Remote control of Simplify3D printing from another computer

[iainbest]

Total wishlist item, but I was thinking that given that S3D can be installed on 2 computers - it'd be amazing to be able to have my printer connected permanently to one computer, let's say my headless Mac mini server with an instance of S3D installed on it, perhaps in some sort of daemon mode - then do my slicing from let's say my laptop.
When I decide to print, I use a 'send to remote printer' function and my laptop's instance of S3D sends the GCode directly to the mini's instance of S3D and starts printing.
Additionally, the S3D printer control panel on my laptop would be synced up with the printer control panel on my mini so that I wouldn't need to be connected via remote desktop or so on to keep an eye on things.


As it stands, I achieve some semblance of the above by using OctoPrint with my printer, however there's obviously no integration with S3D - I need to manually upload the GCode to the printer, and control the printer via a clunky webpage.

[BaudR8]

Hmm,. this is definitely an interesting idea!

[Nandox7]

This could be much easier if there was a simple integration to Octoprint.
Or at least a option for users to implement their own plugins.

[KC_703]

What type of controls do you need after uploading the gcode to Octoprint? I use S3Ds flexibility to setup temp and cooling through profiles and addition flexibility / control (print speeds, layer heights, extrusion multipliers) through multiple processes.

With the new / devel version of Octoprint, there's much more flexibilty with gcode scripts as well as a better plugin interface. To help my workflow, I setup a script to run before the print job starts... it basically heats the bed to 50C then starts the print (whcih waits for the hotend to stabilize at a specific temp). Theres a plugin which selects the most recent uploaded STL.

Why tie up a laptop / workstation?

[ovidiu]

an "Send to printer" would be awesome and most likely super easy to implement since Octoprint exposes a comprehensive API.

I currently achieve a close enough function by using a folder monitoring script (under OSX i use Hazel) which automatically uploads any new (or modified) gcode to the "watched" folder on my Octoprint (running on a raspberry pi connected to the 3d printer). Octoprint picks it up from there.

Code: Select all

scp $1 [email protected]:.octoprint/watched/ 
growlnotify GCode Upload -m $1 uploaded to Octoprint

Works like a charm, but I would still love a "Send to printer" button....

[iainbest]

I currently achieve a close enough function by using a folder monitoring script (under OSX i use Hazel) which automatically uploads any new (or modified) gcode to the "watched" folder on my Octoprint (running on a raspberry pi connected to the 3d printer). Octoprint picks it up from there.

Thanks for the idea - I was running an older build of Octoprint, and didn't have the watched folder functionality.
I've subsequently updated Octoprint and installed netatalk, then added the watched folder as an AFP share - so now I just output from S3D straight to the watched folder.
I've also added the Autoselect plugin to Octoprint so that the job starts automatically when uploaded.