FluidNC controller, pendant and apps, from one maker
One controller.
For CNC routers, lasers and your own machines.
Run a router or a laser from your browser and design the job: that works today. Automating a robot arm or a conveyor with Motion is in beta, and pick and place is in beta through the R&D Club. With the dpCREATOR firmware, every job picks up where it stopped after a power cut.
- CNC router
- Laser
- Plotter
- Robot arm
- Conveyor and test rig
- Pick and place
- Something nobody has built yet
How it fits together
Four layers. Start with the board and add what your machine needs; each one works on its own. What is free and what is paid
dpCREATOR R3Ethernet, opto-isolated inputs, RS485 for the spindle and an SD card. Or bring your own: 21 ESP32 boards are on the list.
2 · The firmwaredpCREATOR FluidNCFluidNC 4.1 with job recovery after a power cut, wired Ethernet and a login. Free, flashed from the browser.
3 · The apps on the boardOpen in any browserThey live in the controller's own memory: no install on your computer, no cloud. Pick them when you flash.
4 · At the machine
SmartTabUI pendantA real handwheel, a hardware E-stop and a touchscreen. Works with the R3 and with WROOM-32 boards.
What are you building?
Same controller each time. Only the apps change.
CNC router
Design in Studio, run it in the WebUI with a live 3D toolpath, jog and zero from the pendant.
WebUI · Studio · Pendant
Laser or plotter
Import an SVG, DXF, PDF or a picture in Studio and send it to the SD card. Studio Basic is free.
Studio · WebUI
Robot arm Beta
Add each joint, test it, teach the positions and run the sequence from the controller, or start it from the pendant.
Motion · Pendant
Conveyor or test rig Beta
Motors, sensors, relays and outputs put to work without G-code or config files. Motion writes both.
Motion
Pick and place Beta
Top and bottom cameras find the board and check each part; the vacuum nozzle places them from cut strips and trays.
PnP · WebUI
Your own machine Beta
Every axis, input, relay and output of the controller put to work. Wire one part, test it, then add the next.
Motion · WebUI · Pendant
The apps
Ticked when you flash, installed on the board over USB, opened from any browser on your network.
Power cut at line 18 240? Carry on from there.
The board records the job as it runs. After a power cut or an E-stop it suggests the safest place to restart, lets you dry-run to it, and resumes. From the WebUI or the pendant.
See it run
Four minutes from design to a finished part. Studio makes the job, the WebUI and the pendant run it, and Motion and the install page show what else the controller can do.
Ready to run
Assembled, flashed and tested. Plug in, then configure your machine.
Save €40.98R3 controller + SmartTabUI pendant
Controller and assembled pendant on matching firmware, tested together. Pendant and WebUI licences included.
dpCREATOR R3 controller
4-axis FluidNC controller with W5500 Ethernet, RS485 for VFDs, SD card and a pendant port with hardware E-stop. dpCREATOR WebUI included.
SmartTabUI pendant, assembled
2.8″ touchscreen, handwheel, E-stop and selectors in a PETG case. Flashed, SmartTabUI licence included.
dpCREATOR Link
A small box that gives your existing CNC machine a modern brain. Plugs into GRBL, grblHAL and Mach3 USB boards over USB, or takes over a parallel-port machine. WebUI, pendant and job recovery, without a PC next to the machine.
Build it yourself
Firmware and print files for your own pendant, and free firmware for the controller.
SmartTabUI pendant firmware
Licensed firmware for the JC2432W328C display, flashed from this site, with free updates.
SmartTabUI case, PETG print files
3MF files for the case: display, handwheel, E-stop, selectors and GX12 connector.
Controller firmware
FluidNC with Ethernet for dpCREATOR R2 and R3, latest build, flashed from your browser.
Set up any ESP32 board in one page
Pick your board from 21, pick a ready config, tick the apps, type your Wi-Fi and a login. The page flashes, writes and checks it all over USB, then shows the board's address.
Set up my board
Try the pendant here
The SmartTabUI pendant running a simulated machine in your browser. The knobs, the handwheel, the touchscreen and the E-stop all work.
Full demo with the WebUIBuild it first: the R&D Club
Before launch, 10 makers get the SmartTabUI firmware and the WebUI free to build and test on their own machines, and try new apps like PnP first. The 3 best builds get a dpCREATOR R3 controller.
Documentation
- Getting started
- Set up any ESP32 FluidNC board
- The controller · the pendant · firmware
- Automate any project with Motion
- PnP beta: read before you start
- Troubleshooting
Designed and built by a CNC engineer. Earlier boards: where the R2 and R3 come from.