Short story: could I use the extruder step signals to PWM-drive a dc motor? ( Mosfet driven of course )
Long story:
I made a few assumptions that led me to this question.
1. Slic3r is able to vary printspeed based on constant extruder feed rate
2. A current controlled DC motor would produce a steady amount of chamber pressure ( amount of extrusion= const. )
3. extruder temp and filament diameter are stable
The problem with dc driven extruders was the encoder. A closed loop control circuit was necessary.
A torque curve of a current controlled motor always looks the same: upto 50% of the no_load RPM the torque is constant, then it falls off more or less steep.
If we could find the sweet spot where the torque is just right to feed a steady amount of filament and the slicer is able to control printspeed accordingly, we wouldn't need an encoder anymore.
Acceleration and decceleration are reflected by e-steps, so the e-steps is the parameter that controls the dc-motors current/torque.
I know, that RRF is able to produce e-steps with a defined length, would that be enough to drive a MosFet the way we need?
Long story:
I made a few assumptions that led me to this question.
1. Slic3r is able to vary printspeed based on constant extruder feed rate
2. A current controlled DC motor would produce a steady amount of chamber pressure ( amount of extrusion= const. )
3. extruder temp and filament diameter are stable
The problem with dc driven extruders was the encoder. A closed loop control circuit was necessary.
A torque curve of a current controlled motor always looks the same: upto 50% of the no_load RPM the torque is constant, then it falls off more or less steep.
If we could find the sweet spot where the torque is just right to feed a steady amount of filament and the slicer is able to control printspeed accordingly, we wouldn't need an encoder anymore.
Acceleration and decceleration are reflected by e-steps, so the e-steps is the parameter that controls the dc-motors current/torque.
I know, that RRF is able to produce e-steps with a defined length, would that be enough to drive a MosFet the way we need?