Tests conducted on an ATmega1284P microcontroller running at 16 MHz with Marlin 2.1.x firmware demonstrate that using G2/G3 arc commands is more efficient than G1 segments. The setup included active S-curve, Linear Advance, and ZV Input Shaping features.
When comparing G2/G3 commands against G1 segments with an equal number of planner blocks, G1 was approximately 22% slower. Further testing with smaller G1 segments showed that G2 commands executed circles 2.2 to 6.8 times faster while maintaining smoother motion.
Data transmission tests via UART at 250,000 baud revealed a significant performance gap. Executing 7,542 G1 commands took 70.029 seconds, while six G2 commands completed in 7.656 seconds, representing a nearly 10-fold speed advantage.
The G1 transmission process suffered from buffer overflows, checksum errors, and required retransmissions, leading to mechanical jerks. In contrast, G2 commands reduced the overhead of reading G-code, parsing ASCII, and managing UART communication, resulting in smoother operation.
