Recently, I got my hands on a development board from a brand called BIGTREETECH, which has a name familiar to those who have dabbled in 3D printing.
BIQU
One of the characteristics of their products is that they always include a little yellow duck when shipped.
I received their BIGTREETECH Pi 1.2 motherboard.
You can see that this is essentially a development board.
This development board is compatible with the dimensions of the Raspberry Pi, measuring 85x56mm.
The I/O interface is also the same as the Raspberry Pi, with 40 pins.
It has made some customizations specifically for 3D printing.
It is equipped with a Allwinner H616 SoC, featuring a 4-core Cortex A53 core,
which has performance similar to that of the Raspberry Pi 3, with 1GB DDR3L of memory.
It has a CNC fan interface, an SPI interface for connecting the ADXL345 accelerometer, a CAN bus interface, and an SPI display interface (does not support MIPI DSI).
It also features a 12V power input connector, designed to accommodate the power supply for 3D printing, making wiring easier during 3D printing.
It has an HDMI 2.0 interface, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 100M Ethernet port, four USB ports, and an infrared interface. It also comes with a wireless network card that can reach speeds of 100M.
In terms of interfaces, it is quite comprehensive.
But you might wonder, what is this development board for? Isn’t it just a development board with some customized interfaces? How does it relate to 3D printing?
Well, let me tell you about the 3D printing motherboards.
When 3D printers first gained popularity in China, it coincided with the rise of Arduino. At that time, brands like Makerbot were popular.
I had not yet ventured into the DIY field, and 3D printers were still a novel concept. As time went on, a type of DIY machine appeared in the domestic market, commonly known as the delta structure, which is essentially a parallel arm.
I personally assembled a delta machine, which was quite interesting. It was my first time assembling a delta machine. Since then, aside from convenience, I have mostly purchased kits or sourced parts online to assemble my own 3D printers.
Thus, I have gained some understanding of various 3D printing motherboards.
Initially, DIY machines were predominantly based on the Arduino Mega2560.
There were almost no exceptions. The reason is simple, because of the Marlin 3D printing firmware.
This firmware was initially developed using the Arduino IDE.
Even now, if you buy a 3D printer, it is highly likely to use this firmware, which is widely used and relatively easy to configure. At this time, we essentially followed the firmware; we bought whatever development board the firmware supported. Later, Marlin adapted to STM32 chips, ESP32, and Raspberry Pi Pico.
This situation persisted for a long time, during which some other firmwares emerged, but none could shake Marlin’s dominance.
However, a fun development board eventually appeared.
Duet2
This development board comes with Wi-Fi and allows you to configure the firmware directly from a webpage.
You can set various parameters for the 3D printer. However, modifying Marlin firmware can be quite cumbersome; you first need to download the Marlin code, modify the parameters, compile the firmware, and either copy the firmware to an SD card or upload it to the development board via USB. This whole process can be very tedious. However, during DIY, we sometimes have to modify the parameters multiple times, making this entire process extremely cumbersome.
But Duet2 has simplified this process significantly; not only can you modify parameters online, but it also provides a webpage to guide you through the configuration process, making firmware modification very straightforward.
Another fantastic feature is the ability to upload print files to the machine over the network instead of using SD cards. This is a convenient feature; if the printer is not nearby, we don’t need to run back and forth to operate the machine. We can upload files from the computer, and the 3D printer will start printing automatically. All controls can also be done via the webpage.
As time has progressed, our demands for 3D printing performance have increased. For example, we want faster speeds while also achieving good print quality and more convenience with additional features. Finally, it emerged: Klipper firmware.
The key difference with this firmware is that it requires a Raspberry Pi to control a 3D printing motherboard. The Raspberry Pi handles all the calculations, while the 3D printing motherboard primarily manages the motion control.
At this point, we can easily access more features: we can install cameras to monitor the printing status, add three-axis gyroscopes for vibration compensation, solving the vibration issues caused by high-speed printing. We can also conveniently perform multi-point leveling, bed mesh, and other functions. Various advanced feature expansions are also very convenient.
You can control the 3D printer directly from a mobile app or a mobile browser, which is incredibly convenient; in fact, you don’t even need a 3D printer screen.
With this firmware, controlling the 3D printer becomes exceptionally simple: configuration can be completed directly on the webpage, and after restarting the 3D printing motherboard, the configuration takes effect.
It greatly saves time during debugging. Moreover, as long as you save the configuration file, you can immediately migrate the 3D printer configuration to any compatible environment. Now, one Raspberry Pi can control multiple 3D printers, or one Raspberry Pi can control multiple 3D printing motherboards and motors.
Originally, the story would end here, but who would have thought that the Raspberry Pi has become a treasured item, with prices rising sharply? Now, just to control a 3D printer, you have to spend several hundred more, which indeed makes it less cost-effective. In the past two years, manufacturers of 3D printing motherboards have also been launching their better-suited development boards for 3D printing environments.
The reason this has become popular is simple: as long as it can run Debian or similar Linux systems, it can install Klipper. Many people have installed Klipper on their phones or set-top boxes to control machines.
However, if you look closely at its interfaces, there are a few core competitive advantages of these new motherboards, all of which are designed around Klipper firmware.
One is the CAN interface, which can significantly reduce wiring troubles. The hotend of a 3D printer requires many wires, and connecting and replacing parts can be cumbersome. With a CAN interface, you only need four wires to connect the hotend to the motherboard, making it visually appealing and easy to replace parts.
Another is the three-axis gyroscope interface for vibration compensation, which is directly plug-and-play, making it convenient.
Lastly, how to conveniently connect the development board to the 3D printing motherboard. Currently, most still use direct USB connections, but UART interfaces can also be used, allowing for thinner wires and smaller space usage.
This has led to the emergence of development boards adapted for Klipper firmware. These development boards are also relatively affordable; for instance, the BIGTREETECH Pi 1.2 that I received is priced at 178.
Similarly, the Orange Pi Zero2 with the H616 SoC is priced at 149. However, if given a choice, I would be willing to spend an extra 30 yuan for these additional interfaces, plus the 12V power supply, making it more convenient to use.
In terms of firmware, BIGTREETECH has already configured the firmware for us; we just need to download the firmware, burn it, and set up the configuration to start printing directly. This greatly saves time.
If you are looking for a Raspberry Pi-sized development board with an H616 chip, this is also a good choice.
That’s all for today. If you have anything to say, please leave a comment below.
Recently, we developed a development board selection website. Although it is not yet very complete, we have already recorded around 400 development boards. If you are interested or have any needs, you can check out our selection website. If you have any good suggestions, feel free to share them in the group or leave us a message.
Our website domain is: findboard.cn
(Currently, we have not yet adapted for mobile. If you are accessing via mobile, the experience may not be very satisfactory. For now, we recommend using a desktop browser.)