I have been tinkering with tbe esp32 code, and its very very cool. I added an oled display mode for a Heltec wifi32 board which is basicaly an esp32 devkit board with an oled i2c display on pins 4 and 15.
Currently i have ut displaying grbl version build, and wifi station and ap status, including ip address.
I would like to start building a board based on tbe esp32, but i will need a lot kore gpios. As i want to add
1. I2c full display
2. Keypad, i hear the phone thing, but its not as hgood as a real pendant.
3. Mpg encoder
4. 2 encoders to adjust speed and feed in realtime.
5. Probe
6. Various satus indicators.
I have a ramps 1.4 based cnc setup based on tbe grbl-mega implementation that has allmof above and its great, but its a little cranky at high speeds.
I would like to investigate the use of i2c for display, and gpio extension, it may be possihle to use i2c gpio for stepper able and direction, i habe been experimebting wuth using encoders via i2c and ut seems to work.
Once i have cleaned up my oled implemenbtation, i will submit a pull request.
![[gnea/grbl-Mega Issue#1] $ command extentions](https://www.grblhal.com/wp-content/themes/gitphp/timthumb.php?src=https://www.grblhal.com/wp-content/themes/gitphp/assets/img/pic/3.jpg&h=110&w=185&q=90&zc=1&ct=1)
![[gnea/grbl-Mega Issue#2] Better interrupt priorities](https://www.grblhal.com/wp-content/themes/gitphp/timthumb.php?src=https://www.grblhal.com/wp-content/themes/gitphp/assets/img/pic/10.jpg&h=110&w=185&q=90&zc=1&ct=1)
![[gnea/grbl-Mega Issue#4] Real-time adjustable feedrates](https://www.grblhal.com/wp-content/themes/gitphp/timthumb.php?src=https://www.grblhal.com/wp-content/themes/gitphp/assets/img/pic/2.jpg&h=110&w=185&q=90&zc=1&ct=1)
#1 – bdring 于 2019-10-10
I suggest starting off as a fork or branch. This would be a major change, taking a while to implement and test and I don’t want it getting tangled up in the daily minor features and fixes. I don’t want to see a PR of this scope without a lot of prior discussion and consensus.
I think if any alternative I/O method is used, some sort of abstraction should be used. This would allow the base code to use set I/O using a standard statement and the abstraction takes care of whether it is native GPIO or some other method.
I like Grbl over Marlin because it is clean and standards based. Marlin’s “anything goes” makes it really hard to work on.
A smart pendant does not need to be a phone. The the cost of a $1 controller, it could off load some of the processing, use less wires to connect and use a more robust protocol for distance than I2C. CNC machines are a lot bigger and noisier than 3D printers.