Fab@Home:Making Model 1

From Fab @ Home

This page describes instructions for building a Fab@Home fabber. To build your Fab@Home, you will need to assemble the chassis, the electronics, and a tool. You then need to install firmware onto the microcontroller, and install the application and USB drivers onto your PC.

Contents 1 Chassis 2 Tool 2.1 Syringe Tools 3 Electronics 4 Firmware 4.1 Firmware Development Environment 4.2 Firmware Source Code Download 4.3 Programming your LPC-H2148 Microcontroller 5 Software 5.1 Application Download 5.2 Drivers Download 5.3 Installation instructions

Chassis

Constructing a Fab@Home:Model 1 Overview XYZ Chassis - tool not included (see below).

Tool

Syringe Tools

Constructing a 1-Syringe Tool

Disposable Dispensing Components

Electronics

Constructing a 4-axis electronics hardware for a system with a 1-syringe tool

Firmware

The firmware is the software that runs on the LPC-H2148 microcontroller.

Firmware Development Environment

The firmware has been written in C using Rowley CrossWorks for ARM which is available for a 30 day free trial - more than enough time to program your micro, and possibly to play with the firmware as well. CrossWorks simplifies the installation of the Fab@Home firmware onto the microcontroller, hence it is recommended that you download the trial and use it for programming.

• Rowley CrossWorks for ARM Free 30 day Trial, MS Windows

Firmware Source Code Download

Here you can find the source code and project files for Rowley CrossWorks for ARM.

• FAHFirmwareV2.zip archive (161KB) C source code and project files for CrossWorks Evan 14:54, 18 October 2006 (EDT).

Programming your LPC-H2148 Microcontroller

When you receive your microcontroller, it will have a simple demonstration firmware loaded onto it from the manufacturer. You will need to replace this with the Fab@Home firmware. There are several ways to put the firmware onto your microcontroller, all of which will require that you buy a programming adapter. The simplest method is to buy a JTAG cable for ARM processors (20 pin, 2 rows X 10 pins). Most ARM JTAG cables will work with CrossWorks so this is the recommended approach.

• Parallel Port to ARM JTAG adapter from SparkFun, $19.95
• USB to ARM JTAG adapter from Rowley, ~$200

Software

Application Download

• Fab@Home V0.16 Application, FAHv0_16.zip Evan 13:47, 16 October 2006 (EDT)

Drivers Download

• Fab@Home USB driver V1.0, FAHDRVv1_0.zip

Installation instructions

1. Download the Fab@Home Application and Drivers .zip archives:
2. Unzip the archives to your desktop or another convenient location using WinZip or another .zip decompression utility. The resulting folders should look roughly like the images below:

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1. When you plug in the USB cable from your Fab@Home to your PC, Windows will request the drivers for the Fab@Home unit. Just navigate to the FAHDRV folder, and select the driver file requested. You will need to do this up to FOUR times when you first connect to the Fab@Home. After this, the drivers will automatically load whenever the Fab@Home is connected.
2. You can verify that the drivers are installed by opening the Windows Device Manager, and examining the Ports (COM & LPT) and Universal Serial Bus controllers lists. You should see TWO USB to Serial Port Adapters with COM port numbers (e.g. COM17 and COM18 in the image), and at least one USB Composite Device controller.