Nardi planned to use the Printrbot’s controller board to power the Pi, and tested it out first with a USB current monitor. But as I was about to find out, reality doesn’t always agree with the documentation.” Everything I read online told me this wouldn’t be a problem for the Pi Zero, especially since I could turn off the HDMI port as it would be running headless. “I was specifically interested in low current draw, as I wanted to run the Pi directly off of the expansion port of the Printrboard, which I knew had a 5V regulator that’s only rated for 300 mA.

“My research told me that the Pi Zero wouldn’t have the zip of the Pi 3 when it comes to slicing STLs, but that didn’t seem like too bad of a trade-off given the small size and reduced power consumption,” Nardi wrote. So, rather than printing from an SD card on the second 3D printer, he went the OctoPrint route, and detailed the experience in a blog post.įirst, he purchased a used PrintrBot Play, due to its automatic bed tramming, ability to fit on a shelf, and copious amounts of room in the base for extra hardware, and then bought a $10 Pi Zero W to act as the OctoPrint host. When Nardi decided to set up a second 3D printer for large projects, he realized that he would not be able to control them from the same machine. It basically turns old computers, and even small ARM boards like the Raspberry Pi, into network-accessible 3D printer control panels, and can even control other hardware like smart plugs, lights, and enclosure heaters. The free, open source software, created and maintained by Gina Häußge, offers a web interface so users can control and monitor their 3D printers from anywhere, any time, from within their browser.

But, if you prefer more DIY upgrades, you can always take a page out of Hackaday blogger Tom Nardi’s book and get OctoPrint. There are many ways for companies to upgrade a 3D printer: adding a power boost, the ability to 3D print with multiple materials, a vat made of stainless steel rather than plastic, even filament detector systems.

Octoprint on raspberry pi zero