Great Board
For grblHAL BoB Unkit for Teensy 4.1. - T41U5XBB
Coming from 8 bit Arduino. The T41U5XBB is a great board and the grblHAL32 firmware is the icing on top. The speed and all the available g code are on point. I ordered a relay board to maximum this board's capabilities. Now punch above its weight class. Comparing to something like the Acorn CNC Controller. With manual tool changing offset, auto squaring and racking, lathe mode, threading, and detail break down of the GRBL setting is a great touch.
Although I figured it out. The g-code to enable and disable 3 auxiliary relays was not easy to locate and how to integrate the i2C, Serial IO and the digital input would be nice to know.
I like the ioSender but this is the only software that you can use to gain access to the benefit of grbl32 which is not bad. There should be some way to enable and/or disable the flyout boxes because the jogging speed can be different from you opening the jogging flyout box and just using the arrows on your keyboard
Wish list for 2.0.
- The EEROM solder pad should be upgraded to a [DIP SOCKET] - This would help you to determine if your EEPROM is compatible, once you solder the connector on it's hard to place it correctly later. Something like this ( Digi-Key Part Number: AE9986-ND)
- Change the connectors too (Digi-Key Part Number: 277-1721-ND). I have already replaced the ones that came with mines. They are a little beefier. Most people use thicker wire and ferrules. These would take it down to 16-26 AWG.
- LED indicators on End stops would be nice to have. It helps to have a quick visual to test the end stop.
- Dip switches- Could have been used in a few places:
5v Feed
Relay coil voltage switchable between 5V and 12V
VAC pin
Stepper Enable
Link A AXIS to Y
Response from Brookwood Design | April 11, 2022
Thanks for the great review. There is a new version of ioSender (ioSender XL) that keeps the jog panel open and fixes the weirdness with jog speed.
