Around two years ago, we noted beta Marlin 2.0 support for ESP32 and some initiatives to create ESP32 powered 3D printer controller boards with built-in WiFi connectivity. Now Marlin 2.0 firmware officially supports ESP32 boards such as FYSETC E4, E4d@BOX, or MRR ESPA.
Another ESP32 based 3D printer controller board has now been brought to my attention. PandaZhu supports up to eight motor drivers, up to three heaters, up to three thermistors, one external LCD display, and on the software-side, the board is compatible with Marlin 2.0 as well as ESP3D WebUI.
PandaZhu board’s specifications:
- Wireless module – ESP32-WROOM-32 based on Espressif ESP32 dual-core Xtensa processor @ 240MHz with 520 KB SRAM, plus 4MB flash
- Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n up to 150 Mbps, Bluetooth 4.2
- 3D printer peripherals
- Up to 8x motor drivers
- Up to 3x heaters
- Up to 3x thermistors with 30°C to 250°C range,
- BLTouch auto-leveling sensor with a 5-36V voltage range
- Display – 128×64 PandaTouchScreen or DGUS touchscreen display
- Expansion – 24x GPIOs (only as output) via expander, the expanded GPIO speed is 70kHz
- Misc
- 5V/24V fans with3 of them being controllable (PWM?) fans
- Buzzer pins to play music at boot, for error/alarm
You’ll find PDF schematics, the pinout map, and a fork of Marlin 2.0 firmware on Github. The board is offered barebone or with up to eight TMC2209(MKV) motor driver modules and/or cloneBLTouch, which should be a clone of the BLTouch auto-leveling sensor.
You’ll find a video demo with ESP3D Webui and PandaZhu connected to an Ender 3D printer below.
The developer (Mark) is selling PandaZhu board his own website (PandaPi) with price starting at $38.25 for the board only, and up to $76.5 with eight TMC2209 motor driver ICs. Alternatively, you’ll find all options on Tindie but without discounts at this time.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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It’s an interesting board and the price is right, but with those temperature limitations it’s a no go.