makerbase tft lcd board pinout brands

If you want to change some function or add new function and so on, you can refer to MKS TFT source code and build it, update it to MKS TFT, Link as below:

Since I started to “play” in the world of the 3D printers, about 4 years ago, I have always worked with electronics from MakerBase company. There has only been one exception, in the first printer that I bought and that introduced me fully to this world.

This printer mounted a proprietary board “Made in Spain”. In the rest of the machines that I have designed and assembled, I opted directly for electronics of this brand.

The quality of the board and soldering convinced me, the distribution of the components, the support for 5 motors, 3 available 5-volt outputs and of course, the “infinite memory” of it were strong points in its favor.

However, these boards are based on 8bit and as many of you know, the electronics are moving to new 32 bit architectures. So since MakerBase is a brand that builds my confidence, I’ve decided to try the recent MKS Robin Nano v1.2 on one of my machines. And as I usually do in 3DWork.io, share here my experience when working with it.

When I opened the package that I received these days ago I found an electronic board much more compact than the 8-bit ones of yesteryear. Certainly now almost all the electronics that are manufactured are reduced to the minimum possible, that is clear, but for me that I come from the 8 bits it did not stop surprising me.

In a first visual inspection you can see that they have removed 2 of the 6 connectors for the endstops (or limit switches) that usually mount all the boards. Specifically, the X + and Y + connectors. Something that seems perfect to me, since I usually use 3 of the 6 that my electronics have. And honestly, I think with having an extra free enough.

They have also vertically separated the thermistor from the heatbed (printing surface) with respect to the normal thermistors (E0 and E1), which I appreciate since you do not have to remember which one is each when it comes to plug the different cables (as in previous boards).

In addition, as it has been quite common in other boards such as SKRs, they have added specific connectors for BLTouch / 3DTouch. This greatly facilitates the installation of these servo leveling sensors. And if you need help with its configuration and modification in the Marlin firmware, you can always consult our article Install and configure BLTouch / 3DTouch in Marlin 2.0.x

Finally highlight the possibility of installing a Wifi module based on ESP12-S, something that also begins to be indispensable in this type of 32-bit electronics. Otherwise, it has the rest of the components and common sockets for this type of boards that support dual extrusion (E0 and E1).

One of the aspects that has most excited me about these boards is the latest firmware update that MakerBase has made available to its users. In previous TFT touch screens (TFT28, TFT32, etc.) the possibility of configuration and control on your machine was quite limited.

Certainly, you could add commands to the TFT display, in its configuration file for that purpose, but it was still a patch, with a command limit, and very little flexibility.

It seems that MakerBase has taken a step forward with this new update v2.0.0, which adds innumerable options for managing your printer. Now you can access countless parameters, which you could only access before by modifying and compiling Marlin.

If you are a restless Maker like me you can always install the official firmware on your MKS Robin Nano. For some time now, Marlin has officially supported this type of TFT screen, as you will know if you usually make compilations.

These new TFT35 screens have a resolution of 480×320 pixels that does not get along very well with the Marlin firmware (for now). I have made compilations with Visual Studio Code and then uploaded the firmware via SDCard and the initial result was blank screenshots.

In this video you can see how to install Marlin 2.x on an MKS Robin board without any problem. Korbinian Heel, an internet blogger, has made them work and has published all the information about it in an interesting article that you can visit at this link.

What advantages can this bring us over the official MakerBase firmware? Well, it is very simple, having any available Marlin function at the same time that a new firmware is released, without having to wait for any kind of update from the manufacturer, is that not enough?

In the following days, and if time permits, I would like to prepare a complete article in 3DWork.io on how to compile this type of firmwares for Robin Nano 32-bit boards. And of course, how to upload them to our electronics, since it gives for a complete article. If you are interested, do not hesitate to visit us periodically