The GRBL Project

Or, how to correctly use M62-M65 to turn on external devices. Controlling external relays and digital outputs with grblHAL is easy. M62-M65 GCodes (er, MCodes?) are straightforward. Or are they? The Digital Output Control codes allow you to turn external devices on and off. The T41U5XBB and RP23CNC boards have both relay drivers and logic level digital outputs for that. Embed an M62 P0 or M64 P0 in your GCode program to turn the Aux 0 output on. M63 P0 or M65 P0 will turn i

This is not your normal blog post from me by a long shot! Having a small business selling products internationally, I have learned a lot about shipping packages. I have also developed strong opinions about business practices around shipping. Very recently, I ordered several products from a popular hobby electronics company with a "sparkling" reputation. I got a shipping notice within a day and yet 3 days later US Postal Service tracking says they still have not received th

Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) are a great way to control CNC spindles. A common method of control is using voltage (0-10V). This post describes how to use this with Brookwood Design's CNC controller boards - T41U5XBB or RP23CNC running grblHAL. Though, the information provided is broadly applicable to many other controllers running Grbl. Our examples are shown using the RP23CNC board but connections to the T41U5XBB are basically the same. What is a VFD? A Variable Frequen

The Teensy 4.1 is an amazing product not only does it provide incredible compute power in a tiny package but it also is able to supply a good amount of 5V and 3.3V power for numerous peripherals. The T451U5XBB can run a complete CNC machine electronics with just USB power. However, sometimes you need more 5V power than USB can provide. The solution, of course, is an external 5V power supply unit. But, in that case, you will need to avoid joining the external PSU to the US

Ethernet is a great way to communicate with your grblHAL based system. It is reliable and highly resistant to EMI. In the past, though, it has been difficult to set up to use with a CNC system. With grblHAL, a number of boards supporting Ethernet have become available and now a number of GCode Senders work well with Ethernet. We have covered using ioSender with Ethernet. This blog talks about how to use gSender, a very popular GCode sender, from Scienci Labs with it. Firs