Intro
I recently have resurrected my Frankenprinter (a heavily modified Eryone Thinker SE) because I need access to the 310x310mm build plate. However, I'd had it torn apart (again) to update the wiring harness and prepare for the final-final mod: A new base.
But before I could start on any of that, I wanted to get the webcam I'd purchased to monitor this printer hooked up for remote monitoring.
The Camera
I'd heard from other 3D printing enthusiasts that you could use basically any camera to monitor a 3D printer. I'd had issues with quality on my Ender 3 Pro's Pi camera in the past. I just couldn't get the resolution I wanted. So I hoped I could use a cheap webcam instead.
The good thing is there is no shortage of options for web cameras. And I ended up buying the cheapest one I could find (on sale at the time). And it came with a little tripod which made it very easy to set up.
I connected it to the Raspberry Pi and expected that the be it. I was close, but needed a little more to get it running.
The Missing Link
In order to use the camera to monitor my printer with Klipper and Fluidd, I needed to let Klipper know that it was present. I watched many videos, and ended up watching one from PrintsLeo3D on YouTube which recommended installing CrowsNest. This actually allows setting up multiple cameras, which I'm very happy with.
I had to compile the code directly on my Raspberry Pi, but the instructions made it pretty easy. I think the only thing I struggled with was my camera wasn't available at /dev/video0. This was only because I didn't fully ready the description of PrintsLeo3D's video 🤦🏻♀️. I recommend using his highly detailed instructions and recommendations, don't be me 😂.
But thanks to a redditor, I was able to find the path (finally) that would work and the camera started working right away.
Success!
The camera works! And the quality is a lot better than the Pi cam I was using on my other printer. I purchased a few of these cameras at the time, so I'm ready to get them setup for my other printers. 🎉🎉🎉
