slowly) even thou h they have not yet been
confi ured.
Confi ure motors
Access the confi uration screen by selectin the motor label in the left panel of the web pa e.
Motor 0 is associated with the port labeled “X” on the back of the controller. Motor 1 is labeled
“Y”, motor 2 is labeled “Z”, and motor 3 is labeled “A”.

Do the followin thin s at the confi uration screen for each motor port:
•Assi n the axis to the motor
•Set the “drive-current” to the full load current found in the motor manual.
•Set the “idle-current” to 0.
•Set the “step-an le” to the value found in the motor manual.
The remainin values can be set and adjusted based on experimentation with your machine.
Quick Start Guide (Network interface)
Followin this quick start uide should et you up and runnin with network interface control.
Refer to the remainder of the manual for more complete and concise descriptions.
Thin s you need
Buildbotics CNC Controller
Stepper motors (NEMA 23 or smaller)
Buildbotics premade motor cables
Four wire connectors for each motor. (16-22
AWG wire nuts work fine). You may want to
solder final connections.
DC power supply that supplies between 12 and
36 Volts and a Buildbotics premade power
supply cable.
Alternatively use a power adapter with a
matchin plu . The Meanwell GST280A24-
C6P is an excellent choice.
Lo itech F310 amepad (if you plan to do local
jo in )

Ethernet cable
Ethernet local area network
A Computer on the same local network with a
web browser installed.
Manual or datasheet for your stepper
motors.
Connections
Connect motors
Refer to the motor manual or datasheet to identify the A+, A-, B+, and B- coil wires. Attach the
motors to the Buildbotics premade cables usin the followin table.
Motor wire Premade cable wire color
A+ Red
A- Black
B+ Yellow
B- Purple
Attach network cable
Plu the Ethernet network cable into the RJ-45,”ENet” connector on the back of the controller.
Plu the other end into a jack on the local area network.
Connect gamepad (optional)
Plu the Lo itech F310 USB amepad into a “USB” port on the back of the controller.
Connect power s pply
Attach the red wires on the premade power cable to the V+ connections on the power supply
and the black wires to V-. Plu the premade power cable into the power connector, “12-
36VDC”, on the back of the controller. Alternatively, if you have a power adapter with a

compatible connector (e. . Meanwell GST280A-C6P), just plu it directly into the power
connector.
T rn on the “Enable” switch
Plu in the power supply and turn on the “Enable” switch. The controller LCD screen will
illuminate. When “Ready” appears in the upper left corner, it is ready to operate.
Jog motors (if gamepad attached)
Use the joysticks on the amepad to move the motors.
Connect via web browser
Open a browser on a computer that is connected to the same local network as the controller.
Then, enter “bbctrl.local” in the address bar.
Confi ure motors
Access the confi uration screen by selectin the motor label in the left panel of the web pa e.
Motor 0 is associated with the port labeled “X” on the back of the controller. Motor 1 is labeled
“Y”, motor 2 is labeled “Z”, and motor 3 is labeled “A”.

Do the followin thin s at the confi uration screen for each motor port:
•Assi n the axis to the motor
•Set the “drive-current” to the full load current found in the motor manual.
•Set the “idle-current” to 0.
•Set the “step-an le” to the value found in the motor manual.
The remainin values can be set and adjusted based on experimentation with your machine.
Gamepad
A amepad can be used to control movement on the X, Y, Z, and
A axes, and to scroll throu h screens on the controller. The
amepad attaches to the Buildbotics CNC Controller via any of
the four USB ports on the back panel. Once attached, the
amepad can be used to move the CNC head in any direction at
various speeds.
While many amepads can work, Buildbotics has tested the
Lo itech F310.
Gamepad Controls
The followin ima e shows the control positions on the Lo itech
F310 amepad. The exact position of other amepads will differ.

The followin table describes the actions that can be achieved
usin the amepad.
Movement B ttons Comments
Simultaneous X
and Y
movement
X/Y stick Causes the CNC head will move in the
direction that the X/Y stick is moved.
X movement
only
X/Y stick and
Horizontal
Lock
simultaneously
Restricts movement to X-axis only
Y movement
only
X/Y stick and
Vertical Lock
simultaneously
Restricts movement to Y-axis only
Simultaneous A
and Z
movement
Z/A stick Causes up and down and rotational
movement.
Z movement
only
Z/A stick and
Vertical Lock
simultaneously
Causes up and down movement only.
A movement
only
Z/A stick and
Horizontal
Lock
simultaneously
Causes rotational movement only.
Very slow
speed
Speed 1 Set movement speed to 1/128th of full
speed.
Slow speed Speed 2 Set movement speed to 1/32nd of full
speed.
Medium speed Speed 3 Set movement speed to 1/4th of full
speed.
Full speed Speed 4 Set movement speed to full speed.
Scroll to next Press ri ht Moves to the next LCD display (Initial

LCD display side of Screen
selector
Display, Status Display, or Network
Display)
Scroll to
previous LCD
display
Press left side
of Screen
selector
Moves to the previous LCD display
(Initial Display, Status Display, or
Network Display)
Note - There is a small switch on the back of the F310 amepad
that is labeled “X” and “D”. It must be switched to the “X” position.
R n test program
Select “Control” from the left panel on the web pa e to open the
Control screen. Then, use the “A to” tab to upload new G-Code
pro rams, select or delete existin pro rams. The G-Code
pro ram, that is loaded into the "A to" tab, will be executed when
the “Play” button is clicked.
Software Upgrade
Go to the ADMIN->General pa e to update to the latest software.
After clickin “Up rade”, you’ll be prompted for the password. The
default password is ‘buildbotics’.

Next Steps
For more information, et the User Manual from:
docs.buildbotics.com