Re: [OpenPnP] Digest for openpnp@googlegroups.com - 1 update in 1 topic

[Flash Packets]

Fundamentally the vacuum system design is highly dependant on the controllers used in the overall  system. For myself and many others it will start with controllers that were initially intended for 3D FDM printers. As I've built a rather large number of CNC machines over the years ranging from LinuxCNC to the current, what many may consider as best practice of Klipper machine control of generic controllers like the Robin Nano or the very nice duet3d boards that have a user interface that looks very much like klipper. In any event you'll no doubt discover that you'll ultimately need more controls than are available on a single controller. My present system has 3 controller boards to provide all the binary control functions that keep growing. Just to review you'll need at least 4 motor controls for X,Y,Z and a rotary to rotate the component at the end of the vacuum pickup. Multiple PWM controls for the camera lights, Multiple cameras looking up and down and then a good processor to run everything. Last year the ability to use the Raspi was introduced. If you go that route I'd start with the Raspi5 which seems very nice as it runs OpenPnP and Klipper effectively. A good vacuum system needs to also include a puffer to blow the part off the tip. That introduces no less than 5 additional controls two for the vacuum and puffer pumps and individual solenoid valves for the puffer solenoid, vacuum solenoid, and PnP head. I would recommend using a vacuum sensor, check out Adafruit,  paired up with a little Arduino nano driven by a USB port for continuous monitoring of the pressure at the pickup. I believe that 24V is a good practical system operating voltage. For those cases where 24V is to high a tiny Chinese buck converter can be used to drop the voltage from it's switched 24V down to 12 V or whatever the specific load requires. As a final note, I've found that Goodwill is an amazing resource for used displays, keyboards, etc - shop there and you're likely to say buckets of $. For Motor Drivers I've used MKS Servo42 FOC controllers not that it matters much in a discussion of vacuum systems but I'm always happy to beat their drum. I tried using a vacuum reservoir, but it doesn't seem to add much in overall performance.

On Mon, Jun 8, 2026 at 10:47 PM <ope...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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• Vacuum scheme - 1 Update

Vacuum scheme

svetozar161 <sveto...@gmail.com>: Jun 08 01:42AM -0700 Hello everyone. Can anyone share their vacuum circuit design? I plan to install a vacuum pump, a frequency converter, a receiver, a non-return valve, a pressure switch (for the pump), and a pressure monitoring switch for each nozzle like ZSE30AF-01-C(I have two nozzles) with an analog output. I need to understand how to configure and connect everything. What is the required receiver capacity? Is it possible to use a refrigerant tank like 404a?

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