If you slice your STLs on your computer and OctoPrint only has to deal with the G-Code files, it doesn’t matter which Pi you get. To be clear, the usability of OctoPrint is very good no matter which Pi it’s running on. If the results of this test have shown anything, it’s that slicing on the Pi is a time consuming process no matter which model you buy. That’s the intended workflow, and it really does make a lot more sense than forcing the Pi to labor over a task it’s clearly not cut out for. Which is why you should really just slice your models on the computer and send the resulting G-Code to OctoPrint over the network. There’s simply no competition between a modern desktop or laptop processor and the comparatively dinky ARM chip used in the Raspberry Pi. Even the Moon Lamp only takes a few seconds on my desktop, and the more simplistic models slice so fast that it might as well be instantaneous. Originally I was going to include the time it took my main computer to slice these models in comparison to the Raspberry Pi, but it quickly became clear that was pointless. The model is just too complex for the lowly Zero. In theory if you gave the Zero a larger swap partition (OctoPi only allocates 100 MB by default) it might grind its way through, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Upon closer examination it looks like the system runs out of space on the swap partition and Cura takes a dive. After pegging CPU and RAM usage to maximum for a few minutes, OctoPrint popped up with an error message that slicing had failed. Unfortunately, this marked the end of the road for the Pi Zero. Cubes like this are often used during early calibration of a 3D printer, so it seemed appropriate to use it as a starting point for our slicing comparison. I generated this STL in OpenSCAD, and it’s about as simplistic a model as they come. We’ll start off small, with a basic 20 mm cube. The times recorded in this experiment are based solely on the processing capability of each model Pi. In other words, the only difference between each slice was the Raspberry Pi hardware itself. The STLs were sliced on each model Raspberry Pi, and OctoPrint’s built-in slicing timer was used to determine exactly how long the process took. Five 3D models were selected, of increasing geometric complexity.
#Raspberry pi 2 nas for mac 2018 software#
OctoPi was installed on a Samsung 32GB Evo Plus Class 10 Micro SDHC card, which was switched between the different Pis so as not to introduce additional variables such as SD performance or software configuration.įor the Cura slicing profile, I set up a generic printer using a 0.4 mm nozzle, 0.2 mm layer height, and a print speed of 40 mm/s. In an effort to quantify the slicing performance on the Raspberry Pi, I thought it would be interesting to do a head-to-head slicing comparison between the Pi Zero, the ever popular Pi 3, and the newest Pi 3 B+.įor this test, I used the latest nightly of OctoPi, a pre-built OctoPrint image for the Raspberry Pi as support for the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ is not currently available in the stable version.
![raspberry pi 2 nas for mac 2018 raspberry pi 2 nas for mac 2018](https://www.moddiy.com/product_images/uploaded_images/corsair-ax1200i-psu-modular-cables-pinout.jpeg)
Even on a desktop computer, it can sometimes be a time consuming chore to take an STL file and process it down to the raw G-Code file that will command the printer’s movements. The new Prusa i3 MK3 even includes a header right on the control board where you can plug in a Raspberry Pi Zero.īut while the Raspberry Pi is more than capable of controlling a 3D printer in real-time, there has always been some debate about its suitability for slicing STL files.
![raspberry pi 2 nas for mac 2018 raspberry pi 2 nas for mac 2018](https://i1.wp.com/nasserver24.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/zyxel-privater-cloud-speicher-storage-4-bay-nas-mit-fernzugriff-und-media-stream-5.jpg)
Given the small size and low energy requirements of the Pi, it’s easy to integrate into your printer. But for many, the true “home” of OctoPrint is the Raspberry Pi.Īs I’ve covered previously, the Raspberry Pi does make an exceptional platform for OctoPrint.
#Raspberry pi 2 nas for mac 2018 android#
It’s cross platform and doesn’t need anything more exotic than a free USB port to connect to the printer, and people have run it on everything from disused Windows desktops to cheap Android smartphones. Technically speaking, OctoPrint could run on more or less anything you have lying around the workshop. RAMBo 3D controller with Pi Zero Integrationīut all that is on the software side you still need to run OctoPrint on something. The core software itself is fantastic, and the community that has sprung up around the development of OctoPrint plugins has done an incredible job expanding the basic functionality into some very impressive new territory. Whether you simply want a way to send G-Code to your printer without it being physically connected to your computer or you want to be able to monitor a print from your phone while at work, OctoPrint is what you’re looking for. OctoPrint is arguably the ultimate tool for remote 3D printer control and monitoring.