Controlling a 3D Printer with OctoPrint

2019-10-06 | 324 words

When 3D printing, you have three options:

Today’s article will focus on the last option - using a Raspberry Pi (B+ .. performance matters) and the open-source application OctoPrint.

Installing OctoPrint

The recommended way is to download the OctoPi operating system image (a modified Raspbian), and load it onto an SD card. This way, everything is ready.

However, I don’t like the idea of replacing my finely tuned system with a completely new one and starting over. So, I decided to do a manual installation. It’s not complicated, and the steps are described in this guide.

What it looks like

We control OctoPrint through a web interface:

The program connects to the printer, you upload a G-code file, and start printing.

You can monitor the printing process, control the head, temperature, etc.

Can we connect a camera?

I dug up a very old webcam with a resolution of 640x480. I installed the program [fswebcam](https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/usage/webcams/) and, lo and behold, the camera worked without drivers. You can set it up in OctoPrint, and it will make timelapse videos for you. I made one too (in really poor quality :)).

Camera mount from Thinkdiverse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkndKj8_Edk

Night 3D printing - timelapse video created by OctoPrint