So, like OctoPrint? :)
I have my printer connected via USB to a Raspberry Pi 2 with a WiFi adapter, and send my gcode wirelessly from my PC (drag & drop to the webserver running on the Pi).
If you already have a Pi, just download OctoPi, write it to an SD card, set your SSID/password in octopi-network.txt, plug your printer to it and you're done! Go to http://octopi.local from your PC and start printing :)
If you don't have your Pi now, get a Pi3 as it has built-in WiFi. The Pi2 works with cheap USB Wifi dongles but not all of them are supported out of the box. This isn't an issue with the Pi3.
I came here to advise you to use the iPad together with a Raspberry Pi. Turns out you already have one!
Instead of fiddling with a host on the iPad, it would be easier to install octoprint on the RaspberryPi (readily available as a flashable distribution "octopi"). Octoprint would then host a web interface, which you can open on the iPad to control the printer. The image "octopi" can be directly flashed onto an sd card and comes with everything you need. You can even hook up a webcam to it.
The pre-built image OctoPi already contains a library to display on an LCD screen. It's called OctoPiPanel.
OctoPi image: http://octoprint.org/download/ OctoPiPanel: https://github.com/jonaslorander/OctoPiPanel
I am surprised that nobody mentioned Octoprint yet.
http://octoprint.org/
I originally used it solely for monitoring prints, but I have grown to use it for printer controlling tasks.
pro:
* free + open source
* Control your printer
* monitor temperatures
* create timelapse videos of your prints
con:
* you need a raspberry pi (or similar: you can cheap out with nano pi, orange pi etc.)
* you need to get it configured (but there is now a wizard, making things easier. Nonetheless, getting the webcam to work is sometimes a bit finicky. The community support is great, though).
Edit: a raspberry pi offers the opportunity to install "octopi" which is a complete distribution (raspbian-derivate, I believe) with Octoprint pre-installed. An image ready for the sd-card.
Alternatives would be Astroprint (An Octoprint derivate with a UI aimed to be simpler/nicer) or Repetier Server, which would require a paid license for webcam support.
$25 RaspberryPi + $5 case + $5 microSD + OctoPrint = 100% WiFi printing and slicing....
I would never go back to USB.
Edit: I keep typing OctiPrint... when it is OctoPrint....
I built OctoPrint in Python (Github), since I already had played around with Python in the past and knew it to be a solid language with very good library infrastructure and some nifty language features that make for getting good results in a speedy way. That project has not only solved a huge problem I was having when I started it (remote controlling my 3d printer via a web interface), but also since then has turned me from a mostly-Java dev into a mostly-Python dev, and thanks to an awesome company also has me working on it as my full time job.
Python has really allowed me to do some very cool stuff in that context, and I'm not sure OctoPrint would be where it is today if I had used a different language considering how that language enabled me to solve problems. Also I've learnt an epic ton of stuff about the language over the past years (with constant "that's possible? That's so neat!"), and I hope I've finally gotten to a point where I'm no longer writing Java in Python but real Python instead ;)
Certainly! Here's the link to the OctoPrint page: http://octoprint.org What you are looking for is a the OctoPi image for RaspberryPi. It'll basically make your RaspberryPi into a dedicated print server with a web interface. If you have the camera module for the Pi, it'll enable you to also monitor the print, and make time-lapse videos, but it's optional. Here's a great how-to video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHzN_MwunmE
It is the version of OctoPrint that runs on a Raspberry Pi.
It is very simple to setup. You will need to do some searching, but he basic steps are as follows:
buy a "RaspberryPi 3" (Single board computer, they are very inexpesive.) You will need the mainboard, case, power. I recommend you get one with built-in WiFi so you don't need a wifi dongle. You do not need a screen or touchscreen!)
Format an SD card and put OctoPi on it, and adjust some default settings in the config files. (All the details are on OctoPrint.org.)
Put the SD Card into the Pi
Plug your printer into the Pi
Power up the PI and connect to it's web interface
It can also support a web-cam that you can monitor via the web interface. Either via USB or a Raspberry Pi camera that has a standard Pi ribbon cable.
I use Octoprint/Octopi on a Raspberry Pi 2B.
It sets itself up as a local server on your wireless network, so you go to octopi.local on your PC/smartphone/tablet and you can control your printer from there. It even comes with Cura Engine, so you can send STLs to it and (slowly) slice them remotely. It also supports a live webcam feed and timelapse out of the box.
Have you found these models online?
If not, do you possess 3D modeling skills?
You can pick up the skills without having a printer, if you want to make custom things. If you don't want to deal with the maintenance you can send your 3d models off to a service such as shape-ways and for a few bucks receive the physical product in the mail.
Otherwise: Got coding skills? I would look at OctoPrint and check out their forums.
http://octoprint.org/ OctoPrint will give your printer, among other things, a web interface and wifi. You can put this on a raspberry pi ($50) and plug it into a 3d printer from ebay that costs about 320 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Prusa-i3-3D-Printer-Kit-w-Auto-Bed-Leveling-SD-Card-Reader-USB-2-0-Bundle-/181905707409?)
Otherwise: Pick up a ~$1,200 pre-assembled ready-to-go flashforge. Buy a $180 astroprint https://www.astroprint.com/ and plug it in. (Astroprint is all the features you asked for, plug and play)
In summary:
What do you have more of time(want to learn) or money(just want things at the press of a button)?
Hope this helps.
Yup, just get an old B+ for cheap and load up Octoprint. It totally changed my experience with 3d printing.
When I was running my printer off my windows machine, it was alright, but updates and shit drove me nuts.
Running it off of Octoprint though, goes like this 1. Upload the gcode. 2. Click print. 3. Walk away and check the webcam once in a while. 4. Live my life.
Link: http://octoprint.org/
If you have a rasberry pi you can use octoprint along with a pi camera to do this. http://octoprint.org/
It works as a printer host as well so you can control your printer remotely and kill a print if something goes wrong.
It gives you a web GUI for the lot. See the website. OctoPrint is the name of the software, and Octopi is an SD card image for the Raspberry Pi with it already installed.
I think octoprint can do this.
I'm not sure, as I have it but don't use it. I don't like to run my printers unattended or remotely, for a variety of reasons. But the selling point at the time I originally acquired octoprint and set it up on a raspberry pi was that you can manage multiple printers remotely. So I assume the functionality you are looking for can be done with octoprint.
Edit: the wiki shows an additional addon called octoscript specifically for print farms to control multiple printers at once. So yes, you can do this with octoprint.
I just posted this on another thread:
I have a Mk2 that I've had for over a year. I have a Mk2s I've had for 2-3 months. I print stuff to sell at craft shows.
Sometimes, the filament will have run out. I'm bad at keeping track. I should watch it better, but I'm lazy.
One time, I had a filament snag in the middle of the roll and it broke and it air-printed the last 30%. Eh, sucks but I just start it again and move on.
I preordered the Mk3 on the first day it was available to order. That'll take care of my filament issue/laziness.
They just print. That's it. No fiddling. No necessary mods. I did put on Igus bushings (RJZM-02-08 if you're curious) but that was just for noise - not necessary to make it better/faster/safer.
If you have kids that need your time, you want a Prusa.
I use Hatchbox filament. I originally used like 95% Hatchbox, but I swear AMZ3D comes from the same manufacturer. I totaled it up yesterday for shits and giggles. I have purchased 44 rolls of Hatchbox from Amazon in (guessing here) 28 colors. Here's my wad of color chits. I have also purchased 25 rolls of AMZ3D in 10 colors or so. I buy their red, blue, yellow, black because they are sometimes on sale for ~$15.00 and I buy 3 at a time of each.
Anyway, with the Hatchbox/AMZ3D and Prusa i3 combo, I just print.
Also, Octoprint. Just do it. It's easy. It's Awesome. Get a raspberry pi 3b and USB camera and just do it.
Open msconfig and remove all startup items, hide all Microsoft services and turn off all remaining services, reboot then turn off your AV. Try again.
Honestly the best thing to do is to buy a $40 Raspberry Pi 3 and setup an OctoPrint server.
Definately get a Raspberry Pi 3 and setup OctoPrint. It is a PITA to be tethered to the printer during the entire duration of a print (or every time you want to add, remove, or change something). Later you can add a color touchscreen to your OctoPi for complete control.
I didn't like the placement of the stock spool holder so I printed this one.
What you want is a Raspberry pi. I use the model 3. Along with the power supply and a webcam it was like $60 from Amazon - maybe less. Anyway, get that, print out a case from thingiverse (or leave it out in the open), and download the image here: http://octoprint.org/download/.
Follow the 5 step instructions on that page and you're done. It's really easy and if you're a developer, this will be nothing for you.
You can buy plenty of 3d printers, set them up and go, but they're going to be more expensive than the delta. Most printers are going to need some amount of fiddling with though
I've printed a few. The quality isn't as good as commercially made figures (though that's probably due to me not having a super expensive printer and doing minimal post processing.) This is especially true of smaller prints or small thin parts.
That being said, I think they're better than using paper figures or tokens. I'm hoping that the more I print and paint, the better I get at it. This guy has been modeling every monster in the Monster Manual, so its not like I'll run out of things to print!
I print everything in white PLA so its easier to paint. I'm using a Monoprice Maker Select V2 and Octoprint. I normally use craft acrylic paints (usually Apple Barrel brand but only because they're cheap).
Take a look at the "Getting started with Octoprint section":
http://octoprint.org/download/
You need:
It's not too hard, if you want to try it out get the OctoPi image as opposed to installing it via apt-get. It's got haproxy already installed so you'll be able to just follow a how to guide with the exception of your exact router's method for port forwarding. Course I love me some raspberry pi, had an extra just waiting for such a job!
http://octoprint.org/download/
https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint/wiki
Got mine setup for remote viewing and control, along with duckdns.org to not have to worry about my external IP address changing.
Literally doesn't get easier. If your camera doesn't "just work", you might need to add the -y parameter to /boot/octopi.txt in which case chuck that camera and get one on the supported list.
https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint/wiki/Setup-on-a-Raspberry-Pi-running-Raspbian#webcam
>Note: If your webcam requires switching to YUV mode in order to work at all, it is strongly recommended to instead use a webcam that natively supports MJPG. For YUV cameras mjpg_streamer will need to transcode all data from the camera to MJPG on your Raspberry Pi, which will put a lot of strain on its CPU (YUV mode at around 30-40% vs MJPG mode at around 1-2%). This MIGHT negatively influence print quality, so better get yourself a cheap MJPG compatible webcam. See this wiki page for a compatibility list and steer clear of cams that require -y to work.
That sounds like you are trying to open the .img file in your text editor. You have to flash the .img file to your sd first, then use it as a thumb drive and edit the network config file. See the setup guide right beneath the download link
1) I've had my Robo for 9 months. It has been reliable.
2) Yes. It is true out of the box printing. Like many other printers you shouldn't have to tweak or mod it to get it work reliably. It has auto leveling so you won't have to screw around with a piece of paper to manually level (unless you really want to).
3) Adhesion/reliability.
Whatever printer you choose I would recommend that you setup an OctoPrint server.
If it changes your decision, you don't need to connect the printer to your desktop ever. I find it even more convenient to connect the printer to a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint. It gives me mobile access to the printer, I can send GCode to it as if I was running it right next to me, and the power consumption of the Pi is a fraction that of my huge PC.
It's what I use. I have it set up with a RaspberryPi and it lets you do just about anything from it. Only thing I haven't gotten it to do is remove the print from the bed.
No.. It sounds like this is going to be your first printer? Buy a kit from somebody instead. Whether you get something from Wanhao, Makerfarm, or a Folgertech even, you should get your feet wet on something that's had its components properly sourced first.
Oh, and the raspberry pi thing.. You still need a proper control board like a RUMBA. You can control the RUMBA board with a raspberry pi with something like Octoprint but you still need the RUMBA board.
Look at Octoprint, which might already be doing what you were intending to do. It can broadcast a live webcam stream, make timelapse videos, remotely start/pause/cancel prints, and message you when your print is finished via Pushbullet.
I just got a printrbot simple at the office, and so far it's great. We also have a replicator 5th gen. So far the printrbot is out preforming the 5th gen in a lot of ways. A big one is price the printrbot simple metal starts at $599 and you have the option to add a heated bed. There is also the printrbot play which is pretty small but only cost $399. http://printrbot.com/compare-printers/ It's not as simple as the replicator mini to use but you have much more control over the machine. You can directly control the hotend location and height through the interface. We have ours running through a raspberry pi using octoprint. We have been able to print everything without a raft. Octoprint supports webcams so you can use your own webcam to monitor prints and record timelapses.
You can do this with Octoprint and a Raspberry Pi. Gives you a lovely web interface and you can connect a camera and get good time lapse photos of your print in progress. I wouldn't go any other way. Easiest way is to download the full Octopi image. Install it to an SD card and you're off to the races.
For the Printrbot Simple Metal, I've had mine for about 3 weeks and I LOVE it. I found it a little difficult to calibrate at first but that was my noob showing. Been printing like a mad man and this printer works really well. I get pretty decent resolution. Made some small 15mm miniatures with it that look great.
Editted...forgot to include the link to Octopi: http://octoprint.org/download/
One thing I would suggest if you get this printer is to get the heated bed upgrade. Makes getting good adhesion a lot better and it is a necessary upgrade if you want to try any materials other than PLA.
I cannot recommend the LulzBot Mini highly enough.
We've been printing with ours for just a couple of weeks, but this thing is rock solid.
All-metal hotend means you have a ton of material choices, including nylons and composite materials.
Self-leveling bed means that you don't have to mess around with manually leveling it, and it seems to print perfectly every time.
Heated buildplate means you can print with ABS (though you'll probably want to build an enclosure if you're making large ABS prints, to help prevent warping).
Decent build volume for the price (6" x 6" x 6.2" for $1350).
Biggest downside? No internal memory, so you'll need to keep it hooked up to your computer when you're printing, or set it up with a cheap print server like OctoPrint.
Well aware, but thanks :)
Once I go the route of repetier firmware, I'll have XYZWare wiped from my machine and a Raspberry Pi running Octoprint will be driving the Da Vinci.
I'm in the process of upgrading my 8" i3 to the 10" i3v. I'd recommend printing yourself a raspberry pi case and installing Octoprint on it to control it via browser over WiFi.
A nice digital caliper. A set of fine files for filing off various bits of extra plastic. If they are using bronzefill do some research in the forums about getting the right rock tumbler. A raspberry pi with webcam (see Octoprint! )
The OS on the Pi doesn't really matter for controlling the printer. I'm running Raspbian on mine with Octoprint installed.
It has a webcam attached and is accessible from the internet. So I can check on my print when not at home.
Yep! With the Raspberry Pi running a image with Octoprint I can control the printer and upload G-code files to it. It's much handier than using the USB cable or moving SD cards around. This is the interface of Octoprint: http://i.imgur.com/elf56Mq.png
Yes. I experimented with it once and it is horribly slow. Even a very small 2MB gcode file takes minutes. It's completely unusable.
If you really want Wifi printing you would probably need to add something like http://octoprint.org/ on a Raspberry Pi that is plugged in USB to the printer.
All my parts are coming in Saturday. If you'd rather have the whole kit it's more expensive than the individual parts would cost but it saves you a lot of time. They're called Octoprint kits and can be found (here)
From a little googleing, it looks like 3DPrinterOS uses a proprietary slicer that's cloud based. If you want something similar (to the experience of 3DPrinterOS), I would suggest getting a Raspberry Pi and running Octoprint on it.
Octprint has instructions to install it manually on top of your OS:
http://octoprint.org/download/ and scroll down to "Installing from Source"
...while I couldn't find the same for Astroprint, as only a pre-packaged OS Image is available.
https://astroprint.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202638775-Creating-your-own-Raspberry-Pi-AstroBox
So in an ideal world, you could use NOOBS to install Raspbian as the most common Raspberry Pi OS and then install the Astroprint and Octoprint software as applications inside the same OS and then you could run them at the same time.
But in this case, you only seem to have access to an OS image for Astroprint and thus you will need to use BerryBoot to switch between the Astroprint and Octoprint environments and you can only run one at a time.
No, a USB to SD adapter will not allow you to print from SD.
If you want to enhance the capabilities of a USB only printer, I'd look at OctoPrint running on a Raspberry PI. While you can use that to print from an SD card, my recommended workflow for 3d printing with that setup is to do your design and preparation on your PC/Mac/Linux box and generate the gcode there, then use the Octoprint web interface to copy the files to the printer over your local network (wifi).
A RaspberryPi is about $35 + power supply, SD card and Wifi adapter ~= $60-70 depending on source. You can presumably print your own case, so I'm not adding that as an item (There are 5,000 of them on thingiverse). You may want to add a cheap webcam, as that will allow you to monitor your print remotely if set up correctly.
Octoprint: http://octoprint.org/
OctoPi: https://octopi.octoprint.org/
I haven't bought my first printer yet but am looking closely at this or the v2. Since I can't place the printer close to where my PC actually is, I was thinking of using an rPi running something like OctoPrint to control the printer instead.
I've actually head that the USB interface is actually quite slow compared to the SD card though? Sounds like USB is really standard RS232 serial over USB, and I would guess the SD is using SPI which may explain the speed differences there.
I actually prefer the character display on the 2.1 over the Select Plus though but I guess both would be moot when using an rPi with a web interface.
I'm not aware of any platform designed to run on android. There is a simple and easy to run print server that is designed to run on linux called OctoPrint and it runs great on a Raspberry Pi.
I know its not exactly what your looking for, but its probably as close as you're going to get.
Octoprint + Raspberri pi
All day.
Been using this since day one. Remote access if you can get port forwarding to work on your router, otherwise great for wireless network access. Get the Pi Camera too for monitoring/timelapses.
Drag and drop gcode files generated from slicer of choice right to the web interface of octoprint.
You might want to consider setting up a Raspberry Pi with OctoPrint. Not only will it let you shut down your PC when you're printing it can also (if you hook up a webcam) record a montage and automatically upload to YouTube so you can see where the print went wrong.
Not sure about the other questions, but if you want to cut the cord to the printer you can try using a Raspberry Pi with Octoprint installed. I'm very happy with it on both my printers. You can get more info at http://octoprint.org and googling for installation instructions.
I recently purchased a second printer and its the Robo 3D R1 Plus, very happy with the results for the price paid.
I use mine as a dedicated OctoPrint server, which it does quite reliably. I got it after getting tired of losing prints due to older versions of Repetier-Host crashing on my laptop.
Yep, absolutely. I use the camera to monitor the print, either just from another room or if I'm out of the house. It's nice when you're at the grocery store to be able to check if your printer is on fire. When the print finishes it also snaps a picture and sends it to my phone.
I've seen a few filament sensors that you can use to pause the print when the spool runs out. I haven't tried it yet since most of the parts I print are pretty small and it doesn't seem worth the trouble, but it would be really nice for doing larger parts.
If you're looking for a webcam setup I highly recommend using OctoPrint. It lets you upload print jobs and control your printer remotely, supports the webcam feed, and has a lot of cool plugins to monitor your print history, record time lapses, and other fun stuff.
> 3.how do you print? Do you sent what to print by a wired connection ?
Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint connected via ethernet. Wireless works but wired is faster for me when uploading and download large files like the time-lapse movies of the prints. It's nice to be able to visually monitor a print using a phone or tablet from almost anywhere.
Only a small comment, about the SD card reader: I prefer (and would recommend) setting a raspberry pi with OctoPi. Very easy to use, clean interface, and more upgradeable than a firmware reading from SD.
I've got the SD card, I just loaded it but I was watching this video http://octoprint.org/download/ about setting up OctoPi (with the older RPi's) and stopped because I wasn't sure if if the only way to to setup OctoPi was to drag it to a micro sd and then load it into the RPi. I don't have a micro sd reader, so I'm looking online for info to tell me whether or not I can just download OctoPi directly onto the RPi--I have a wifi dongle for it and it looks like I can access the web with no problem.
It's very simple with the Raspberry Pi. You just extract the image to the SD card and boot it. There's a simple setup menu and it's finished.
You can use WiFi but the one's I've used are all ethernet connected. There has been bandwidth issues reported if people are using the camera function and trying to upload gcode to print.
I had an issue where buttons wouldn't work on the main page in an install. I solved that by going back a version and installing that.
Yes, yes, and http://octoprint.org
It's super-easy and a lot of fun - you can monitor a print from anywhere, not worry about logging off your computer, etc. I haven't set up a camera yet, but I've done the rest and I'm adding wifi this week!
Take a look at OctoPi on http://octoprint.org/
It uses an Raspberry Pi as the host computer and streams the Gcode to the Arduino. It is also accessible over WiFi and streams a Video of the print.
I never had any failed prints with it.
Im using a LCDPanel :
http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRapDiscount_Smart_Controller
I also can use a Raspberry Pi B+ The Pi has 512 meg ram and 5Gb drive (sd card) and a 5Megapixel camera on it running octopi : http://octoprint.org/ . I like the Raspberry solution because it makes automatic time lapses of the print. Soi you should be able to drive a printer with a laptop like you describe.
there's a web interface for the pi I think - so you get that running and then you can upload your designs for printing through the web, without the need for a screen or mouse or etc. Can't remember what that's called but I know it exists.
Edit: Its octoprint
>If you jog xyz it will automatically go back to where it needs to when resuming.
I tried that with Octoprint and it resumed without going to the right spot. Is that because going back to where it needs to be is a repetier host thing?
http://octoprint.org/download/
The video is great help. I have a pi I'm setting up next week; just waiting on the camera.
The question is if the iPhone can display the video in the browser. I think it is mjpeg so it may work.
Here is one way to do it: http://octoprint.org/download/
Hook up your webcam, connect to the IP address using your iPhone and wallah! Port forward if you need it externally. Good luck. Here is what it looks like on my iPhone:
octoprint on my raspberry pi w/ the raspberry pi camera module,very easy to set up plus you wont need a computer attached to the printer. http://octoprint.org/ Tom Sanladerer has a good video on setting it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHzN_MwunmE
I have a printrbot simple, but i connect to it using Octopi running on a raspberry pi, so not sure about connecting directly. I didn't notice any changes to tinkercad switching to windows 8.