Hello.
Since the Velleman control board as used on the K8200 is based on the Arduino Mega, are there some spare I/O pins that can be used for other purposes?
I ask because I want to be able to control a couple of extra features (fan for active cooling of motor drivers, additional fan for E3D V6 and an additional 24V PS for the heat bed).
I had plans for using a spare Arduino Mini for controlling these things, but it seems like overkill if the Velleman control unit can do everything.
Thanks.
Justin.
If you don’t use the LCD controller you can reuse the pins on the LCD controller port.
Unfortunately those are the only pins available externally on the K8200 controller.
That’s a great idea. Thank you. Didn’t even think of that. I use my PC currently to connect to the printer but will be running off a raspberry pi once the printer is installed in its permanent home. No intention of ever using the LCD controller.
Can I use the Arduino IDE to edit the firmware of the controller?
Yes, absolutely. That’s what is’s made for. 
Just make sure to use Arduino version 1.0.6, NOT any higher version, or you will get non working compiles.
I think you will like using the Raspberry Pi.
I have had on on mine for about 4 months.
I also put a webcam on it so I can check on it when I’m not in the same room.
It’s nice to be able to stop it when bad things happen
Also having Wifi on it makes it very easy to move without running cables to it.
Thanks for the feedback guys. Much appreciated.
Regarding running off a raspberry pi. An acquaintance that also has a K8200 suggested that a raspberry pi 2 is powerful enough to run the whole slicing software? Curaengine? So I don’t need to compile the g code on my pc first. Is this correct? I have yet do any research/reading on this possibility.
I have some basic experience coding for the arduino, just very basic lego robotics and toys for my son to play with. So I hope I can successfully hack the firmware without too much trouble. I successfully updated the marlin firmware using the IDE currently installed on my computer, but I will be sure to check my version is 1.0.6 before I attempt any further firmware changes. Thanks for the heads up.
Cheers.
Justin.
It should but I am still working on that part.
