Having a 3D printer at your disposal is pretty amazing, but it can be a pain when you have to keep the printer tethered to your working computer for hours (or even days) while it runs! I was looking for a simple solution to drive my printer while I used my laptop for other purposes (like going to work during the week) when I came across OctoPrint, an open-source 3D printer web interface for controlling and monitoring the printer from a remote computer. The software essentially creates a running web server for the printer and takes the place of printing suites like MatterControl or Repetier, so it does require running on a machine connected to the printer via USB. If you have an old PC gathering dust, you can easily set it up and have a permanent print station. I, however, don’t have the luxury of a lot of space, so I wanted a more portable option that I could pull out when I needed to use it and easily put away. For this, I chose the Raspberry Pi as it is small enough to easily fit into the printer’s form factor, doesn’t require much electricity to run, and has built-in WiFi compatibility. The OctoPrint software even comes as a complete Linux distro optimized for Raspberry Pi called OctoPi.
Out of the box, OctoPi incorporates the LAMP stack for web hosting, a complete OctoPrint installation (including dependencies) for controlling the 3D printer, the mjpg-streamer package for streaming timelapse videos of the print process, and CuraEngine for slicing. This last item, however, is really moot because of the anemic computing power of the Raspberry Pi. I prefer to slice models on my working computer then transfer over the network to OctoPi for printing.
OctoPi is a pretty simple setup with a lot of really good documentation both at the OctoPrint.org site and their GitHub page. To start, make sure you have Etcher installed and simply download the latest stable version from http://octopi.octoprint.org/download (Be sure to grab the md5 file to verify the download as well!). Unzip the downloaded image and burn it to your SD card using Etcher like you would any other RPi image.
If you don’t know how to manage these settings, you might think twice before diving into 3D Printing. Just a thought.
Open the newly burnt SD card as a removable drive in your computer’s file explorer. In the root folder of the SD card, use a text editor to open octopi-network.txt and edit the file as necessary to match your network configuration. Don’t forget to delete the # at the beginning of the appropriate lines or OctoPi will not connect to the network!
Eject the SD card from your computer, pop it into the Raspberry Pi, run a USB cable from the Pi to the printer, and turn on the Pi by plugging it into a power supply. Give the Pi a minute to boot up, and SSH into it from your main computer. The Pi will be located on the network as octopi.local (or an IP address assigned by the router). As usual, the default username is pi and the default password is raspberry.
Change the password using the passwd command, then close your SSH session.
Open a browser on your main computer and point it to octopi.local (or the assigned IP address). The OctoPrint interface will open with the “First-Run Wizard” and prompt you to set up access controls such as username and password. This is specific to OctoPrint and independent of the username and password used to access the Pi via SSH. If you don’t plan on having your printer exposed to the Internet or having anyone else connecting to your network, you may disable access control. I keep it active just in case, so disable at your own risk!
Reboot OctoPi through the menu at the top right of the screen, and you will be all set to print! If you need more help, check out the README section of the GitHub page or drop a comment below!
Make your 3D printer into a wireless print server by adding a Raspberry Pi and capture timelapse videos with an on-board webcam. What do you want to see me print next?
How To Install OctoPi http://airbornesurfer.com/2017/06/setup-octopi-raspberry-pi-octoprint/
AFFILIATE LINKS:
LED Lighting http://amzn.to/2rBwaZs
The Simpsons http://amzn.to/2sIXSTX
The Lord of the Rings http://amzn.to/2tcMk8w
Jurassic Park http://amzn.to/2sJ5t4w
Running Scared http://amzn.to/2rq8Nhf
Outlet Saver http://amzn.to/2rqigVK
Right-Angle USB Cable http://amzn.to/2sDdIQl
USB Power Adapter http://amzn.to/2szR7TM
Webcam http://amzn.to/2sDaYCo
THINGIVERSE LINKS:
Cable Loop/Holder https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:934927
Raspberry Pi Mount https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1205961
Camera Mount https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2389663
Spool Holder https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:255229
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Tech teardowns, repairs, and reviews; sketches; how-to; games; and lots of other interesting geekery. At least one new video per month! Thanks for watching, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe!
TRASNCRIPT:
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hey folks Atari here I’ve been playing
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around with this Robo 3d printer for a
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while now
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and I think I’ve got the hang of it
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finally the thing about 3d printing is
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it’s very much a hacker minded hobby
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there’s a lot of trial and error
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involved in the process and most
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consumer grade printers do lack a lot of
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the out-of-the-box features got some of
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the higher-end printers include which
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leads people like me to go ahead and
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build their own upgrades what I’ve done
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here is I’ve installed a Raspberry Pi
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with the octoprint software to make a
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self-contained Wi-Fi printer and then I
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installed a webcam to capture time-lapse
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videos of the print process as well as
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some LED lighting for better video
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capturing and then I’ve you know kind of
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rejiggered the cabling and the filament
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feeds so that they’re going to move a
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little bit better and they don’t be
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caught up in may in the works inside it
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just makes for a whole lot better
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experience so this video is going to
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walk you through the process that I use
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to install these physical upgrades but I
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will have a link in the doobly-doo and
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probably up here in the corner a link to
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a full how-to article about about
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installing and setting up octoprint on
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the Raspberry Pi or octopi as its called
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I will put a link to that I’ll have a
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full write-up on airborne surfer comm so
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you can follow that guide there but
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again this is going to walk through the
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physical installation and with that with
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the write-up on the software that should
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get you through a pretty much down the
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gist of it the first thing I’m going to
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fix is the zip tie loop for the cable
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loom having a zip tie here has been
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holding the Loom a little too rigidly
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and has led to a few failed prints I’ve
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already cut the zip ties since removing
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the hood and now I need to replace the
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mounting point for the zip tire I found
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a suitable two piece cable loop on
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Thingiverse that holds the Loom in
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face while being loose enough to allow
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some play in the tension remove the two
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screws holding the loop mount in place
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then replace it with the base of the
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two-piece print hang on to the second
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piece for later next thing to do is
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install some lighting I picked up the
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self-adhesive USB powered LED strip from
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Amazon and ran it along the interior of
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the hood be sure to start with the USB
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plug on the slide with the cable well
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this is the same side that the loop
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mount is installed now before we put the
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hood back on go ahead and unplug the USB
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cable and the power cable from the
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printer place the hood back onto the
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base of the printer with the cable loop
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on the same side as the well make sure
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all the wiring is tucked inside the hood
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before pressing down to properly align
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the screw holes then screw the hood
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securely in place now gently lift the
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printer and set it on its side make sure
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to hold on to the print cartridge and
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abed as they’re likely to slide around
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to install the Raspberry Pi we’re going
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to need to siphon some electricity from
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the printers power supply specifically
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from the AC input coming from the switch
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on the back of the unit the power supply
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on a robo 3d printer is a tough zombie
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to remove
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there aren’t any screws or anything it’s
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just held in the friction very tightly
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as you can see taking quite a bit of
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effort to remove I found that shifting
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it down at an angle back and forth will
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garner the quickest results but your
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mileage may vary so here are the
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terminals these four go into the Arduino
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board that controls the printer and
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these three are for the AC what dish
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blue brown green and yellow OnLive just
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get get somebody killed
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you see standards exist for a reason
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well they exist for many reasons but one
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of them is safety international standard
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wiring colors are such so that one does
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not accidentally connect the wrong
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conduct to do the wrong terminal or
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worse touch the wrong live conductor
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this is wrong this is it’s good right
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I mean bed at least the goddamn
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terminals are clearly marked anyway
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we’re going to need to tap into these
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leads to direct power to a standard 110
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volt outlet so that we can use an
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off-the-shelf power converter to power
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the Raspberry Pi
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we’ll start by loosening the terminal
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screws and removing the leads I picked
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up this outlet saver at micro Center for
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a couple of dollars essentially it’s a
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10 inch long grounded extension cord
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take a pair of scissors and cut off the
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plug-in then strip away the outer casing
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leaving just the outlet end and the
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exposed inner wiring at least these
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wires are the proper colors so now we
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just need to strip the end of the
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insulation off of each of the wires so
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we can hook them up to the terminal now
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remember kids ground is green like grass
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on the ground white is neutral because
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it’s the neutral color and black is live
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because black lives matter anyway
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so we reinsert the leads from the switch
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into the proper terminal then insert the
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new leads from the extension cord into
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the appropriate terminals as well and
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tighten the retaining screw then simply
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reposition the power supply back inside
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its retainer with a good shove now we’re
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going to need to run a USB cable to
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connect the Arduino to the Raspberry Pi
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and because the Arduino is mounted so
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close to the edge of the base we’re
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going to use this right angle USB cable
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to make the connection now even with the
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low profile of the right angle cable
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though we’re going to need to
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move the Arduino to plug in the cable so
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just remove these three mounting screws
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from the Arduino and carefully plug in
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the USB cable you can use the existing
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wires to hold the new USB cable in place
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just be careful not to pull any of the
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wires from the Arduino screw the Arduino
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back into place and you’re done with
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step 2
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I found the simple mouth for a Raspberry
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Pi on Thingiverse but I also printed if
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you get the hole size right you can use
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screws to mount the pie in place but I’m
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just going to use glue as it’s a little
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easier than drilling out the hole apply
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the glue to the mount and press the
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Raspberry Pi board into place some glue
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should come through the holes in the pie
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and mushroom over to provide a pretty
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good hole clamp some parts together
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until the glue sets apply glue along the
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perimeter of the mouth and press it into
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place on the bottom of the printer make
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sure to hold it tightly against the base
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of the printer until they do the sex
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finally plug the printer into one of the
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USB ports on the pie plug one end of a
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USB to micro USB cable into the power
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port on the Raspberry Pi and the other
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end into a wall wart power converter I
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think this one up at Tashi station for
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about 5 imperial credits just make sure
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it’s rated for at least 5 volts and 1
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ampere plug your power converter into
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your hacked up power outlet from earlier
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and now your pie is powered on by the
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main switch on the printer again you can
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use the existing wiring to hold your new
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wiring in place I picked up a short USB
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extension cable to connect the lighting
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to the PI as well so I just need to
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connect that the last USB connection is
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made for the webcam which will record
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our time-lapse videos for this i’ll
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thread the USB cable from the front of
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the printer through the cable well to
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the underside of the printer and connect
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it to the Raspberry Pi
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before setting the printer up light go
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ahead and insert the cable loom in place
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inside the loop installed earlier and
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enclose it with the locking piece then
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carefully write the printer this is a
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widget that I designed myself and
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Tinkercad and I’ll put a link to it in
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the doobly-do what it does is it clamps
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onto the edge of the print bed and
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allows you to mount a clamp style webcam
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level with the print bed so you can
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capture time-lapse video that stabilize
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to the y-axis stabilizing one axis is
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nice because otherwise motion gets
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really messy and you can’t really see
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much detail in your printing lastly
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we’re going to turn the printer around
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to the back so I can install the new
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spool holder that I printed this is a
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replacement for the stock holder that
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hangs off the side of the hood this one
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keeps the footprint of the printer a
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little smaller and keeps the filament
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closer to the center axis of the printer
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which helps keep the feed steady
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preventing jams and tangles and it just
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grips onto the side of the hood and
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slides down to lock in place
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now if you’ll install these upgrades as
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soon as possible after setting up your
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logo through the printer you’ll find
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that you’re going to get a much better
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and much more consistent quality in your
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prints and you’ll have a lot fewer
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headaches along the way so anyway thanks
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for watching and if you like this video
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give it a thumbs up and click that
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little subscribe button and be sure to
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00:10:07,690 –> 00:10:12,940
share it with your friends and in the
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00:10:10,060 –> 00:10:15,220
meantime uh what would you like to see
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00:10:12,940 –> 00:10:18,040
me 3d print leave an answer in the
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00:10:15,220 –> 00:10:20,280
comments below until next time Tallyho