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3D Printing Forum Help: 3D printer monitoring with sound and no firmware modification?
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  • alarm and monitoring
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Help: 3D printer monitoring with sound and no firmware modification?

pathfider1998
pathfider1998 over 6 years ago

[Preface: It might be hard to read because I am quite scatterbrained and the structure could be all wrong. Feel free to ask questions if you are confused, and I apologize for the inconvenience.]

 

So I have this project I'm doing in the school which aims to add sound functionalities to a 3D printer with no firmware modification; It's used in place of the default buzzer.

It taps into the software serial port to send the messages (M117 "Message goes here") and would monitor the following peripherals:

  • X-axis driver
  • Y-axis driver
  • Nozzle heater and/or bed heater
  • Extruder driver (maybe)

 

I'm thinking of tapping into Driver Enable pin for monitoring the motor activation status and using some sort of device to tap into the heater output so I can see if the heater is turned on. Is this a good idea?

The board I'm going to use is Anycubic Trigorilla board since it was what Anycubic 4MAX printer came with. (Its firmware is not an open-source variety despite being based on Marlin, so I cannot modify it)

 

Planned features:

  • Power-on test for switches (door sensor and top hush/reset button)
  • Hold to reset button and hush button in one to stop the alarm when situations occur
  • Probably some menu system for setting the volume, light color and the print done tune, accessed with buttons on the backside, perhaps?
  • Use the Set Message command to display the status instead of adding another display for monitoring
  • A WT588D sound module in Serial mode
  • Sounds for following conditions:
    • Door status changed
    • Motors released but the heater is still on
    • The button is being held down for 3 seconds (reset, play countdown sound every second then play a confirmation sound)
    • The button is pressed for less than 1 second (hush, play a sound then stop all current sounds)
    • Print finished (motors are released and heaters are off, only active after motors and heaters are turned on, stops when the button is pressed or door is opened)
    • New message on the screen (only played when it has sat idle for at least 5 seconds so it doesn't clutter the audio stream during boot)
    • Test OK (played when heaters and motors are not turned on during the first 2 seconds after booting and both the button and door sensor works)
    • Test failed (played when any heaters or motors are turned on during the first 2 seconds after booting or door or button status change is not detected in 10 seconds)
    • Settings saved
  • RGB LED for indicator (right next to the last line of LCD display, it has a diffuser in shape of an arrow to point at that line, flashes red, green or blue depending on situations)
  • Button LED (9~12V, monochrome, it just needs to flash when counting down or it needs attention, maybe fade in and out for extra fanciness?)
  • Addressable or "dumb" RGB LED strip for interior illumination
  • Based on Arduino Mega or Arduino Uno or Arduino Nano (please tell me which board to use, size doesn't really matter but I'd prefer Nano or Uno because they are smaller and easier to hide behind the panel)

 

The display in the center is ReprapDiscount Full Graphic Smart Controller which I will hack to move the knobs and SD card slot away from the center.

The door sensor is just a little reed switch which I assume is normally open. I need to check this.

The control panel layout looks like this, and I can use up to 20mm thick module:

image

I need to figure out the code behind the monitoring and ways to detect if printer is printing without touching the firmware. Any help would be appreciated!

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  • genebren
    genebren over 6 years ago +4
    Hi Phil, If I understand your question/concept correctly, this should be possible. It sounds like you will be adding a second controller board, that will be primarily a 'listener', that is sampling the…
  • shabaz
    shabaz over 6 years ago +3
    Hi Phil, I wasn't sure of the overall goal, if it is to know if the printer is still working or has stopped, then there are non-intrusive ways where you won't need to tap into any connections. There is…
  • pathfider1998
    pathfider1998 over 6 years ago in reply to genebren +2
    Yes, that's correct. It'll have a "listener" board that plays sounds and taps into Reset pin of the controller board so it can kill the printer when the main button is being held down. The UI is actually…
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  • shabaz
    shabaz over 6 years ago

    Hi Phil,

     

    I wasn't sure of the overall goal, if it is to know if the printer is still working or has stopped, then there are non-intrusive ways where you won't need to tap into any connections.

    There is an interesting commercial device called Bosch XDK It costs a lot for your use-case but you could replicate the functionality you need using Arduino and some MEMS multi-axis gyro/accelerometer/compass sensor like  MPU-6050MPU-6050 or similar(I think the  MPU-6050MPU-6050 is obsolete now but there could be boards for Arduino using that or something else

    All it needs to do is sense vibration. If that stops or greatly reduces for a while, then that signifies the printer has also stopped.

    I think it is a great project, since it is more math and physics-relevant, and also would then also be applicable to other 3D printers too, washing machines, etc., and is totally harmless since it is isolated from the end device.

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  • pathfider1998
    pathfider1998 over 6 years ago in reply to shabaz

    The reason for tapping into the drivers and heaters is that fans, nearby printers, people and other vibration sources cause the gyroscope sensor to mistakenly think the printer is working, as well as it being unable to "see" if the heater and motors are turned on at correct times.

    But I think that could be used to track if the printer head is moving. Thanks for the feedback!

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  • pathfider1998
    pathfider1998 over 6 years ago in reply to shabaz

    The reason for tapping into the drivers and heaters is that fans, nearby printers, people and other vibration sources cause the gyroscope sensor to mistakenly think the printer is working, as well as it being unable to "see" if the heater and motors are turned on at correct times.

    But I think that could be used to track if the printer head is moving. Thanks for the feedback!

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