I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
I am a novice at this but love to experiment, i have a Prusa MK2 S not moded going through a Raspberry Pi 3 and Octoprint. I spend a lot of time away from the house but have the printer working alot of the time, and I would like to be able keep or move the camera at the best hight. All help would be much appreciated.
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
The easiest way to do this is to use a Raspberry Pi with OctoPi/OctoPrint, and use a camera mounted to the bed. (There are lots of mounts on Thingiverse).
You can then easily watch the print from anywhere inside you local area network from any browser on any platform.
It records a timelapse, which can be synced to either a time interval or Z change. For playback later.
When away from your local area network, you can open a port to allow that through (NOT RECOMMENDED for security reasons) or you can use one of the many plug ins for Octopi to do this. I use "Telegraph" which sends me a photo "text" of the print at the interval I choose. I can also request a /status at any time and get a photo. I can also /abort the print remotely.
Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage or loss. If you solve your problem, please post the solution…
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
I have done that but when you start moving up ( the part gets bigger) the camera is still looking at the bed not at the same height as the hot end.
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
I have done that but when you start moving up ( the part gets bigger) the camera is still looking at the bed not at the same height as the hot end.
The field of view of the camera is wide enough (based on where I mounted it) that I can see the area I need to see even as the print grows.
I suppose you could make a second Z axis for your camera, and make it move too, but I would guess that driving it from the same stepper driver that is driving the two existing Z steppers would cause it to periodically skip. I would hate for my "monitoring" to affect the print quality. (Even though Heisenberg says it will anyway.)
Any advices given are offered in good faith. It is your responsibility to ensure that by following my advice you do not suffer or cause injury, damage or loss. If you solve your problem, please post the solution…
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
I installed an endoscope camera on the fan on the side.
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
I use a mount on the z with a c310 (similar to the 270) on it and a wideangle clip on lens.
It gives me a great view of the bed and nozzle.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1334020
I stripped the camera into a smaller case as well and adjusted the file to suit.
Its rubbish for time-lapse but excels for print monitoring.
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
Here's how I did it.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2263707
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
It does look good I will give it a Try. But I still would like to know how to control this stepper motor through the custom control Editor and the just move it up and down in the control tab.
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
I use a camera mount on the x-motor so it tracks Z. See link in my sig.
Re: I would like to Mount a Camera to a stepping motor and sync it to the Z Axis.
Recently made a new camera mount and posted it on thingiverse.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2802522
Not the correct orange, but its pretty close.
John || MK3, MMU2, Creality CR-10S