Actually, grbl is the code that is running on the Arduino. What you are attempting to do is to communicate with the Arduino (running grbl) from your USB port on the computer.
If you have the Arduino IDE installed on your machine you can get a little closer to the actual hardware if you try testing with the Arduino IDE serial monitor.
Take a look at this thread to see if you want to try that:
āGRBL is communicating with the arduino through a usbmodem port (OSX).ā - Sorry bout that, getting all my acronyms mixed up.
I am able to communicate using the arduino IDE serial monitor.
āGrbl 0.9j [ā$ā for help]
$0=10 (step pulse, usec)
$1=25 (step idle delay, msec)
$2=0 (step port invert mask:00000000)
$3=0 (dir port invert mask:00000000)
$4=0 (step enable invert, bool)
$5=0 (limit pins invert, bool)
$6=0 (probe pin invert, bool)
$10=3 (status report mask:00000011)
$11=0.010 (junction deviation, mm)
$12=0.002 (arc tolerance, mm)
$13=0 (report inches, bool)
$20=0 (soft limits, bool)
$21=0 (hard limits, bool)
$22=0 (homing cycle, bool)
$23=0 (homing dir invert mask:00000000)
$24=25.000 (homing feed, mm/min)
$25=500.000 (homing seek, mm/min)
$26=250 (homing debounce, msec)
$27=1.000 (homing pull-off, mm)
$100=250.000 (x, step/mm)
$101=250.000 (y, step/mm)
$102=188.976 (z, step/mm)
$110=500.000 (x max rate, mm/min)
$111=500.000 (y max rate, mm/min)
$112=500.000 (z max rate, mm/min)
$120=10.000 (x accel, mm/sec^2)
$121=10.000 (y accel, mm/sec^2)
$122=10.000 (z accel, mm/sec^2)
$130=790.000 (x max travel, mm)
$131=790.000 (y max travel, mm)
$132=200.000 (z max travel, mm)
okā
I just switched over to the inventables grbl fork.
$0=10 (step pulse, usec)
$1=255 (step idle delay, msec)
$2=0 (step port invert mask:00000000)
$3=3 (dir port invert mask:00000011)
$4=0 (step enable invert, bool)
$5=0 (limit pins invert, bool)
$6=0 (probe pin invert, bool)
$10=3 (status report mask:00000011)
$11=0.020 (junction deviation, mm)
$12=0.002 (arc tolerance, mm)
$13=0 (report inches, bool)
$20=0 (soft limits, bool)
$21=0 (hard limits, bool)
$22=0 (homing cycle, bool)
$23=3 (homing dir invert mask:00000011)
$24=25.000 (homing feed, mm/min)
$25=750.000 (homing seek, mm/min)
$26=250 (homing debounce, msec)
$27=1.000 (homing pull-off, mm)
$30=1. (rpm max)
$31=0. (rpm min)
$100=40.000 (x, step/mm)
$101=40.000 (y, step/mm)
$102=188.976 (z, step/mm)
$110=8000.000 (x max rate, mm/min)
$111=8000.000 (y max rate, mm/min)
$112=500.000 (z max rate, mm/min)
$120=500.000 (x accel, mm/sec^2)
$121=500.000 (y accel, mm/sec^2)
$122=50.000 (z accel, mm/sec^2)
$130=790.000 (x max travel, mm)
$131=790.000 (y max travel, mm)
$132=100.000 (z max travel, mm)
ok
Thatās much better.
With the power off, manually move your machine to the middle of travel on the X and Y axis.
Power everything up and start the serial monitor.
Enter the command $X
Enter the command; G21 G91 G0 X100
this says dimensions are mm, use relative movements, rapid move X +100 mm from the current position.
If that works then try G21 G91 G0 Y100
That should be about the most simple test for motor movement you can try.
@LarryM - Thanks for all your help so far. I really appreciate it.
Iāve sent the commands, and Iām receiving back āokā so I know theyāve been received, but still no movement. Iām back to thinking somethingās up with the g-shield itself.
Iāve triple checked my wiring, and Iām able to get the automatic spindle control to kick on, but the motors just arenāt activating. Iām going to take a breather for the rest of the day and wait to hear back from inventables support.
Could be gShield or Arduino.
@RobertCanning - The blue LED is on when I turn on the power supply, but no green LEDs when sending commands.
I do get the green LEDs to turn on if I (with the power supply off) adjust the position of the motors manually.
Here are a few pics. If youād like me to focus in more on a specific part, I can do that.
If you want to test your arduino, you can detach it from the gshield and load a simple blink sketch onto it and test the voltage coming off each of the pins (or connect each to an led, and watch them blink).
That would verify that the pins are functional on the Arduino.
Once done, you can just reflash GRBL to it.
EDIT: donāt know why this is tagged as responding to Larry
Iāve ruled out the arduino as the problem. I tested every pin just to make sure.
If I have to take a guess, itās the stepper drivers. I know power is being supplied to them and control signals are being received, but for one reason or another theyāre not activating the motors.
Thanks everybody for your help, but Iām putting my faith in inventables support now.
Once again, thanks everyone for your help.
Inventables sent me a new gsheild and Iām back up and running!
Glad to hear you are up and running again.
I have the same problem as you, commands are received but no motors movement. I tested the motors using the shield with a basic arduino code and they work fine, but when I try to control them with UGS they donāt move. Tested everything with 2 types of drivers(A4988 and DRV8255). I tried to control a SG90 Servo connected to the shield with UGS and it works. I donāt know what to do anymore. Is the shield broken?