CAM Toolchains
A RepRap CAM toolchain consists of all the software elements needed to create printed 3d models from CAD models to firmware. It is the software part of the RepRap Toolchains, as opposed to the RepRap_Hardware_Toolchains.
This list contains the various toolchain components available and provides a comparison of their features, compatible components and how to get them.
It should be noted that a comparison of CAD modeling programs is outside of the scope of this article. CAM toolchains are generally CAD program agnostic because they can accept standard STL models as input which almost all CAD programs can export directly or through plugins.
Firmware
Firmware | Author(s) | Compatible electronics | dc motor extruder? | stepper extruder? | extruder speed control? | movement speed control? | RepRap-style acceleration | Start-stop ramping | thermocouples? | heated build platforms? | Documentation | Download |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RepRap FiveD GCode Interpreter | RepRap.org | Gen 3, Pololu (more?) | true | true | true | true | false | true | true | install guide | stable, dev | |
"Tonokip" firmware, aka "tesla" firmware (hydra-mmm derivative) | tonok, tesla893, ? | arduino mega, (more?) | false | true | true | true | false | false | maybe | true | NO FUCKING DOCUMENTATION | dev |
Gen2OnABoard FiveD Gcode Interpreter | Nick McCoy | Gen2OnABoard | true | true | true | false | src | |||||
MakerBot | MakerBot.com | Gen 3 (more?) | true | true | true | manual | dev | |||||
DavidBuzz | DavidBuzz | Gen 3 (more?) | src | |||||||||
FiveD on Arduino | Triffid_Hunter, Traumflug, jakepoz | Single board with ATmega168 or bigger, e.g. Gen2 or Pololu (experimental Gen3 branch) | false | true | true | true | true | true | true | (in development: multi_temp branch) | forum | src |
Grbl | Simen Svale Skogsrud | Arduino | Grbl page | src |
RepRap Drivers
Driver | Author(s) | Compatible firmware(s) | Manual movement? | Manual extruder control? | Manual stepper disable? | Manual heated build platform control? | Live GCode terminal? | SD card upload? | GCode input? | Step-NC input? | Integrated GCode compiler? | Documentation | Download |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EMCRepRap | EMC and RepRap.org | Linux PC | true | false | false | wiki page | wiki page | ||||||
RepRap Host Software | RepRap.org | 5D GCode Interpreter, FiveD on Arduino, more? | true | true | false | true | false | true | false | true | install guide, user manual | dev | |
RepSnapper | Kulitorum | 5D GCode Interpreter, 3D GCode Interpreter | true | true | true
use a Custom Button |
true
use a Custom Button |
true | true | false | true | install guide, user manual | windows, osx, src | |
ReplicatorG | Replicat.org | Makerbot, 5D | true | true | true | true | false | true | true | false | true | install guide, user manual | stable |
send.py (bundled with SkeinForge) | Brendan Erwin and John Gilmore | 5D GCode Interpreter, 3D GCode Interpreter | false | false | false | false | false | false | true | false | false | user manual | builds |
GCode-utils | Ralith | 5D GCode Interpreter?, 3D GCode Interpreter? | true | true | true | false | false | Website | src, linux binaries |
Note: some drivers such as the RepRap Host Software are listed here and under GCode compilers as they serve both functions however for comparison purposes their features have been split into the relevant tables.
GCode, Etc. Compilers
Compiler | Author(s) | Compatible firmware features | STL input? | Multiple STL input? | Step-NC input? | RFO input? | GCode output? | Step-NC output? | RFO output? | Compilation Speed | Documentation | Download |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RepRap Host Software | RepRap.org | 5D | true | true | false | true | true | false | false | average | install guide, user manual | dev |
RepSnapper | Kulitorum | 5D, 3D | true | true | false | true | false | fast | install guide, user manual | windows, linux (dev) | ||
SkeinForge | Enrique | 5D, 3D | true | false | false | true | false | false | average | manual | latest builds | |
Netfabb Engine | Netfabb | true | fast | latest release | ||||||||
SuperSkein | MaskedRetriever | true | true | fast | src, downloads |