Grbl Controller is a piece of software which is used to send GCode to CNC Machines, such as a ShapeOko. As of version 3.0, the software has been optimized to send GCode to a Grbl Arduino Shield, which is the standard and default controller type for the ShapeOko. Grbl Controller is written to work on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Let's convert an inexpensive Chinese CNC machine from Parallel Port to Arduino and GRBL. Alright guys, this is a culmination of weeks of reading, researching and determination. It's my first instructable so hope this helps get you where you need to go. A little bit of background, before we start: The 3020, 3040 and 6040 (and the more obscure 2015, 2016 and 2020) CNC router milling machines that come out of China are hugely popular in the hobbyist and professional circles. If you are a DIY type, these machine offer a great way to repeat processes and basically do some things that no hand tool will allow you to do. For the professionals, these machines with their relatively accurate leadscrew/ballscrew assemblies allow for another machine to be pumping away making parts if the machine machine is occupied with a job.

All in all, these inexpensive machines (ranging from $600-2500 shipped DHL) are a great way to get into CNC. They can be found all over eBay and Aliexpress, in my experience, you can find marginally cheaper options on Aliexpress and their buyer protection is much better than eBay's. The model numbers denote the size of the workable area, ie. The 3040 is 30cm x 40cm, the 6040 is 60cm x 40cm etc etc. The range of these models makes for choosing the right one for your shop pretty easy, the more expensive and larger ones (typically 3040 and 6040) will have the more accurate ball screw type linear movements instead of a typically trapezoidal lead screw. The 2015, 2016 and 3020 machines (some 3020 will have ballscrews) will have a nylon or Delrin type nut for linear travel.

You can tell which model has the leadscrew or ballscrews by the letter after the model. 3040T will have 'trapezoidal leadscrews' and a 3040Z will have ballscrews (ballscrewz?):D I have experience with both the ball screw and lead screw type movements, for the money you are paying, it's better to get a machine with ball screws as they wear better and very little, if no backlash (side to side play) is present. These machines will come setup with stepper motors and typically have cable tracks already built in, also they will come with a controller box. The controller box on almost all of these machines will come with a very old Mach 3 style Parallel Port interface. Signal pulses will be sent from the Mach 3 software to the port and that drives the motors and makes the CNC machine come alive.

This type of system is old, dated and is Windows only. I have been a Mac person since 2003 so I won't switching back to PC's anytime soon, so when I heard you could convert this to Arduino powered, I went from 'that CNC is a neat tool' to 'that CNC will be mine'. You'll see in the video that the conversion is complete, but when you crack open the box, you'll basically see three main components. The power source, this will either be a coil or in my case, a perforated metal box. It will have the main power leads coming from the inside. One set of DC wires will be connected to the driver board. The driver board, you'll recognize this because the leads from the connection cables to the XYZ ports will be attached to this.

If you had a board like my 3020, they will be super easy to undo since they are screw terminals. Just undo them and you can pull them out.

The power leads from the power source should also be present, this also needs to be undone) 3. The spindle VFD (Variable Frequency Driver), this maybe a closed box or an open circuit board. You'll recognize this since it will have a control board and dial to control the spindle speed.

-- If you forget the label the XYZ cables, don't worry, just follow them to the ports on the back and you can see which is which. The Arduino needs to be flashed with the most current version of GRBL. What does GRBL stand for? No idea, jury's still out. GRBL is an open source G-Code interpreter, it is to CNC machines as Marlin firmware is to 3D printers. You can find it here: Once you have GRBL on your Arduino, you can mount it into the case. BUT before you do that, you need to remove the old parallel port driver board.

Don't throw it out, there are likely some awesome electronics components you can salvage from it. You've already undid the wires so this shouldn't be too hard. I had to mount my Arduino board first with a couple of screws (into the screw bosses from the old board) before attaching the CNC Shield. The CNC Shield has spots for 4 driver chips.

It accepts the A4988 or the DRV8825, the later being more powerful and able to accept up to 36volts and 1/32 microstepping. I only had A4988 available, so I went with those. Elite 30r power meter manual.

Android sdk tools revision 2402 download. A separate x64 version may be available from Google. Compatibility with this software may vary, but will generally run fine under Microsoft Windows 10, 8, 8.1, 7, Vista and XP on either a 32-bit or 64-bit setup.