IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 3 | Issue 09 | March 2017

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

CNC Machine based on LASER Engraver using

Arduino UNO
Mr. D. O. Shirsath Ms. A. P. Sale
Assistant Professor UG Student
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Department of Electronics & Telecommunication
Engineering Engineering
P.V.P.I.T. Budhgaon, Sangli, India P.V.P.I.T. Budhgaon, Sangli, India

Ms. S. D. Sutar Ms. P. A. Shriram

UG Student UG Student
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Department of Electronics & Telecommunication
Engineering Engineering
P.V.P.I.T. Budhgaon, Sangli, India P.V.P.I.T. Budhgaon, Sangli, India

Ms. P. D. Patil
Assistant Professor
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
P.V.P.I.T. Budhgaon, Sangli, India

Abstract
Now a days technology is increased in rapid growth the usage and implementation of CNC system in industries and colleges but
at greater cost. According to our idea on fabrication of compact and cheap cost CNC Engraver is introduced to reduce complexity,
cost and man power. This paper discuss the design and implementation of two dimensional CNC router which can engrave 2D &
Gray scaled images or pictures with help of high watt burning laser module on surface which can be a paper, wood, leather, plastic,
foam.
Keywords: Arduino ATmega328, CNC, G-Code
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION

The CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control used in the manufacturing sector that involves the use of computers to control
machine tools. Tools that can be controlled in this manner include lathes, mills, routers and grinders.
On the surface, it may look like a normal PC controls the machines, but the computer's unique software and control console are
what really sets the system apart for use in CNC machining. Under CNC Machining, machine tools function through numerical
control. A computer program is customized for an object and the machines are programmed with CNC machining language (called
G-code) that essentially controls all features like feed rate, coordination, location and speeds. With CNC machining, the computer
can control exact positioning and velocity. CNC machining is used in manufacturing both metal and plastic parts.
Inspiring from this CNC technology and revolutionary change in the world of digital electronics & Microcontroller, we are
presenting here an idea of Arduino Based CNC Machine Controller. The idea behind this project is to make a small Two Axis
CNC router which can engrave 2D and Gray scaled images or pictures with help of high watt burning laser module on surface
which can be a paper, wood, leather, plastic, foam etc. It uses two stepper motors as linear actuators on each axis X, Y. While
engraving, the proper synchronization of all this axis i.e. stepper motors, is most challenging task.
As proposed idea, the machine will be built within a miniature structure. Entire structure will be built from wooden or aluminum
sections. To keep a lowest weight as possible, aluminum will be preferred. The X, Y actuators will be made with high torque
industrial stepper motors & Timing Belt Pulley combinations. The stepper motors will be driven by A3967 based micro stepping
stepper motor drivers. It drives & controls the operations of stepper motor by using STEP-DIR algorithm. It provides high current
play on each coil of stepper motor. It controls the stepper by giving supply voltage directly to the coils of the stepper motors
(Bipolar Logic). The high watt Ultraviolet Laser diode is used to engrave objects which has ultimate burning power. The brain
behind the system will be AVR ATMEGA 328 Based control unit with Arduino programming structure. Arduino is todays most
popular open source hardware prototyping platform. Arduino will receive the G-Code over serial port from the G-code interpreter
& sender utility tool running on PC and will give the actuation commands to the stepper motor controller. The G-code parser
program is loaded into the Arduino microcontroller.

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 CNC Machine based on LASER Engraver using Arduino UNO
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II. RELATED WORK

From this module we describes the design of a small two dimensional CNC router, monitoring and controlling system based on
stepper motor using Arduino. Some of the previous systems used three dimensional CNC machines to design, milling and drilling
etc.[1]. In old paper CNC machines was suitable for designing metallic and non-metallic materials using three axis. The biggest
drawback of these systems was complexity, costly and high weight of model. To overcome these problems we proposed an idea
of desiging two axis CNC router which has low weight as compared to previous one because of two axis and wooden material with
compact size. In our system we have to give instructions through the software which is installed in laptop and it contains G code
to CNC router via Microcontroller Arduino then signals applied to stepper motor driver and according to changes in position and
location as per the commands laser starts to engrave the images on given object, and laser module is operated by laser driver. The
object may be all non- Metallic materials like wood, foam, plastic, rubber, paper.

III. THEORY

Arduino Uno

Fig. 1: Arduino Uno

The arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328, It has 14 digital input/output pins, 6 analog input, a 16 MHZ
crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. The Uno differ from all preceding boards
in that it does not use the FTDI USB to serial driver chip.UNO means one in Italian and is named to mark the upcoming release
of arduino 1.0. The Uno is the latest in a series of USB Arduino boards and reference model for Arduino platform. The Arduino
Uno can power via the USB connection or with external power supply. External power can come either from an AC to DC adapter
or battery.

Features of Arduino
1) Microcontroller ATmega328
2) Operating Voltage 5V
3) Input Voltage 7-9 V
4) Digital I/O Pins 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
5) Analog Input Pins 8 (of which 4 are broken out onto pins)
6) DC Current per I/O Pin 40 mA
7) Flash Memory 32 KB (2 KB used by bootloader)
8) SRAM 2 KB

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 CNC Machine based on LASER Engraver using Arduino UNO
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9) EEPROM 1KB
10) Clock Speed 16 MHz

Stepper Motor

Fig. 2: Stepper Motor

Stepper Motor Specifications

Table 1
Stepper Motor Specifications
Size NEMA 17
Drive system Bipolar
Step angle 1.8 full
Phase/Windings 4/2
Voltage & Current 12V at 400 mA
Weight 0.24 kg (0.5 lbs.)
Max continuous power 5W
Leads 18 in
Motor height 1.5 in.
Bearings Ball

IV. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY

Fig. 3: Block Diagram

The basic block diagram of proposed system is as shown in figure3.The arduino is an open source electronics prototyping platform
based on flexible, easy to use hardware and software. In this paper engraving is done by the CNC machine module and CNC
machine understand only G-code language. G-code stands for Gerberic code. It is the programming language which includes set
of commands on which CNC machine operate. Command gives path, position and direction for engraving given image. Image may
be consist of logo, nameplates, shapes, and letters.
In this paper G-codes are generated by the software LX Easy Tool code. In that software according to customer requirements
we can insert the image for engraving-code .Engraving means burning process on given object which is done by LASER module
according to command given by G-code.

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 CNC Machine based on LASER Engraver using Arduino UNO
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V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

As show in figure 3, G-code is given to Atmega328 controller from the Laptop. In this, we are using two stepper motors to control
two axis, since we require two stepper drivers for operating stepper motors. One is for X axis and second for Y axis. Laser module
is kept constant at the Y axis.

Steps for Procedure to Design

Put the image which is to be engraving into the software.
Software generates G code for relative image. Then it is send to Micro controller-ATMEGA328.
The arduino can be programmed with arduino software (IDE).
Stepper motor drivers, laser driver will move according to the signals specification and laser starts to engrave on the object.

Fig. 4: Steps for Procedure to Design

Software Implementation
The part of software programming is through Arduino Uno software (IDE). It is easy to write code and upload it to the board.C
and C++ language are used for programming in Arduino.

VI. CONCLUSION

By using Arduino uno and G code it is possible to engrave any shape on any non-metallic surface with LASER.

VII. FUTURE SCOPE

Using high wattage LASER module we can engrave the tools in three dimension.

REFERENCES
[1] http://www.brighthubengineering.com/manufacturing-technology/55787-what-is-the-cnc-machine-how-cnc-machine-works/
[2] http://wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/eng/mae/courses/460-564/Course-Notes/CNC%20notes.pdf
[3] http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~mech410/CAM_references/CNC_Computer_Numerical_Control_Programmig_Basics.pdf
[4] https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Robotics/A3967.pdf
[5] www.arduino.cc
[6] http://www.adafruit.com/products/1438
[7] http://www.instructables.com

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