TinyG Shapeoko Setup

UPDATE: For all power management settings please refer to https://github.com/synthetos/TinyG/wiki/Power-Management for up to date documentation

This page provides and example setup for a reasonably well tuned 3 axis or 4 axis Shapeoko with 375mm slides. Depending on your mechanics you may need to change values, but this should offer a reasonable starting point. Please see the TinyG Tuning Page for some details about tuning up the machine.

The settings on this page are listed for TinyG build 412.01 and higher. If you have build 380.08 (or lower) these settings are listed when there are differences. You can tell what build you are on by typing $fb at the command prompt, or looking at the build number display in tgfx. Better yet, update to 412.01.

Settings use the following format by way of example:

• $jd=0.01
  
• $xvm=16000
  

All settings are in mm, so be sure you are in mm mode. If in doubt enter G21 at the command line.

Settings can also be entered in JSON, which is a better way to do it for machine-to-machine communications:

• {"jd":0.01}
  
• {"xvm":16000}
  

Additionally, using JSON all the settings for a motor or an axis can be done in one command. See JSON Operation

For details of the settings see the TinyG Configuration Page

The general settings for a 3 motor machine are listed below. For dual Y axis setups use the general settings, but also see Dual Y Motor settings

System Settings

setting	value	description	notes
$ja	2000000	JUNCTION_ACCELERATION	2 million - centripetal acceleration around corners
$st	1	SWITCH_TYPE	0=normally open, 1=normally closed. Use NC for better noise immunity
$mt	10	MOTOR_TIMEOUT	In build 412.01 and above this sets the number of seconds motors will stay energized after a machining cycle is complete. (this setting is not in 380.08)

Motor Settings

Use the following settings for a 3 motor system - and assumes:

• X axis is wired to Motor 1
• Y axis is wired to Motor 2
• Z axis is wired to Motor 3

See Dual Y Settings for dual Y gantry setups.

A note on polarity: The motor polarity is the most likely setting to need adjustment, as it's dependent on how the motors are wired. Set polarity so that X moves to the right for positive moves. Y should move away from the front of the table for positive moves. Z should move up for positive moves. Reverse polarity of the axis if this is not true. Or you can swap the two leads of one of the coil pairs on your motor wiring to do this in hardware.

Motor 1

setting	value	description	notes
$1ma	0	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 1 to X axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$1sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$1tr	36.54 (40.00)	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount X moves in 1 motor revolution. For Shapeoko 2 try 40. That's 20 teeth * 2 mm/tooth Your setup may be slightly different.
$1mi	8	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$1po	0	POLARITY	Depends on how you wired your motors
$1pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Motor 2

setting	value	description	notes
$2ma	1	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 2 to Y axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$2sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$2tr	36.54 (40.00)	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount Y moves in 1 revolution
$2mi	8	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$2po	0	POLARITY	Depends on how you wired your motors
$2pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Motor 3

setting	value	description	notes
$3ma	2	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 3 to Z axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$3sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$3tr	1.25	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount Z moves in 1 revolution
$3mi	4	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$3po	0	POLARITY	Depends on how you wired your motors
$3pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Motor 4

In this config motor 4 does not need to be set up. The following settings are for an A axis, and are provided just as an example.

setting	value	description	notes
$4ma	3	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 4 to second A axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$4sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$4tr	360	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount A moves in degrees for 1 motor revolution. Reduce if A is geared.
$4mi	8	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$4po	0	POLARITY	Reverse from Motor 2 so it doesn't fight motor 2's Y.
$4pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Axis Settings

The axis settings below assume the following:

• The Z axis can travel relatively fast because it is relatively friction-free. If there is too much friction lower the velocity and jerk values to avoid stalling.
• The machine is set up for homing switches but not limits. Homing switches are on Xmin, Ymin, and Zmax. If there are not homing switches set the switch values to disabled.

Axis settings apply to both 3 motor and 4 motor configurations. Only the motor parameters and mappings need to change.

X Axis

setting	value	description	notes
$xam	1	AXIS_MODE	1=standard mode
$xvm	16000	VELOCITY_MAX	Your machine might go faster or slower than this. Test it and adjust current pots
$xfr	16000	FEEDRATE_MAX	Typcially set the same as velocity. May be set slower but not faster.
$xtn	0	TRAVEL_MIN	Minimum travel (almost aways zero) (not in 380.08)
$xtm	220	TRAVEL_MAX	Max travel before crash
$xjm	5000	JERK_MAX	Jerk X 1 million. (see note for 380.08 or earlier)
$xjh	10000	JERK_HOMING	Jerk X 1 million to use for homing. Typically > JERK_MAX (see 380.08 note)
$xjd	0.01	JUNCTION_DEVIATION	in mm - smaller is faster cornering
$xsn	1	SWITCH_MODE_MIN	Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 1 is HOMING
$xsx	0	SWITCH_MODE_MAX	Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is DISABLED
$xsv	3000	SEARCH_VELOCITY	Homing speed to drive onto switch
$xlv	100	LATCH_VELOCITY	Speed to back off homing switch
$xlb	20	LATCH_BACKOFF	Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$xzb	3	ZERO_BACKOFF	Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position

Note: Build 380.08 requires the full number for 5 billion: 5000000000. No spaces or commas. Count the zeros

Y Axis

setting	value	description	notes
$yam	1	AXIS_MODE	1=standard mode
$yvm	16000	VELOCITY_MAX	Your machine might go faster or slower than this
$yfr	16000	FEEDRATE_MAX	Typcially set the same as velocity. May be set slower but not faster.
$ytn	0	TRAVEL_MIN	Minimum travel (almost aways zero) (not in 380.08)
$ytm	220	TRAVEL_MAX	Max travel before crash
$yjm	5000	JERK_MAX	Jerk X 1 million.
$yjh	10000	JERK_HOMING	Jerk X 1 million to use for homing. Typically > JERK_MAX
$yjd	0.01	JUNCTION_DEVIATION	in mm - smaller is faster cornering
$ysn	1	SWITCH_MODE_MIN	Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 1 is HOMING
$ysx	0	SWITCH_MODE_MAX	Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is DISABLED
$ysv	3000	SEARCH_VELOCITY	Homing speed to drive onto switch
$ylv	100	LATCH_VELOCITY	Speed to back off homing switch
$ylb	20	LATCH_BACKOFF	Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$yzb	3	ZERO_BACKOFF	Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position

Z Axis

setting	value	description	notes
$zam	1	AXIS_MODE	1=standard mode
$zvm	800	VELOCITY_MAX	Heavily dependent on how clean you can get the Z axis setup. Might go faster.
$zfr	800	FEEDRATE_MAX	Typically set the same as velocity. May be set slower but not faster.
$ztn	0	TRAVEL_MIN	Typically zero but may be negative (e.g. set travel max to zero)
$ztm	100	TRAVEL_MAX	Max travel before crash
$zjm	50	JERK_MAX	50 million
$zjh	1000	JERK_HOMING	1 billion. Jerk to use during homing operations
$zjd	0.01	JUNCTION_DEVIATION	in mm - smaller is faster cornering
$zsn	0	SWITCH_MODE_MIN	Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 0 is DISABLED
$zsx	1	SWITCH_MODE_MAX	Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 1 is HOMING
$zsv	3000	SEARCH_VELOCITY	Homing speed to drive onto switch
$zlv	100	LATCH_VELOCITY	Speed to back off homing switch
$zlb	20	LATCH_BACKOFF	Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$zzb	3	ZERO_BACKOFF	Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position

A, B and C Axes

Usually you are not using these, so just set some reasonable values like below. All distances are in degrees.

setting	value	description	notes
$aam	0	AXIS_MODE	1=standard mode
$avm	60000	VELOCITY_MAX
$afr	60000	FEEDRATE_MAX
$atn	-1	TRAVEL_MIN	-1
$atm	-1	TRAVEL_MAX	-1 ... if min and max are the same it's treated as an infinite axis
$ajm	24000	JERK_MAX	24 billion
$ajh	24000	JERK_HOMING	Jerk to use during homing operations
$ajd	0.1	JUNCTION_DEVIATION
$ara	1	RADIUS
$asn	0	SWITCH_MODE_MIN	Switch mode for minimum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$asx	0	SWITCH_MODE_MAX	Switch mode for maximum travel switch. 0 is disabled
$asv	6000	SEARCH_VELOCITY	Homing speed to drive onto switch
$alv	1000	LATCH_VELOCITY	Speed to back off homing switch
$alb	5	LATCH_BACKOFF	Max distance to back off switch during latch phase
$azb	2	ZERO_BACKOFF	Distance to back off switch before setting axis zero position

Dual Y Motor Settings

For a dual Y setup only the motor settings need to change. Axis settings are the same.

Motor 1

setting	value	description	notes
$1ma	0	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 1 to X axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$1sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$1tr	36.54	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount X moves in 1 motor revolution. Your setup may be slightly different.
$1mi	8	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$1po	0	POLARITY	Depends on how you wired your motors
$1pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Motor 2

setting	value	description	notes
$2ma	1	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 2 to first Y axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$2sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$2tr	36.54	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount Y moves in 1 revolution
$2mi	8	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$2po	0	POLARITY	Depends on how you wired your motors
$2pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Motor 3

setting	value	description	notes
$3ma	1	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 3 to second Y axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$3sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$3tr	36.54	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount Y moves in 1 motor revolution
$3mi	8	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$3po	1	POLARITY	Reverse from Motor 2 so it doesn't fight motor 2's Y.
$3pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves

Motor 4

setting	value	description	notes
$4ma	2	MOTOR_MAP	map motor 4 to Z axis (0=X, 1=Y, 2=Z, 3=A, 4=B, 5=C)
$4sa	1.8	STEP_ANGLE	set 1.8 degrees for 200 step motors, 0.9 for 400 step motors
$4tr	1.25	TRAVEL_PER_REV	Amount Z moves in 1 revolution
$4mi	4	MICROSTEPS	Supported values are 1, 2, 4 and 8
$4po	0	POLARITY	Depends on how you wired your motors
$4pm	0	POWER_MODE	0 leaves steppers on if anything moves