This page has been copied from v1.2 so there may be a couple discrepancies while it is finished.
RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield, or RAMPS for short. It is designed to fit the entire electronics needed for a RepRap in one small package for low cost. RAMPS interfaces an Arduino MEGA with the powerful Arduino MEGA platform and has plenty of room for expansion. The modular design includes plug-in stepper drivers and extruder control electronics on an Arduino MEGA shield for easy service, part replacement, upgrade-ability and expansion. Additionally as long as the main RAMPS board is kept to the top of the stack a number of Arduino expansion boards can be added to the system.
As of version 1.3, and in order to fit more stuff, RAMPS is no longer designed for easy circuit home etching. If you want to etch your own PCB either get version 1.25 or Generation_7_Electronics. Version 1.25 and earlier are "1.5 layer" designed boards (i.e. it's double sided board, but one of layers can easily be replaced with wire-jumpers) that is printable on your RepRap with the etch resist pen method, or home fabbed with toner transfer.
You can omit D1, the 1N4004 diode. The diode can be omitted, although it may be needed in the future for printing from SD or USB. This will power the Arduino from the shield's 12V input. All diodes must be oriented correctly.
If you are using higher than 12V to power the shield you should omit the diode to prevent damage to the Arduino and the logic sides of the stepper drivers.Warning: The high side of the stepper boards are designed to accept up to 35V, but if you do this the heater and other high side outputs will be at that voltage also. You may need to adjust the heater resistance, etc.
The barrel connector (DC power input) on the Arduino MEGA itself is not used for our application.
Sprinter - This is a firmware for RAMPS and other reprap single-processor electronics setups. It supports printing from SD card, active heatbed control, and ATmega internal pullups.
Q: What power supply you recommend for your ramps board. I have just finished assembly and looking at the diagrams for a pc power supply and wondering about the separate amperages for the extruder and heated bed. Can they be higher amps without damage?
A: Yes, the power supply being capable of more amps than required is the desired configuration. The current shown are the max supported by RAMPS and is the minimum the power supply should be capable of. It is also OK to have both of the inputs on RAMPS connected to one PSU with enough capacity. If you are not using a heated bed the entire thing can run off the 5A side (D8 will just not work). In terms of voltage, you should start off with the recommended voltage of +12 VDC and then once you have it running without issues, can consider higher voltages after considering all of the risks and benefits.
This page was last edited on 29 October 2018, at 08:48.