Using a Raspberry Pi + Octopi to manage your printer

[SgtToe]

I am not sure what your comment "is that printer just as good as the pi cam?" means.

Sorry it was late when I posted the question. I meant to say is the PS3 eye as good as the pi cam. I want to save money but realize that if I buy the PS3 eye for $10 less than the pi cam then I will also need to buy a powered hub, if I buy the pi cam then I can skip the hub once the system us up and running and I don't need a kb and mouse. Also seems like there are some neat enclosures for the pi and pi cam to print. So will go that way unless anyone has some experience that would point me in another direction.

[sniffle]

It really depends on what you have amperage wise for your power source for the pi. My wall to usb adapter puts out 1.8amps(corrected from previous post) it powers the pi and Logitech C310 webcam without the need for a powered usb hub. I dont use the usb input to run my rambo board though so that may be why im not having any power issues.

[AbuMaia]

I have the printer, a Logitech cam, and wifi connected to my RasPi B+, all powered with a phone charger, and no powered hub.

[kd7eir]

I use a charger with a measured 2.5 amp capacity with my Pi 2. That eliminates any concerns about capacity. I have the printer, Pi camera, and wifi connected to it. I run 4-40 volt buck converter to derive 5 volts from the power supply to power my relays and led lighting. I have the Pi powered separately because I use it through the relays to control power the to printer itself, this way the Pi can stay powered on even when I shut the printer down.

[SgtToe]

I use a charger with a measured 2.5 amp capacity with my Pi 2. That eliminates any concerns about capacity. I have the printer, Pi camera, and wifi connected to it. I run 4-40 volt buck converter to derive 5 volts from the power supply to power my relays and led lighting. I have the Pi powered separately because I use it through the relays to control power the to printer itself, this way the Pi can stay powered on even when I shut the printer down.

Are you saying you are controlling relays with the pi? If so how are you doing that?

[AbuMaia]

Are you saying you are controlling relays with the pi? If so how are you doing that?

https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint/...-from-your-RPi

[kd7eir]

AbuMaia beat me to the link

[SgtToe]

https://github.com/foosel/OctoPrint/...-from-your-RPi

Perfect, thanks!

[clough42]

Sorry it was late when I posted the question. I meant to say is the PS3 eye as good as the pi cam. I want to save money but realize that if I buy the PS3 eye for $10 less than the pi cam then I will also need to buy a powered hub, if I buy the pi cam then I can skip the hub once the system us up and running and I don't need a kb and mouse. Also seems like there are some neat enclosures for the pi and pi cam to print. So will go that way unless anyone has some experience that would point me in another direction.

To be clear, the RasbiCam isn't that great of a camera. Its big win is that it uses the separate camera port, so it doesn't take up a USB port.

Note that if you use it and want to mount it close to the printer, with just a view of the bed, you will probably need to adjust the focus. You can unscrew the lens assembly (after breaking the adhesive that locks it in place) to shorten the focus. I had to turn the lens out about one full turn to get acceptable focus where I have my camera mounted.

[TopJimmyCooks]

I'm no Linux guru to say the least, but I've been using Octoprint successfully for a while. I can usually find files, edit them etc. However, I want to add a few control buttons, and I can't locate one called config or config.yaml as referenced on the octoprint github faq. I installed octopi from the card image , not from source. Do you have these automatically under octoprint? should I make a file and put my controls in it? Thanks.