Set Up
Arduino
Arduino is an open source platform for programing microcontrollers. It includes microcontroller hardware with input and output pins, a programming language to be loaded onto and run by those boards, and an application for writing, editing, and uploading code. The brains of the RAMBo (RepRap Arduino-Mega compatible Mother Board) control board on our machines is based off of Arduino hardware. The Marlin firmware is written in the Arduino programming Language. We will use the Arduino IDE (integrated development environment) software for hacking the firmware and pushing it to your RAMBo control board
>>> Download Arduino IDE software
Connecting to the RAMBo to your computer
Linux and Mac machines do not require drivers to be manually installed. On a Windows machine you will need to download and install drivers for the RAMBo. Next plug in the board to yourcomputer via USB. hen, go to the start menu, right click on computer and click properties. On the left, click on Device Manager. Scroll down to Unknown Devices, and right click on RAMBo. Choose Update driver. CLick on “Browse my computer for driver software”, then click on “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”, then click the button for “Have Disk” and then click browse and point it to the file you downloaded above.
Connecting the RAMBo to Arduino
There are many different boards that utilize the Arduino platform. The software knows the most common boards. The RAMBo is not one of them. We will need to tell the Arduino IDE about this board via a configuration file it can load. In the Arduino IDE, go to Files>>Preferences. At the bottom of the page there is a filed for “additional boards manager URL.” Paste this URL into that field:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ultimachine/ArduinoAddons/master/package_ultimachine_index.json
Next, go to Tools >> Board >> Board Manager. In the window that opens, select the RAMBo board. You can now select RAMBo from the Boards menu.
Download Marlin
We are using a version of Marlin that has been modified for the purpose of our class. Download it, (on windows unblock the file by right-click>>properties>>unblock>>OK), unzip it, and open the Marlin.ino file in Arduino.