Ultrasonic Alignment tool for Bed Leveling+zeroing of stage + Filament monitor

[ShadowX]

The concept seems very interesting. However, I think it can be a lot more successful and popular with 3D printer users if there is a rigid mount to maintain a fixed position on the print head and the device directly interfaces with the controller card probe interface.

The device should have the option to trigger at some set height above the bed and it should have an output signal that can be directly connected to most 3D printer probe endstops. If it can do that and maintain accurate/repeatable readings, it would be a great contact-less bed leveling tool that can use the automatic bed leveling systems already built into most modern firmware like Marlin, Repetier, DuetWifi, etc. The location of the probe in reference to the tip of the nozzle is critical and must be a fixed distance. Without a rigid mount, the measurements would not be repeatable if the device moved.

I honestly can't forsee myself doing a manual bed level each time I print with a separate software on a device that is attached with a magnet. Watching the video, the locations indicated for each spot is not even clear. Do you randomly pick a spot? The firmware in Repetier can probe over 40+ points on a bed and create a contour profile of the entire surface if needed. It can also do it without user interaction. Some beds are concave or convex and not planar. The leveling software in the video demo assumes the bed would be flat. I run an automatic bed level probing routine each time before I print. The height can change slightly just with temperature deltas between the hot end and the heated bed. Some of the changes can be enough to cause poor or too much adhesion on the first layers.

Another problem is most of the parts on or around my hot end are non-ferrous. I have a hot end cooling fin made of aluminum, a hot end block made of aluminum and fans and shrouds made of plastic. There is no place that is flat and magnetic for me to attach the device. I would have to design a custom bracket that is fixed or have magnets to use this device.

I hope you will be successful and become fully funded in your project. Its definitely a great endeavor. I would love to be able to use a device like this if it works seamlessly with the controller card.