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IMSA-3D-Printer-Management

Remote management and control of IMSA's 3D printers via OctoPrint and a webservice

There are two parts of this system: the server pi (only 1) and the printer pi's (1 pi per printer)

**Assign each pi (both server and printer(s) a reserved ip address)

**For using a single pi, refer raspbian and octoprint installation to here: https://community.octoprint.org/t/setting-up-octoprint-on-a-raspberry-pi-running-raspbian-or-raspberry-pi-os/2337 or the pdf SinglePi-Guide

Server Pi Setup (Assign this Raspberry Pi a reserved IP address):

  • Raspberry Pi Imager (Raspbian): https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/
    • Download the Raspberry Pi Imager
    • Plug the SD card into the computer
    • Run the imager_[version number].exe
    • Run the imager once installed
    • Select "Raspberry Pi OS (32-BIT)" for the Operating System
    • Select your SD card for the storage (will display "Mass Storage Device" or something similar)
    • Select "Write" (it will clear the memory of the SD card)
    • Eject the micro SD card from the computer after Raspbian has finished installing and plug the micro SD card into the server pi
    • Using an HDMI cable and adapter to project the pi to a monitor, boot it up, configure settings, connect to WiFi and update it (this could also take about 20-30 minutes)
  • On the Pi's Desktop, select the upper left button->Preferences->Raspberry Pi Configuration->Interfaces
    • Find the "SSH" option and set it to enabled
    • Turn the pi on and off to make sure the changes take effect
  • Install Node.js (Follow instructions below)
    • Use CygWin64 on Windows (https://www.cygwin.com/) or terminal with Mac/Linux
    • run "ssh pi@ip_address"
    • Enter Server Pi Password (default is raspberry, change it by running "passwd")
  • Run the following commands in the home directory of the pi ("cd ~/")
  • Run "npm -v" to check if npm is installed (the version of npm will appear)
  • Make a folder on the home directory called "statusPage" ("mkdir statusPage") and enter it ("cd ~/statusPage")
  • Run "npm init"
    • Press Enter until it says "Is this OK? (yes)" (You can also add a description)
    • The preview for what it is about to write should say "main":"index.js"
  • Run the following commands for the Node.js packages:
    • npm install express (express is one of the packages that allows node to generate a webpage)
    • npm install body-parser (body-parser is a package which allows others to send and receive data from the webpage)
    • npm install ejs (ejs stands for embedded javascript allows for more complicated actions to be performed on the webpage)
    • npm install fs (fs stands for file system which lets Node create and edit files)
  • Go to the home directory ("cd ~/") and run "node" to check that it is working (press Ctrl+C twice to exit node)
    • If you get an error (i.e. "/usr/local/bin/node: No such file or directory"), run the following commands
  • To make the server pi generate a webpage on startup, we will move the server folder files (index.ejs, index.js, openPage.sh) to /home/pi/statusPage
    • Download the files to a computer (open a new Cygwin), (Cygwin if Windows, terminal if Mac/Linux) cd to the directory they are stored in (i.e. "cd C:/Users/user_name/Desktop"), and run the following (will require you to enter the server Pi's password)
    • "scp index.ejs pi@ip_address:/home/pi/statusPage/"
    • "scp index.js pi@ip_address:/home/pi/statusPage/"
    • "scp openPage.sh pi@ip_address:/home/pi/statusPage/"
    • Over on the CygWin window that is ssh'd to the pi, we have to make openPage.sh (cd ~/statusPage/) executable; run "chmod +x openPage.sh" in /home/pi/statusPage/
  • Create a crontab on the pi (crontab -e, then pick an editor (/bin/nano)) and paste this line: "@reboot /home/pi/statusPage/openPage.sh"
    • Ctrl+O and Enter to save, Ctrl+X to exit
  • Run "sudo reboot"
  • To check the webpage is up, type "server_pi_ip_address:3000" in the url bar (i.e. 10.0.0.114:3000) (it can take a bit (~1min) for the pi to fully start up)
  • The webpage should currently look like the picture "printerBlankPage"

Printer Pi Setup:

  • Format another micro SD card with the same settings as the server pi (at least 16GB)
  • Install OctoPrint OS on each pi that you intend to connect to a printer (https://octoprint.org/download/) Download a stable version
  • You can now use Raspberry Pi Imager to write the image to a micro SD card
    • Choose OS -> Other Specific Purpose OS -> OctoPi -> OctoPi
    • Also make sure to set up WiFi information on the OS and region information (UK/France/U.S/etc) using "octopi-wpa-supplicant.txt" (notepad itself can't be used, something like notepad++ has to be used to edit the file)
      • Set up the WiFi network on the same network as the Server Pi
  • Eject the micro SD card and plug it into the printer pi
    • Head to the printer pi's ip and set up OctoPrint accounts
    • When setting up the accounts, you will be able to provide each printer's name and model
    • Whatever is entered into the name field will appear on the server webpage, so if you have multiple printers, you should probably name them differently

Installing my Plugins

  • Copy everything in the printer folder (config, findPrinterStatus.py) to "/home/pi/.octoprint/plugins" on the printer pi
    • This can be done using ssh (CygWin for Windows, Terminal for Mac/Linux):
      • "ssh pi@ip_address" (unlike with the server pi, ssh is automatically enabled)
      • Enter pi's password (default is "raspberry", you can change it by running command "passwd")
      • "cd ~/.octoprint/plugins/"
      • "mkdir config"
      • Open another CygWin/Terminal on a computer, download both findPrinterStatus.py and configuration.json (save both to desktop), and perform the next 3 lines on the computer:
      • Run "cd C:/file_location/" (Enter "ls" to list files and check that you can see findPrinterStatus.py and configuration.json)
      • "scp findPrinterStatus.py pi@ip_address:/home/pi/.octoprint/plugins/" (This copies the plugin file)
      • (configuration.json is in the printer/config folder) "scp configuration.json pi@ip_address:/home/pi/.octoprint/plugins/config/" (This copies the configuration file into the config folder)
      • Back on the CygWin/Terminal that is ssh'd to the printer pi, run the following:
      • "nano ~/.octoprint/plugins/config/configuration.json"
      • You will see this line: "{ "server_url":"http://10.0.0.114:3000", "comments":"replace 10.0.0.114 with the ip of your server pi (you should only have 1 server pi)" }"
      • Change the "10.0.0.114" to the ip of your server Pi, then save (Ctrl+O) and exit (Ctrl+X)
      • Reboot the printer pi for the changes to take effect The system should be up and running. Power up the server pi and printer pi (print pi should be connected to the printer) and go to server_pi_ip_address:3000 and update the printer's status by starting a print and refreshing the server_pi_ip_address:3000 page.