What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
Hi, in Chapter 8-Step 8, it mentions: "Einsy-base has a maintenance opening for the RPi Zero W. If you intend to use this mini computer, you can carefully cut the piece of the plastic now." What are the pros and cons of adding the RPi Zero W microcontroller to this printer? Is it advisable to do that?
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
You would install the RPi if you want to run Octoprint. You'd have to look at it's features to decide if it has pros for you or not.
As far as cons. At a minimum you lose the power fail feature so it will not resume your print after a power failure. I seem to recall there is another feature that is lost as well, but I'm not positive as I can't recall what it was (if it was).
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
The Pi Zero is specifically not recommended by Octopi for running Octoprint. It is simply underpowered.
If you do choose to use it - do not hook the camera to it. You risk your prints when the USB connection flags.
I recommend the Pi 3B +. Not that much more money and Thingiverse has a great case for the Pi and a buck converter which mount on the MK3 frame..
Other than that - I can't think of anything.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
recommend the Pi 3B +.
PLEASE ignore the Prusa (poor) recommendation of using a Pi Zero W. It is barely suitable for this use. Follow the advice of the OctoPrint author rather than the Prusa (user level) recommendation.
Octoprint is fantastic and gives you a lot of remote capability. I often start print jobs and monitor them from miles away. You can still print from SD card, but Octoprint and a webcam is hugely empowering.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
I am intrigued by everyone wanting to run their printer remotely. Please let me know how you remove the old part or swap filament with this amazing Raspberry Pi and Octoprint outfit.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
I trained my wife. One text message and the printer is magically prepared for the next print.
She even shows me the parts on camera after they are pulled.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
Couldn't she just select the next file on the SD card at that point too?
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
Couldn't she just select the next file on the SD card at that point too?
No. I'm usually creating the STL's and uploading new gcode files from afar. The files often don't exist yet.
Now I just need to teach her to do my Fusion 360 edits.
The remote monitor and control also lets you periodically check for spaghetti monsters , warping, and knocked loose prints. If a problem is seen on camera, I can halt the job before it transforms into a blob of doom
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
I am intrigued by everyone wanting to run their printer remotely. Please let me know how you remove the old part or swap filament with this amazing Raspberry Pi and Octoprint outfit.
I have had a few instances where I had the printer ready-to-go and found it useful to be able to wait until the next morning or after returning from dinner to kick off a print from my phone instead of running downstairs. OctoPrint does basic library management, so if you have parts that you re-print periodically, it can be handier than firing up a desktop computer and copying files.
The big win for OctoPrint is the video monitoring. The ability to stop/start jobs is a real plus. The ability to cancel printing individual errant parts is invaluable. The Prusa mesh bed leveling plugin is also very handy for diagnosing some issues. The gcode previewer is nice for seeing what the printer is actually up to when it makes odd noises. The terminal is handy for monitoring the printer outputs during a print. Monitoring temperatures over time is useful. I am getting used to selecting presets (e.g. warming up to PLA temp to swap filament) via the web interface. I don't get much use out of the timelapse function, but it is simple to use.
Consider it's essentially a no-effort project to set up and get going, there's no reason not to have it installed.
There was a rater bizarre thread on Reddit where a guy using an Ender 3 was insisting that mounting a blade on the extruder and writing gcode to scrape the bed of parts overnight was a viable strategy, but he seems to be a bit of a crackpot.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
I am intrigued by everyone wanting to run their printer remotely. Please let me know how you remove the old part or swap filament with this amazing Raspberry Pi and Octoprint outfit.
+1 for trained wife.
The biggest advantages for my Octopi are:
- Upload gcodes/managing files over network
- Monitor the print via camera
There are also tons of plugins which are helping you to create the best work flow for you.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
+1 for trained wife.
I guess I missed another Prime Day bundle!
The biggest advantages for my Octopi are:
- Upload gcodes/managing files over network
- Monitor the print via camera
There are also tons of plugins which are helping you to create the best work flow for you.
I'm kicking myself for struggling with that stupid Toshiba FlashAir card for so long. The one big benefit of OctoPrint I keep forgetting to mention: Wireless connectivity! Being able to print directly from PrusaSlicer across the room makes the experience much more pleasant. I was getting desperate when my SD slot failed (since repaired). I've got a dozen RPis laying about, but for some reason procrastinated with OctoPrint.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
As I write this, I am monitoring two print jobs over 30 miles away.
I decided on the projects, added STL's to PrusaSlicer, uploaded the gcodes hours after arriving at work. The printers will be quite a ways into their jobs by the time I arrive home. I didn't know exactly which parts I needed until after leaving the house. However, I knew I had prints to do. So I had one machine loaded with polycarbonate and another loaded with PETG. It is fantastic to have this degree of flexibility - far beyond just what the SD card allows.
I echo the usefulness of the OctoPrint thermal graph. It gives early indication of heater cartridge and thermistor failure. Watch the temperature curves and oddities in shape and slope are good clues you can't otherwise obtain.
VPN into your local network and it's nearly as good as being there.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
My general scenario:
I’m sitting downstairs and want to print something, I decide I want to print something. I model it quickly, use octoprint to preheat the printer, slice it, and send it to the pi. Kick off the print and glance at the camera to make sure my first layer looks good. Black PETG is pretty much always loaded on my printer and it’s my go to for quick structural stuff. I monitor the print and go up to pop it off when done.
The alternatives:
- run upstairs, start it heating, run down, find the SD card adapter (often 5 minutes if I haven’t printed in a bit), slice to SD card, run upstairs start it out, watch the first layer. 2 trips up, 5 minutes standing around for the first layer.
- Go upstairs and hang out during warmup/first layer, taking my laptop and slicing up there.
It was a bigger deal on my ultimaker and rostock, the print bed took a while to warm up. My mk3 and mk3s warmup pretty quickly.
The remote camera for monitoring and the simplicity of dumping the file directly to the printer and not having to deal with SD card is probably the biggest thing for me. (I haven’t tried it in Slic3r, but Cura and Simplify3d had direct paths to slice directly to the printer from within the slicer, very nice).
To the original question: don’t use a Pi Zero. That’s a single core very old ARM chip, won’t do the job and will fail you in annoying ways after seeming to work for a while. Get a recent Pi3 or a Pi4 (quad Cortex A72! probably overkill)
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
[...] (I haven’t tried it in Slic3r, but Cura and Simplify3d had direct paths to slice directly to the printer from within the slicer, very nice).
I was stunned when I realized what I'd been overlooking in PrusaSlicer/Slic3rPE. Just pop into Printer Settings->General->Print Host upload and enter your hostname and API key copied from octoprint.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
You would install the RPi if you want to run Octoprint. You'd have to look at it's features to decide if it has pros for you or not.
As far as cons. At a minimum you lose the power fail feature so it will not resume your print after a power failure. I seem to recall there is another feature that is lost as well, but I'm not positive as I can't recall what it was (if it was).
Anybody knows the other lost feature(s)?
I am almost done building the printer. Is it better to just try out the stock configuration to make sure that everything works before going fancy like adding Octoprint and a Pi 3B +? At this stage is it better to cut the maintenance opening from the Einsy-base or just leave it as is? In case of using Octoprint and more powerful controller later, will the more powerful motherboard replaces the EINSY RAMBo motherboard or be added on top of it?
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
Leave the EINSY box alone. You won't access that for a Pi 3B+
That will attach via USB.
The Pi will go into a separate enclosure box that you will mount to the printer frame above the EINSY. It does not replace the EINSY.
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
@peter-c20: If you don't plan to use RPi Zero W then follow the build manual and complete it like described.
Often linked posts:
Going small with MMU2
Real Multi Material
My prints on Instagram
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
I would definitely start with completely stock system if this is your first mk3. No octoprint, no raspberry pi. Just the unmodified printer, Prusa Slicer, and SD cards. Until you get that dialed in pretty well you don’t want any other variables in the mix.
Only then consider a raspberry pi3 or better and octoprint. It doesn’t replace the Einsy (which is a real-time controller board directly driving the motors). The Pi is a regular linux computer with a web browser that talks to the Einsy through a serial connection (USB or direct pins) and sends gcode commands telling it where to move. The einsy translates that to stepper motor moves while in the background dealing with acceleration, heating, PID control, filament sensing, etc.
BTW, printing from SD is just fine, so don’t be in a hurry to install octoprint unless you are comfortable dealing with a linux computer, software installation, ssh, etc.
Paul
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
Leave the EINSY box alone. You won't access that for a Pi 3B+
That will attach via USB.
The Pi will go into a separate enclosure box that you will mount to the printer frame above the EINSY. It does not replace the EINSY.
I prefer attaching it to the side...
https://www.prusaprinters.org/social/1743/prints
😉
When someone asks you if you're a god, you say, "YES!"
RE: What are the pros and cons of adding a RPi Zero W to the Original Prusa i3 MK3S Kit?
I built my MK3/S as stock. No cutouts in the Einsy case.
Among other reasons - I needed my printer working to build my case for the Pi and Buck converter. And the camera holder...
Don't forget the converter - lets you run the Pi off the 24 V supply. No extra wires or wall warts.